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MORGANTOWN – Trevone Boykin came to TCU as a running back.
During his true freshman season, he threw for 254 yards and a touchdown against West Virginia as he led the Horned Frogs to a one-point, overtime victory in Morgantown.
Last season he caught 11 passes for 100 yards in a three-point, overtime loss to the Mountaineers in Fort Worth, Texas.
Simply put, the dude can do it all.
It’s why West Virginia first-year defensive coordinator Tony Gibson and his unit are having a few sleepless nights the week leading up to their matchup against Boykin and the No. 10-ranked Horned Frogs.
”He scrambles around, and he has a very strong arm where he is athletic enough to get away from the rush,” Gibson said. ”He will be running to his left and jump and then throw it back to his right 40 yards down field. I’ve seen him do it four or five times.
”He is not a kid that plays cautious. He is reckless, but he makes plays as he’s doing it. He is playing at a high level right now.”
No need to tell Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury, who just watched Boykin torch his Red Raiders defense for a TCU record seven touchdown passes in an 82-27 victory.
”I think he’s the best player in the country,” Kingsbury said. ”Just watching him and the way he carries himself this year compared to last year, the way he’s leading, extending plays, putting it on the money, he’s night and day from where he was.
”He’s a phenomenal talent.”
One the Horned Frogs believed would be catching the ball this season not throwing it after quarterback Matt Joeckel transferred to TCU from Texas A&M.
Yet here Boykin is, giving Kingsbury gray hairs and helping Holgorsen lose his even quicker.
”I texted those guys earlier in the week and told them to move him back to receiver because he was so dang good,” Holgorsen joked.
Their response, I’m sure, was less than favorable.
Truth is, Boykin may indeed be the best player in college football right now.
The junior signal caller is one of just three quarterbacks nationally to average more than 300 yards passing and 50 yards rushing a game since 2009.
The other two? Heisman Trophy winners and first-round NFL draft picks Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel. With Boykin at quarterback, TCU has scored on more than 50 percent of its drives and has the nation’s highest scoring offense (50.4 points per game). His 21 touchdown passes rank him second in the Big 12 behind Tech’s Davis Webb (24).
The toughest challenge this weekend may be for the WVU defensive line, who Mountaineers senior associate head coach and defensive line coach Tom Bradley noted must contain Boykin at all times.
”It’s one of those things where you have to be very disciplined to your assignments, and I think that is the hard part, because you cannot be as reckless,” he said. ”You coach aggressiveness and do all those things, but there is a fine line between being aggressive and not being very smart.”
Boykin’s five career 300-yard passing games have tied him with current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and Casey Pechall for the school record. He is also the first quarterback in the 14-season tenure of coach Gary Patterson to top 250 yards passing in seven consecutive games.
”He is going to throw the ball out there, so we are going to have to play sound in the secondary,” safety Karl Joseph said. ”Every man is going to have to do their job.”
If they do, the Mountaineers will find themselves one step closer to a Big 12 title.
Tony Viola can be reached via email at: tviola@theintelligencer.net