TCU defends the belt, 34–30, on the road at Kansas.
AP poll, week 12: TCU No. 5 at Kansas unranked · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
TCU came in 14 days into reign #291, which began with a win over West Virginia, with one defense already behind it; this was its second defense. TCU went on to defend it 11 more times before Oklahoma State took it on November 7, 2015, 371 days after the reign began.
For Kansas this was its 3rd shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 3 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.
This is the only time Kansas and TCU have met with the belt on the line.
Recap
TCU's defense held firm in a back-and-forth offensive shootout at Kansas to retain the belt with a 34-30 victory. The Horned Frogs struck first with Trevone Boykin finding Ty Slanina for a 27-yard touchdown pass, but Kansas answered with two touchdowns of their own to take the lead, including a 67-yard bomb from Michael Cummings to Jimmay Mundine that set up a short touchdown run. TCU's offense responded decisively in the second half, with Aaron Green scoring twice on the ground, including a 24-yard dash that gave TCU the lead for good. Kansas mounted a desperate final comeback attempt, with Nigel King hauling in a 78-yard touchdown pass to briefly pull within striking distance, but TCU's defense made the crucial stops needed down the stretch to preserve the belt.
- Ty Slanina 27-yard TD reception in Q1 -- TCU's opening salvo set the tone for the Frogs' high-powered passing attack
- Nigel King 78-yard TD reception in Q3 -- Kansas's most explosive play kept the Jayhawks in the game but ultimately too little, too late
- Aaron Green's two rushing touchdowns (3 yards and 24 yards) in Q3 -- The back's two scores proved decisive in giving TCU breathing room late
- Cameron Echols-Luper 69-yard kickoff return for TD in Q3 -- A momentum-swinging play that briefly suggested Kansas might steal the belt before TCU's defense tightened
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 13:19 | TCU | +25 yd | Trevone Boykin pass complete to David Porter for 25 yds to the Kans 32 for a 1ST down |
| Q1 12:36 | TCU | +27 yd | Trevone Boykin pass complete to Ty Slanina for 27 yds for a TD, (Jaden Oberkrom KICK) |
| Q1 6:49 | Kansas | +2 yd | Corey Avery run for 2 yds for a TD, (Matthew Wyman PAT BLOCKED) |
| Q1 12:36 | TCU | +21 yd | Jaden Oberkrom kickoff for 61 yds , JaCorey Shepherd return for 21 yds to the Kans 25 |
| Q1 6:26 | TCU | +27 yd | Trevone Boykin pass complete to Emanuel Porter for 27 yds to the Kans 38 for a 1ST down |
| Q2 14:30 | Kansas | +20 yd | Michael Cummings pass complete to Jimmay Mundine for 20 yds to the TCU 43 for a 1ST down |
| Q2 12:02 | Kansas | +13 yd | Michael Cummings pass complete to Jimmay Mundine for 13 yds for a TD, (Matthew Wyman KICK) |
| Q1 0:01 | Kansas | -5 yd | Michael Cummings run for a loss of 5 yards to the Kans 37 Michael Cummings fumbled, recovered by Kans Tony Pierson |
| Q2 12:02 | Kansas | +23 yd | Trevor Pardula kickoff for 64 yds , Cameron Echols-Luper return for 23 yds to the KANSAS 42 TCU Penalty, Illegal Block (10 Yards) to the TCU 14 |
| Q2 9:15 | TCU | +38 yd | Trevone Boykin pass complete to Josh Doctson for 38 yds to the Kans 42 for a 1ST down |
| Q2 8:24 | TCU | +0 yd | Trevone Boykin pass intercepted JaCorey Shepherd return for no gain to the Kans 2 |
| Q2 3:41 | TCU | +24 yd | Jaden Oberkrom 24 yd FG GOOD |
| Q2 1:36 | Kansas | +31 yd | Michael Cummings pass complete to Nigel King for 31 yds to the TCU 32 for a 1ST down |
| Q2 3:41 | TCU | +20 yd | Jaden Oberkrom kickoff for 64 yds , JaCorey Shepherd return for 20 yds to the Kans 21 |
| Q3 12:02 | Kansas | +1 yd | Michael Cummings run for 1 yd for a TD, (Matthew Wyman KICK) |
| Q3 13:31 | Kansas | +67 yd | Michael Cummings pass complete to Jimmay Mundine for 67 yds to the TCU 5 for a 1ST down |
| Q3 8:47 | TCU | +3 yd | Aaron Green run for 3 yds for a TD, (Jaden Oberkrom KICK) |
| Q3 9:20 | TCU | +21 yd | Trevone Boykin pass complete to Kyle Hicks for 21 yds to the Kans 3 for a 1ST down |
| Q3 8:27 | Kansas | +78 yd | Michael Cummings pass complete to Nigel King for 78 yds for a TD, (Matthew Wyman KICK) |
| Q3 8:47 | TCU | +20 yd | Jaden Oberkrom kickoff for 58 yds , JaCorey Shepherd return for 20 yds to the Kans 27 |
| Q3 8:16 | Kansas | +44 yd | Trevor Pardula kickoff for 64 yds , Ranthony Texada return for 44 yds to the TCU 45 Ranthony Texada fumbled, forced by Trevor Pardula, recovered by Kans Darious Crawley |
