Josh Hoover leads TCU to a 34-27 victory over Stanford in season opener

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Josh Hoover threw for 353 yards and the go-ahead touchdown with 3:13 to play to lead TCU to a 34-27 victory over Stanford in the season opener for both teams on Friday night.

After Stanford (0-1) took the lead midway through the fourth quarter following a missed field goal by the Horned Frogs (1-0), Hoover engineered an efficient 74-yard drive to give TCU the win.

He completed all six passes for 67 yards, capping it with a 4-yard TD to Jack Bech that gave the Horned Frogs a 27-24 lead they didn’t relinquish. Hoover also threw a TD pass on the opening drive of the game and scored on a 1-yard sneak in the third quarter.

Cam Cook put the game away with a 7-yard TD run with 1:51 to play.

That all led to a 10th straight home loss for the Cardinal, who are still seeking their first win at Stanford Stadium under second-year coach Troy Taylor after going 0-7 last season.

Stanford had taken the lead on Justin Lamson’s 1-yard run with 6:57 to play but faltered late. The Cardinal allowed the TD drive and then Ashton Daniels threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-16 from their own 19 with 2:14 to play.

Daniels threw for 163 yards and one TD to go with 89 yards on the ground. His backup, Lamson, who relieved Daniels in some short-yardage situations, had a touchdown pass to go with his TD run.

THE TAKEAWAY

TCU: The Horned Frogs overcame a litany of mistakes to come out with the win. They had 100 yards in penalties, several dropped passes, the two turnovers and a missed field goal. They will have to clean that up if they want to improve on last season’s 5-7 record and get back to their 2022 form when they went to the national title game.

Stanford: The Cardinal haven’t won at home since beating Arizona State 15-14 on Oct. 22, 2022, under former coach David Shaw. They started fast with a TD on the opening drive aided by three 15-yard penalties by TCU and scored another TD on a short drive following a fumble. But they couldn’t muster consistent offense and got stopped twice on fourth-down tries in their own territory in the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT

TCU: Hosts Long Island University on Saturday.

Stanford: Hosts Cal Poly on Saturday.

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