Painful Loss to OSU Ends Trevone Boykin's Heisman Hopes, TCU's Playoff Shot

Nineteen plays. 89 yards. Seven minutes off the clock. 

That's how long and how far the TCU Horned Frogs drove midway through the fourth quarter, trailing by 19 but a touchdown away from being within striking distance. 

Except TCU needed 90 yards on the drive. 

Trevone Boykin was stopped a yard short on fourth down from the Oklahoma State Cowboys' 1-yard line, being pulled back by OSU's Kevin Peterson. 

As Peterson yanked the senior gunslinger away from the end zone, he was simultaneously pulling the plug on Boykin's Heisman hopes and TCU's playoff chances. 

Perhaps it was fitting that TCU's chances died on that play. It was illustrative of how the Horned Frogs' season has been thus far, particularly on the road. 

Trips to Lubbock, Texas, and Manhattan, Kansas, have been nightmares that, thanks largely to Boykin, TCU woke up from in time. 

Not this time. Not in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where a team and community that's been rattled to its core by tragedy was too powerful a force to overcome. 

The task of overcoming that wasn't made any easier when TCU star wideout Josh Doctson went down in the second quarter with a wrist injury. His status is still unclear, per Travis L. Brown of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 

The Big 12 is too top-heavy. Teams like Kansas, Iowa State and—if you can believe it—Texas hurt the conference's reputation in the committee's eyes. If the season ended today, its champion likely would miss out on the College Football Playoff for the second straight year. 

So for a Big 12 squad to have playoff chances, undefeated is the only way. From a league perspective, that now leaves just Baylor and Oklahoma State, the former beating Kansas State on Thursday. 

And while Boykin certainly has a viable chance to still earn an invite to New York City, ultimately Heisman voters look for players with that signature moment. 

When you picture Boykin now—and its unfair that this is reality—you'll see Peterson yanking him back from the end zone, falling short of a comeback attempt without his partner in crime—Doctson. 

Boykin is now not even the Big 12's best candidate. That honor likely belongs to Baylor wideout Corey Coleman, whose play against the Wildcats on Thursday made freshman starter Jarrett Stidham, who was starting his first ever college game, look like a star. 

On the flipside, Boykin's four interceptions kept his squad at arm's length from the Cowboys, despite furious attempts to rally. ESPN Stats & Info noted TCU had a record-setting performance; however, it was for the wrong reason:

The 2015 campaign, reminiscent of last year's, is still going to go down as one of TCU's best. The Horned Frogs likely won't have more than two losses, three at most realistically, and they'll be primed for a quality bowl game. If they win out, a trip to a "New Year's Six" bowl is a near-lock. Despite TCU's loss, fans still showed support for Boykin, as Carlos A. Mendez of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram highlighted:

But they won't be in the playoffs. And Boykin, with all his charisma, athleticism and stats, won't be hoisting college football's most coveted individual award.