2017

Valero Alamo Bowl | Thursday, December 28, 2017
#13 Stanford 37 vs. #15 TCU 39

Attendance: 57,653
ESPN Viewership: 4,652,770

Offensive MVP: Kenny Hill, QB, TCU
Defensive MVP: Travin Howard, LB, TCU
Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award: Harrison Phillips, Stanford

Head Coaches: Gary Patterson (TCU), David Shaw (Stanford)
Final Records: TCU 11-3, Stanford 9-4

Game Recap

#15 TCU Completes Another Epic Valero Alamo Bowl Comeback Over #13 Stanford

While it wasn’t recording-breaking and TCU didn’t need overtime, the Horned Frogs noted another impressive comeback in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl as #15 TCU upset #13 Stanford 39-37.

The Horned Frogs now hold the first and second largest comebacks in Valero Alamo Bowl history, overcoming a 21-3 first-half deficit this year against Stanford and a 31-point deficit at halftime against Oregon in 2015 in a thrilling triple overtime win.

TCU stormed back in the second half behind big plays from quarterback Kenny Hill, who won Valero Alamo Bowl offensive MVP honors, and a 76-yard punt return from receiver Desmon White, which broke a Valero Alamo Bowl record.

TCU’s Cole Bunce’s 33-yard field goal with just over three minutes left put the Horned Frogs up 39-37 and an interception by safety Innis Gaines with two minutes left secured a TCU victory.

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter

Stanford: Bryce Love 15‑yd run (Toner kick)
Stanford: JJ Arcega‑Whiteside 18‑yd pass from KJ Costello (Toner kick)
TCU: Cole Bunce 38‑yd FG

2nd Quarter

Stanford: Arcega‑Whiteside 14‑yd pass from Costello (Toner kick)
TCU: Kenny Hill 6‑yd run (Bunce kick)

3rd Quarter

TCU: Desmon White 27‑yd pass from Hill (kick failed)
Stanford: Bryce Love 69‑yd run (Toner kick)
TCU: Desmon White 11‑yd pass from Hill (Bunce kick)
Stanford: Toner 27‑yd FG

4th Quarter

TCU: Jalen Reagor 93‑yd pass from Hill (failed two‑point attempt)
TCU: Desmon White 76‑yd punt return (Bunce kick)
Stanford: Arcega‑Whiteside 4‑yd pass from Costello (two‑point attempt failed)
TCU: Cole Bunce 33‑yd FG

Final Score

Team	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	Total
Stanford	14	7	10	6	37
TCU	3	7	13	16	39

Team Stats

Category	Stanford	TCU
First Downs	17	21
Net Yards Rushing	157 (34 att)	147 (26 att)
Net Yards Passing	212	341
Comp–Att–Int (Passing)	15–27–2	28–41–2
Total Offense Yards	369	488
Total Offense Plays	61	67
Avg. Gain per Play	6.0	7.3
Fumbles (Lost)	1 (0 lost)	1 (1 lost)
Penalties (No.–Yds)	3–15	1–4
Punts–Avg (Yards)	4–48.8	2–36.5
Punt Return (TD)	0	1 (76 yards)
Time of Possession	33:03	26:57
3rd‑Down Conversions	8/16	5/13
4th‑Down Conversions	1/1	0/2

Individual Stats

Rushing (Att–Yds–TD)

Stanford: Bryce Love 26–167–2 (69‑yd long)
TCU: Kenny Hill 9–60–1; Sewo Olonilua 5–58–0; Kyle Hicks 6–40–0

Passing (Comp–Att–Int–Yds–TD)

Stanford: KJ Costello 15–27–2, 212 yards, 3 TDs
TCU: Kenny Hill 27–40–2, 314 yards, 2 TDs; Desmon White 1–1–0, 27 yards, 1 TD

Receiving (Receptions–Yards–TD)

Stanford: JJ Arcega‑Whiteside 5–61–3; C. Wedington 3–41–0; T. Irwin 3–17–0; C. Scarlett 2–85–0
TCU: Jalen Reagor 5–169–1 (93‑yd long); Kyle Hicks 8–25–0; Sewo Olonilua 4–31–0; Desmon White 3–33–1

Special Teams / Returns

TCU: Desmon White 1 punt return, 76 yards — TD

Game Notes

GARY FOR THE WIN: TCU’s 39-37 win in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl marks the 11th time in 17 season head coach Gary Patterson’s Frogs have won at least 11 games. The 2017 season marked the 12th time since 2000 that TCU finishes the year with at least 10 wins, good enough for 4th best in the nation behind only Oklahoma, Boise State and Ohio State, respectively. Prior to Patterson’s tenure as head coach, TCU had just four 10-win seasons.