| Q3 5:50 | TCU | +26 yd | Trevone Boykin pass complete to Ty Slanina for 26 yds to the TCU 36 for a 1ST down |
| Q3 3:48 | TCU | +24 yd | Aaron Green run for 24 yds for a TD, (Jaden Oberkrom KICK) |
| Q3 2:38 | Kansas | +69 yd | Trevor Pardula punt for 57 yds , Cameron Echols-Luper returns for 69 yds for a TD, (Jaden Oberkrom KICK) |
| Q3 2:38 | TCU | +23 yd | Jaden Oberkrom kickoff for 62 yds , JaCorey Shepherd return for 23 yds to the Kans 26 |
| Q3 0:20 | Kansas | -12 yd | TEAM run for a loss of 12 yards to the Kans 23 TEAM fumbled, recovered by Kans Michael Cummings |
| Q4 13:45 | TCU | +33 yd | Aaron Green run for 33 yds to the Kans 7 for a 1ST down |
| Q4 12:08 | TCU | +25 yd | Jaden Oberkrom 25 yd FG GOOD |
| Q4 9:07 | TCU | -2 yd | Trevorris Johnson run for a loss of 2 yards to the TCU 10 Trevorris Johnson fumbled, forced by Victor Simmons, recovered by Kans Tedarian Johnson |
| Q4 7:42 | Kansas | +23 yd | Matthew Wyman 23 yd FG GOOD |
| Q4 3:26 | Kansas | -28 yd | Michael Cummings pass intercepted Chris Hackett return for 28 yds to the Kans 23 |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Kansas
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Cummings | 19/37 | 332 | 9.0 | 2 | 1 | 64.1 |
| T.J. Millweard | 1/1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
TCU
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trevone Boykin | 26/36 | 330 | 9.2 | 1 | 1 | 61.9 |
Rushing
Kansas
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Pierson | 11 | 33 | 3.0 | 0 | 14 |
| Corey Avery | 10 | 27 | 2.7 | 1 | 5 |
| De'Andre Mann | 6 | 18 | 3.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Michael Cummings | 8 | 10 | 1.3 | 1 | 18 |
TCU
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Green | 19 | 128 | 6.7 | 2 | 33 |
| Desmon White | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 | 11 |
| Kyle Hicks | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Trevone Boykin | 11 | 2 | 0.2 | 0 | 11 |
| Trevorris Johnson | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | 0 | 0 |
Receiving
Kansas
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmay Mundine | 7 | 137 | 19.6 | 1 | 67 |
| Nigel King | 5 | 128 | 25.6 | 1 | 78 |
| Nick Harwell | 4 | 28 | 7.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Rodriguez Coleman | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 0 | 17 |
| Justin McCay | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 0 | 14 |
| Trent Smiley | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 |
| Tre' Parmalee | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 |
TCU
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ty Slanina | 6 | 95 | 15.8 | 1 | 27 |
| David Porter | 6 | 67 | 11.2 | 0 | 25 |
| Josh Doctson | 1 | 38 | 38.0 | 0 | 38 |
| Emanuel Porter | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 0 | 27 |
| Kolby Listenbee | 3 | 34 | 11.3 | 0 | 18 |
| Kyle Hicks | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 0 | 21 |
| Aaron Green | 4 | 26 | 6.5 | 0 | 10 |
| Cameron Echols-Luper | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 3 |
| Ja'Juan Story | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
Show more stats (5 more categories)
Interceptions
Kansas
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| JaCorey Shepherd | 1 | 0 | 0 |
TCU
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Hackett | 1 | 28 | 0 |
Kick Returns
Kansas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JaCorey Shepherd | 6 | 119 | 19.8 | 23 | 0 |
TCU
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranthony Texada | 1 | 44 | 44.0 | 44 | 0 |
| Cameron Echols-Luper | 2 | 35 | 17.5 | 23 | 0 |
| Buck Jones | 2 | 23 | 11.5 | 12 | 0 |
Kicking
Kansas
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Wyman | 1/1 | 100.0 | 23 | 3/4 | 6 |
TCU
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaden Oberkrom | 2/2 | 100.0 | 25 | 4/4 | 10 |
Punt Returns
Kansas
No recorded stats in this category.
TCU
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Echols-Luper | 3 | 86 | 28.7 | 69 | 1 |
| Chris Hackett | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
Punting
Kansas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trevor Pardula | 6 | 306 | 51.0 | 2 | 1 | 64 |
| Michael Cummings | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
TCU
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethan Perry | 3 | 101 | 33.7 | 0 | 1 | 44 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 400547892) · This game in the downloadable dataset