1. Outgained
All good things must come to an end. But for the second matchup of 8-0 teams in Big 12 history, we expected a closer game than the 49-29 final score delivered. The Horned Frogs walked away in tears after Oklahoma State broke their 16-game win streak. Inspection of the final statistics, though, paints a more even picture. TCU held onto the ball for 37:06, compared to OSU’s 22:54. In that time, the Frogs gained a whopping 663 yards of total offense, more than 200 better than OSU — utilizing mostly freshmen, no less. The guys in purple also won the first down battle, 36-16. Alas, football can be a game of big plays and intangibles, and the Frogs lost in both of those categories.

2. Young Guns
November 7, 2015, will not go down as a happy day in Horned Frog lore, but several young offensive players had career games in purple and white jerseys. Running back Shaun Nixon, who has been limited this season in backing up Aaron Green after redshirting in 2014, led the Frogs with 146 yards receiving and showed flashes of brilliance. KaVontae Turpin, who has already earned a sizable portion of the season’s highlight reel, became Boykin’s clutch receiver in Josh Doctson’s absence. Turp accounted for a total of 282 yards through carries, receptions and kickoff and punt returns. So keep your heads up, TCU Nation. Seeing the streak end may sting, and we all wanted more for the seniors, but the future looks as bright as ever.

3. Unfair
TCU fans, following the lead of Gary Patterson, have not engaged in whining or complaining about the endless injuries plaguing the country’s preseason No. 2 team. No one is making excuses for the loss, but watching Josh Doctson hold his wrist, an expression of obvious pain traveling across his face, drove home just how unlucky this season has been. Josh epitomizes the Frog Factor — a former walkon who grew into a vocal leader on his way to the top spot in numerous TCU record categories. For him to be taken out of a big game by what looked to be a freak injury seems beyond cruel.

4. Flag Festival
The people who launder equipment for the Big 12 referees will be working overtime this week. The yellow flags seemed to be flying all night, and especially early in the game. From an illegal hit out of bounds to a spate of holding calls, the Frogs made numerous mistakes in the penalty department. Going on the road to beat an undefeated team in November required as mistake-free of a game as possible. A number of factors contributed to the loss, but seven avoidable whistles and the corresponding 70 penalty yards did not help the cause.

Sorry, I wear my heart on my sleeve when it’s comes to playing TCU football I really appreciate my Team for the love they showed me #ThruHim

— Trevone BoyKING (@OGcURIOUSDEUCE) November 8, 2015

5. No apologies, please Losses happen. That’s the way football goes. Excluding the Doctson injury, Saturday’s biggest hurt was seeing Trevone Boykin’s postgame tweet, in which he wrote, “Sorry, I wear my heart on my sleeve when [it] comes to playing TCU football.” Ouch! TCU’s player of the century does not owe a single person an apology. If anyone needs to say sorry, it’s we fans who didn’t make the trip to Stillwater to give the senior quarterback the support he deserves. In addition to providing consistent joy through athletic feats, which Frog fans will carry for decades, Boykin has inspired all of us with his good character, perseverance and kind heart. We have three more games to cheer for Trevone while he wears a TCU jersey. Let’s thank him loudly and ensure he knows that we feel uplifted, not let down.

TCU’s Michael Downing tackles Oklahoma State’s Zac Veatch during theCowboys’ 49-29 win in Stillwater. (Associated Press)

Five stats that stood out

1. Saturday’s loss ended several streaks for the Horned Frogs. TCU saw its school-record stretch of 16 games snapped. It was the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Ohio State. TCU also had won 22 consecutive games as an Associated Press Top 5 team and 12 straight Big 12 Conference games. Both streaks ended in Stillwater. 2. On a 12-yard second-quarter completion to Josh Doctson, quarterback Trevone Boykin passed Andy Dalton to become TCU’s leader in passing yards. With 445 yards passing against Oklahoma State, Boykin now has 10,526. Dalton had 10,314 from 2007-10. On Saturday, Boykin also totaled 73 rushing yards, giving him his seventh straight game with at least 300 yards passing and 40 yards on the ground. It is the longest streak in the last 20 years. No other player has had a streak longer than four games. Boykin’s 32-yard touchdown throw to Kolby Listenbee was the quarterback’s 24^th consecutive game with a TD toss, tying for longest active streak in the nation. Boykin’s two rushing touchdowns were his 25^th and 26^th of his career, ranking seventh in TCU history. 3. Shaun Nixon had nine receptions for 146 yards, both career highs. Nixon became the fourth Horned Frog this season to reach triple digits in receiving yards, joining Doctson, Listenbee and KaVontae Turpin. 4. TCU snapped the ball 110 times compared to 53 for Oklahoma State. The Horned Frogs also outgained the Cowboys 663 to 456 and had 20 more first downs. But TCU’s season-high four turnovers led to 21 points, most allowed by the Frogs since yielding 21 points off turnovers in 2013 to Baylor. 5. TCU faced another large crowd on the road this season. On Saturday, 59,061 watched the game at Boone Pickens Stadium, sixth-largest crowd in Stillwater. In four of TCU’s five road games this year, the attendance has ranked in the top six of the home team’s stadium history.

TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin was 34 of 57 for 445 yards and a touchdown. But four interceptions proved costly in a 49-29 loss in Stillwater. (Associated Press)

Five tweets that told the tale

Oklahoma State fans were asking Trevone Boykin to stop so they could shake his hand. He did. pic.twitter.com/8Z62bncYFY — Carlos A. Mendez (@calexmendez) November 8, 2015

Patterson said the way TCU bounces back these next three games will show what this team is made of looking ahead to next year

— Travis L. Brown (@Travis_L_Brown) November 8, 2015

Forever TCU, love my brothers and my university . We’ll bounce back! — Aaron Green (@AaronGreen22) November 8, 2015

#StillwaterStrong TCU Coach Gary Patterson donates to Stillwater Medical Foundation for Homecoming victims Saturday. pic.twitter.com/vmrzcj8JQd

— KOTV – The News On 6 (@NewsOn6Sports) November 7, 2015

At the end of 2013 could you imagine TCU going 20-2 from then to now? There’s a lot to be proud of as a frog fan #FrogFam — TCU Fandom (@tcufandom) November 8, 2015