Kicking game implodes early, puts Texans in hole against No. 4 TCU

Texas thought it had seen it all with last-minute catastrophic mistakes by the kicking game the past two weeks. Saturday against No. 4 TCU, the special-teams implosion began almost immediately, putting the Horns in a 30-0 first-quarter hole.

The Horned Frogs, led by Heisman candidate quarterback Trevone Boykin, went on to destroy Texas, 50-7, to go to 5-0 and 2-0 in the Big 12. Texas fell to 1-4 and 0-2.

In the opening minutes Texas' deep snapper Kyle Ashby sailed a punt snap over the head of punter Michael Dickson and out of the end zone for a safety and a 9-0 TCU lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Nick Rose, who flubbed the late-game extra-point attempt two weeks ago in the heartbreaking loss to Cal, kicked a knuckle ball out of bounds, setting the explosive Horned Frogs offense up in excellent field position.

It didn't take long for TCU Heisman candidate quarterback Trevone Boykin to find wide receiver Josh Doctson in the end zone for a touchdown and 16-0 lead.

If that's not bad enough, the Longhorns surrendered TCU's opening touchdown after a fumble by receiver Daje Johnson, who lost the ball after absorbing a hard hit, forcing him out of the game. Boykin delivered a strike to a wide-open KaVontae Turpin for a 7-0 lead.

Meanwhile, a Texas offense that has sparked to life under the leadership of redshirt freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard since his promotion three weeks ago, has been stuck in neutral against a TCU defense that has been rocked by injuries and allowed 52 points last week in a three-point win at Texas Tech.

With under six minutes to go in the first quarter, Dickson's struggles continued with a 22-yard punt that TCU quickly turned into another touchdown for a 23-0 lead with 5:01 to go in the opening quarter.