SAN ANTONIO — Bram Kohlhausen’s 8-yard touchdown run in the third overtime carried No. 11 TCU to a wild 47-41 victory over No. 15 Oregon in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday night as the Horned Frogs stormed back from a 31-0 halftime deficit behind a backup quarterback.
The 31-point comeback to win tied the record for a bowl game, matching Texas Tech in the 2006 Insight Bowl against Minnesota.
Oregon stormed to the big lead early behind quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., but he was knocked out of the game late in the second quarter after taking a hard hit to the head. Oregon gained only 18 yards in regulation in the second half.
Kohlhausen started in place of TCU’s Trevone Boykin, who was suspended after a bar fight two days earlier. Kohlhausen passed for 351 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores.
Kohlhausen, who had only seen spot duty this season, struggled as Oregon ran circles around the Horned Frogs in the first half.
The Ducks were clicking behind the elusive Adams, who passed for 197 yards and a touchdown, scrambled out of several sacks and marched Oregon to four straight touchdowns and a 28-0 lead.
But Oregon stopped in its tracks when Adams was hurt on a rare called run for him. Adams knocked heads with TCU linebacker Derrick Kindred, left the game and never returned.
Jeff Lockie drove Oregon to a field goal that made it 31-0 at halftime, but the Ducks stalled there.
TCU scored on all of its possessions in the second half and overtime.
The Horned Frogs started their march back with 17 points in the third quarter, twice scoring touchdowns on fourth down. Kohlhausen threw a touchdown pass to Jaelen Austin, then ran 2 yards for his first score.
TCU was gaining confidence with each play while Oregon seemed stuck in neutral. Lockie, who had played in relief of Adams when he was injured earlier this season, couldn’t move the offense as the TCU-dominated crowd of more than 65,000 revved up.
Jaden Oberkrom’s 22-yard field goal with 19 seconds left tied it, and TCU scored first in the first overtime when Kohlhausen hit Emanauel Porter for a 7-yard touchdown. Oregon answered with Royce Freeman’s third touchdown run.
After the teams exchanged field goals in the second overtime, Kohlhausen sneaked around the right end on an option, and seemingly disappeared behind his blockers until he was in the end zone. TCU’s 2-point conversion pass attempt failed, but Oregon’s final chance to tie and keep the game going ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down near the goal line.
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