football

Big Second Half Helps TCU Beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Jalen Reagor, TCU's leading receiver last season, dropped three passes and muffed a punt return before making amends late in the third quarter to help the Horned Frogs pull away from Arkansas-Pine Bluff 39-7 on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.

Reagor ran past Pine Bluff freshman cornerback Jordan Brown at the line of scrimmage to catch a 37-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Max Duggan to give the Horned Frogs a 29-7 lead.

Just prior to Reagor's touchdown, he muffed a punt that was recovered by Pine Bluff at the TCU 37. That set up the Golden Lions' only score, a 1-yard touchdown run by KeShawn Williams that cut TCU's lead to 22-7. Pine Bluff, an FCS team that finished 2-9 last year, entered the game as a 53-point underdog.

TCU debuted two quarterbacks in graduate transfer Alex Delton and Duggan. Delton, who played 14 games with six starts the last two seasons at Kansas State, started but shared time with Duggan.

Delton was more impressive running the ball (67 yards rushing on seven carries) than passing (10 for 22 for 119 yards). Duggan led all three of the Horned Frogs' touchdown drives and finished 16-for-23 passing for 165 yards.

TCU's defense was steady, picking off two Pine Bluff passes and forcing 11 punts. The Horned Frogs had five drives stall inside the 20, setting up senior kicker Jonathan Song for a school-record-tying six field goals made. Former TCU kicker Jaden Oberkrom also made six field goals Oct. 20, 2012 against Texas Tech.

Senior receiver TreVontae Hights recorded his first 100-yard receiving game for TCU, finishing with eight catches for 108 yards. Hights had only six catches over his first three seasons.

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THE TAKEAWAY
Arkansas-Pine Bluff: The Golden Lions, who return 15 starters (nine on offense), didn't back down. They were within two scores late in the third quarter. Pine Bluff's defense was particularly strong in the red zone, forcing five field goal attempts.

TCU: This wasn't a dominant effort by the Horned Frogs against a much inferior opponent. TCU appears to still be trying to find an offensive identity with its quarterback competition, although Duggan was more productive.

UP NEXT
Arkansas-Pine Bluff will open SWAC play next Saturday at Alabama A&M.

TCU has next week off before playing its first road game Sept. 14 at Purdue.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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