Gameday Guide 11/9

While the Horned Frogs are still in their first season with the Big 12 Conference, they are quickly molding a high-powered offense typically associated with their new conference.

Trailing the Wildcats’ total offensive yardage by less than 15 total offensive yards per game, the Horned Frogs average roughly 34 points a game.

Since taking over indefinitely for suspended junior quarterback Casey Pachall, true-freshman Trevone Boykin won road games against Baylor on Oct. 13 and West Virginia last Saturday, while losing to No. 25 Texas Tech in three overtimes three weeks ago.

K-State head coach Bill Snyder said at Tuesday’s press conference that Boykin would offer the Wildcats the rare challenge of facing a true dual-threat quarterback.

“He’s a talented quarterback,” said Snyder. “We haven’t really played against a lot of youngsters that do both — throw it and run it with equal adeptness — and he has a capacity to do exactly that.”

Boykin, who became the first quarterback in TCU history to throw four touchdown passes in back-to-back games, offers a third running option for the Horned Frogs’ rushing attack still damaged by the absence of Waymon James due to injury.

James, a junior who led the Horned Frogs in rushing yards last season, was injured for the entirety of the season during the Horned Frogs’ game against Kansas on Sept. 15.

“If he wasn’t a quarterback, he’d be a very fine running back,” Snyder said of Boykin. “As a quarterback, he’s got some zip on the ball and he can throw the ball well. The statistics would probably indicate that he’s both a quality thrower and a quality runner.”

Boykin has shown poise late in games despite his youth, most recently against in the Horned Frogs’ win over the Mountaineers in overtime.

Down 10 points at the half, Boykin led the Horned Frogs back to tie the game and did so again with under two minutes on a 94-yard touchdown pass to Josh Boyce to force overtime.

Boykin hit 13 of 13 third-down passes and threw all four touchdown passes on third down against Baylor in his first start at quarterback for the Horned Frogs.

“I think with the young quarterback getting more and more experience, he just gets better as he goes,” Snyder said during Monday’s Big 12 teleconference. “That’s been a tremendous asset for them. He’s got the capacity to do so many different things, quite obviously. As you call him a dual-threat quarterback, he’s good in both arenas.”

The Horned Frogs’ offense is not a modern, spread-the-ball type of offense that relies on the pass, however.

The Horned Frogs have five players with at least 150 yards rushing this season, more than any other team but Georgia Tech, which has seven.

“The complexity of the offense itself, there’s a lot of variety. When I say variety, it’s a varied offense,” Snyder said. “There’s a lot there schematically, formation-wise, motion-wise. They certainly present some problems just getting lined up against you.”