TCU TURNAROUND: After only 3 winning seasons in 13 years from 1985-1997, TCU has won 73.3 percent of its games (184-67) since 1998 since Gary Patterson arrived on campus as defensive coordinator.

JUST WINS, BABY: TCU’s 39-37 win in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl continues a dominant trend over the Pac 12 on the gridiron. Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson improves to 3-0 all-time against Stanford and 6-0 against Pac-12 opponents.

THE MAGNIFICENT ELEVEN: TCU’s 39-37 win in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl gives the Frogs their 10th 11-win season since 2001, which ranks 4th in the nation behind only Ohio State, Oklahoma and Boise State.

TIME & AGAIN: Despite losing in Time of Possession in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl, TCU finished its 2017 campaign 7-0 when leading in ball control. The Horned Frogs are 17-1 in the past 3 seasons when it holds the edge in ball control.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL: TCU head coach Gary Patterson is now 47–30 in one-score games, good enough for tops among all Big 12 coaches in career winning percentage over 60 percent.

SECOND-HALF SURGE: TCU finishes the year ranked 3rd nationally with a plus-145 point differential in the second half of games this season, trailing only Wisconsin (173) and Ohio (148). The Frogs rank 2nd nationally behind only Wisconsin (102) in 4th quarter point differential (80).

SCORE FROGS SCORE: TCU’s 39-point performance in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl marks the 52nd time in the past 57 gamed the Frogs have scored at least 20 points in a game. Tonight is the 320th consecutive game the Horned Frogs have put up points on the gridiron—the 4th longest streak in college football history and the second longest active streak among FBS teams. The Frogs were last shutout on Nov. 16, 1991—a 32-0 loss against Texas.

STILL THE BEST IN TEXAS: After its 39-37 win in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl, TCU is an FBS-best 128-40 when playing in the state of Texas. In addition, the Horned Frogs also have the best record of all Texas schools in games played in and out of the Lone Star state (160-56) since 2001, Gary Patterson’s first season as TCU head coach.

TOUGH HILL TO CLIMB: TCU quarterback Kenny Hill is one of only 4 active FBS players with at least 8,500 yards passing (9,192) and 1,000 yards rushing (1,127)—Baker Mayfield, J.T. Barrett, Lamar Jackson. The Horned Frog signal caller finished his 2017 campaign with 3,152 yards and 23 TDs through the air and 325 yards and 5 TDs on the ground.

KENNY THE THRILL: TCU quarterback Kenny Hill is one of only four players in Big 12 history to run, pass and catch a TD in the same game (first since 2008). The senior signal caller from Southlake caught his second touchdown of the year in the 3rd quarter of the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl, a 27-yard pass from Desmon White. Hill caught a 48-yard TD pass from wideout KaVontae Turpin in a 31-24 win against West Virginia on Oct. 7.

THE LONG HAUL: Kenny Hill’s 93-yard TD pass early in the 4th quarter to Jalen Reagor set a bowl record for longest touchdown pass, surpassing Kansas State’s Darnell McDonald (88 yards) in 1998. Reagor finished the game with 5 grabs for 169 yards, good for 3rd most receiving yards in Alamo Bowl history.

OFFENSIVE MVP: Kenny Hill is your 2017 Offensive MVP of the Valero Alamo Bowl. Hill completed 27 of 40 passes for 314 yards and two TD passes. The senior triple threat added another TD on the ground on 9 carries for 60 yards and caught a 27-yard TD, his second TD catch of the season.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: TCU quarterback Kenny Hill’s finished 2017 with several significant single-season accomplishments: highest completion percentage, second-most completions (269), fourth-most passing yards (3,152).

CEMENTING HICKS’ LEGACY: TCU running back Kyle Hicks finishes his TCU career with 2,101 rushing yards and 102 receptions. The Horned Frog is one of four active tailbacks from Power 5 Conferences with at least 2,000 rushing yards and 85 receptions. Over the last two seasons, Hicks is one of only four Power 5 players with 1,500 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving. He finishes the season as the active Big 12 leader in games (51) rushing TDs (19) and rushes (443).

HOME SWEET HOME: TCU junior linebacker Ty Summers finished the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl with 4 tackles and closed the season with 271 career tackles, fourth most in the Gary Patterson era. A second-team all-Big 12 player in 2016 and honorable-mention pick this season, Summers is a San Antonio native and a graduate of Reagan High School.

TROPHY MACHINE: TCU senior linebacker Travin Howard had another standout Alamo Bowl performance and received Defensive MVP for second time in two opportunities—the only player to accomplish this feat in the Bowl’s 25-year history.

