Northwestern hurt by missed kicks in loss to TCU

? Peter LoCoco made up for his missed kicks and gave TCU a wild season-opening win.

After the walk-on kicker missed his first extra point, then had a 25-yard field goal blocked in the first overtime, LoCoco made a 47-yarder in the second overtime Thursday night to give the Horned Frogs a 48-45 victory over Northwestern.

Brett Huffman missed five field goals for the Wildcats, including both of his attempts in overtime.

“He hasn’t missed six kicks all camp,” coach Randy Walker said. “He just wasn’t striking the ball … but he’s a good kicker. He’s devastated as you might guess. It wasn’t him kicking out there. I don’t know who it was, but it wasn’t him.”

Northwestern never led, but came back to tie the game three times. The last rally came with 13 seconds left when Brett Basanez’s TD pass to Shaun Herbert forced overtime.

Basanez had a career night, completing 39 of 62 passes for a Northwestern record of 513 yards and four touchdowns — matching his total from last season.

Northwestern ran 100 plays for 637 yards. Jonathan Fields had eight catches for 202 yards and three touchdowns for the Wildcats, who will face Kansas University at Northwestern on Sept. 18.