LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — TCU coach Gary Patterson spent most of Saturday watching every bounce, blooper and bizarre play go against his team on a frigid afternoon at Kansas.

In the end, the Horned Frogs (No. 4 CFP, No. 5 AP) did just enough to turn back a spirited upset bid by the Jayhawks and remain in contention for the inaugural College Football Playoff.

“A lot of people would have lost that ballgame,” Patterson said after the 34-30 win. “There wasn’t any style points here other than the fact that we fought back and won the game.”

Aaron Green ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns, and Cameron Echols-Luper returned a punt 69 yards for another score to pace the comeback from a 27-17 third-quarter deficit. Trevone Boykin added 330 yards passing and a touchdown as TCU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) avoided what would have been a catastrophic blow to its national title hopes.

The Horned Frogs won their fifth straight, even without top running back B.J. Catalon. And with a trip to Texas followed by a home game against lowly Iowa State, they may have the easiest road standing between them and the four-team playoff for the national title.

Still, even after Chris Hackett’s interception with 3:26 left sealed the victory, the underwhelming performance could cost TCU its spot in the playoff committee’s top four.

“We’re not too worried about it,” Boykin said. “It’s not up to us. It’s up to the committee.”

Michael Cummings had 332 yards and two touchdowns passing for the Jayhawks (3-7, 1-6), who were trying for their first regular-season win over a top-5 team since beating Colorado in 1995. Jimmay Mundine had 137 yards receiving and a touchdown, and Nigel King had 128 yards and a score as the Jayhawks nearly gave a sparse crowd of about 10,000 fans a reason to celebrate.

Still, Kansas made another strong statement in support of interim coach Clint Bowen, who has steadied the program after Charlie Weis was fired and become a strong pick for the full-time job.

“We were a play or two away from probably a better day,” Bowen said.

TCU did what most expected on the game’s opening drive, going 67 yards in just over 2 minutes for a touchdown. But after that, nothing went as expected for quite some time.

After holding Kansas, TCU was flagged for roughing the punter. Later in the drive, the Jayhawks attempted a field goal and holder T.J. Millweard dropped the snap, scrambled to his left and threw a pass for a first down instead. Then, a TCU player batted a third-down pass and it was caught by the Jayhawks’ Nick Harwell for another first down.

Finally, Corey Avery capped the bizarre 17-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

“We didn’t get a lot of breaks,” Hackett said with a smile.

Kansas held on fourth-and-1 at its 11 to get the ball back, and the Jayhawks promptly headed 89 yards the other way, with Mundine hauling in a 13-yard touchdown pass to give Kansas the lead.

By that point, the few thousand fans in Memorial Stadium were awaking from stunned silence.

Not everything went perfectly for Kansas. A 22-yard interception return for a TD was wiped away by an illegal substitution penalty, and a 16-yard pass into the red zone for a first down was taken away by a review that showed the ball had skipped off the turf. The Jayhawks wound up punting.

Still, they headed into the locker room with a 13-10 lead.

Kansas pushed the lead to 20-10 with an 82-yard drive to start the second half, and the Horned Frogs answered with a 72-yard drive that Green capped with a short touchdown run.

That set up one of the game’s highlights: Cummings threw a pass to King down the sideline, and the big wide receiver caught the ball after three bobbles and ran 78 yards for the score.

There was still plenty of time, and the Horned Frogs showed plenty of poise.

After a quick drive downfield, Green’s 24-yard touchdown run pulled TCU to 27-24. And after the Horned Frogs’ defense forced a punt, Echols-Luper sliced through the coverage for his big return that gave them their first lead since the game’s opening minutes.

TCU held on through a tense fourth quarter to avoid the upset bid.

“We knew it was going to be tough,” Boykin said. “Everybody is going to be out for us because we’re one of the teams at the top right now.”

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Devonte’ Graham came off the bench Friday night to provide fifth-ranked Kansas with a much-needed spark, providing the scuffling Jayhawks with some scoring and toughness.

Maybe a bit too much toughness.

On one play in the first half of their 69-59 victory over UC-Santa Barbara, the freshman guard was whistled for a technical foul after he walloped a defender with an elbow. Graham walked sheepishly back to the bench, where Kansas coach Bill Self proceeded to — ah, instruct him.

“He wasn’t happy,” Graham said with a grin. “He was mad.”

Truth of the matter? There wasn’t much for Self to be happy about Friday night.

Graham finished with 14 points, Perry Ellis had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Frank Mason III finished with 12 points. But the Jayhawks also committed 16 turnovers, struggled with their shooting and didn’t put away the pesky Gauchos until a big second-half run.

The defending Big 12 champions had better solve their ills in a hurry. They have a date with top-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

“We need to develop an identity,” Self said. “We’re going to need to win games muddy.”

Alan Williams led Santa Barbara with 22 points and 13 rebounds, frustrating the Jayhawks with some veteran guile. The Big West’s top returning scorer also had four blocked shots.

“We just didn’t make enough shots,” he said. “We’re a better shooting team than that.”

The Jayhawks won their 42nd straight season opener at Allen Fieldhouse, but it certainly wasn’t easy. A team that lost freshmen sensations Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid to the NBA draft had to rely on a bevy of freshmen, and it showed throughout the first half.

Kansas went 6 minutes without a field goal at one point, turning the ball over four times in a span of six possessions. The Gauchos only had one field goal in a span of nearly 10 minutes, though, and they struggled on the boards on both ends of the floor.

Still, Santa Barbara had forged a 15-14 lead with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the half before Graham went on his scoring binge. The diminutive freshman scored eight of the next 11 points for Kansas, and then added a put back of his own miss before the buzzer for a 31-23 lead.

“Man, he came in and stepped up,” Ellis said. “That’s what we needed from our freshmen.”

The Gauchos, picked to contend for the Big West title, stubbornly refused to go away. They made one more push early in the second half, closing within 44-41 on Zalmico Harmon’s bucket.

Cliff Alexander answered with two foul shots at the other end, and that kicked off a 14-4 surge that helped to put the game away. Alexander had the highlight of the run, a thunderous dunk off a feed from fellow freshman Svi Mykhailiuk that gave the Jayhawks a 54-43 lead.

Santa Barbara never seriously threatened again.

“We played a very good team,” Santa Barbara coach Bob Williams said. “I thought our guys found a way to score and stay in the game, and that’s the best you can say when you don’t shoot the ball very well.”

FOUL TROUBLE

Both teams heard plenty of whistles. Graham and Mason picked up two early on for Kansas, though the Jayhawks managed their foul trouble well in the second half. Meanwhile, Santa Barbara put them in the bonus with 11:32 left in the game. The Gauchos’ John Green fouled out.

TIP-INS

Kansas: Sophomore forward Brannen Greene got his first career start. He was 1 for 3 from the field and finished with three points, two rebounds and one assist.

Santa Barbara: Mitch Brewe spent the night hearing “Airball!” from the Kansas students. The junior forward fired up two of them in the game.

UP NEXT

Kansas takes a big step up in competition for the second straight year when it takes on the Wildcats. Last year, the Jayhawks knocked off Duke in Chicago in their second game.

Santa Barbara visits Florida-Gulf Coast on Monday night. The two will play again in January.

— Associated Press —