TACKLE MONSTER: TCU senior linebacker Travin Howard capped off a legendary career with a 10 tackle performance in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl. Howard finished his four-year career as Horned Frogs leader in tackles (343) in the Gary Patterson era.

BETTER SOONER THAN LATER: TCU’s 21-10 double-digit halftime deficit in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl marked only the second time all season the Horned Frogs trailed by more than one score at the midway point. On Nov. 11 against Oklahoma, TCU fell behind to the Sooners 38-14 at half before eventually falling 38-20. This time around TCU battled back to win the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl 39-37
over Stanford.

PICK CITY: TCU senior defensive back Nick Orr recorded his team-best third interception of the season in the 2nd quarter of the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl. Orr’s nine career picks are the most among active Horned Frogs.

PRIVACY PLEASE: With its 39-37 victory against Stanford in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl, TCU came one game closer to catching Stanford for most victories by a private school in the last decade. TCU now has 75 wins in the last ten seasons, trailing Stanford by 10 wins.

BIG LOVE: Bryce Love’s 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl was his 11th TD run of 50 or more yards this season. In the past five seasons only one team has had that many 50-yard rushing touchdowns in a season. Love now has a NCAA best 13 rushes of 50 yards or more.

LET ME BE FRANK: Stanford safety Frank Buncon needed only one half of play to make his way to the top of the Valero Alamo Bowl defensive record book. The junior defensive back intercepted two of TCU quarterback Kenny Hill’s passes, tying with Purdue’s Adrian Beasley and Billy Guston, Penn State’s Derek Fox and Michigan’s Leon Hall for most interceptions in Valero Alamo Bowl history.

TWO J’S, THREE TOUCHDOWNS: Stanford receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside set a Valero Alamo Bowl record with three touchdown catches against TCU. The junior receiver caught two TD’s to help Stanford gain a 21-3 lead and added another score in the fourth quarter to regain the lead for the Cardinal after a TCU comeback. Despite his 21-point addition the Cardinal finished short of the victory as the Horned Frogs won 39-37.

SHOW ME SOME LOVE: Bryce Love broke the Stanford single season rushing record with 145 yards against TCU in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl. Love now has 2,118 yards on the year, besting Christian McCaffrey’s record of 2,019.

JJ + KJ = TD: Stanford quarterback KJ Costello and receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside connected three times for a touchdown in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl. Arcega-Whiteside hauled in his seventh touchdown reception of the season with a 18-yard catch from quarterback Costello in the first quarter the pair connected again for 14 yards in the second quarter to push Stanford’s lead to 21-3. After TCU rallied to take the lead Costello found Arcega-Whiteside in the end zone once again to regain the lead at 37-36. Arcega-Whiteside’s nine TD’s lead all Cardinal receivers this season and he also led Stanford in scoring grabs in 2016 with five.

THE NIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME: Bryce Love proved to be a night owl once again with a 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl. Six of Love’s runs of 30 or more yards have come after 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. CST. Aside from his run against the Horned Frogs, Love has racked up big runs against Oregon (67 yards), Utah (68 yards), San Diego State (53 yards), UCLA (69 yards) and Washington (35 yards), all coming in twilight time.

CAN’T STOP, WON’T STOP: Bryce Love’s 15-yard run in the first quarter of the Valero Alamo Bowl put Stanford on the board for the first time and ensured the Cardinal would continue its 11-year consecutive game scoring streak. The last time the Cardinal was shut out was Nov 11, 2006 against USC.

KEEPING IT 100: With his 145-yard rushing performance in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl Bryce Love eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the 12th straight game. Love now holds the Stanford school record for consecutive 100-yard rushing games.

AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME: Stanford’s appearance in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl gives David Shaw five bowls wins as Stanford’s head coach, which is the most all time for any Cardinal head coach. Shaw’s teams have made it to a bowl for seven consecutive seasons. That streak is third longest for any coach in college football, trailing only Nick Saban (11) and Dabo Swinney (10).

THE GREAT INDOORS: Stanford was dealing with unfamiliar territory in the 2017 Valero Alamo Bowl as the Cardinal played only their fifth indoor game in school history. The switch from the outdoor setting proved to be too much for Stanford as the Cardinal were defeated 39-37 by TCU.

ALL-TIME ALAMO BOWL ATTENDANCE: A crowd of 57,653 saw the TCU quarterback Kenny Hill throw two touchdowns, run for a score and catch another TD to lead TCU to a 39-37 come from behind victory in the Valero Alamo Bowl, the 16th largest crowd in the Bowl’s 25-year history.