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Arlington, Texas • The Big 12-bound TCU Horned Frogs clearly, soundly and in every way imaginable beat the BYU Cougars the past three times they played as Mountain West Conference rivals. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said so himself.

Friday night at Cowboys Stadium, the independent Cougars clearly beat themselves.

Soundly, and in every way imaginable.

With four of TCU's five touchdowns coming after major miscues in the BYU punting game, the Horned Frogs clawed their way to a 38-28 win over the Cougars, who were far more competitive this time around against TCU, but still left town with a bitter, angst-filled loss.

In what was quite likely their last opportunity to exact some revenge for those three beatdowns to the tune of 101-17, the Cougars blew a Texas-size opportunity in front of 50,094 fans and what was left of a national television audience distracted by Game 7 of the World Series and a 14-0 deficit five minutes into the game.

"I am as frustrated as I have ever been in coaching because of that," Mendenhall said.

The Cougar offense moved the ball relatively well most of the game, and the defense was stout in many stretches, but special teams breakdowns — almost comical at times — led to the loss.

"I think it was clear to all that it was an evenly fought game and could have gone a number of ways," Mendenhall said.

The Cougars won in almost every statistical category but the one that counts: the final score.

To wit, the Cougars had 24 first downs to TCU's 14, had 354 total yards to TCU's 283, and converted on eight of 15 third-down opportunities while holding the Frogs to 5 of 14.

"It is a difficult loss. ... It hurts," said safety Travis Uale. "The way we played was not displayed on the scoreboard."

Unless the big board shows turnovers and botched special teams plays, that is.

The Cougars screwed up two punt snaps that led directly to TCU touchdowns. Riley Stephenson's partially blocked punt set the Frogs up for another easy score, and a fourth line-drive punt netted only 16 yards after Ed Wesley returned it to the Cougar 45 just before halftime.

Two plays later, Casey Pachall threw a 33-yard touchdown pass on the same play that netted a 48-yard TD pass on the second play of the game and wasn't corrected in BYU's secondary.

That put TCU ahead 28-10 at halftime, and although they played better in the second half, the Cougars couldn't come back.

"Again, we just didn't play clean enough to win the game," said Mendenhall, more despondent after this loss than he was after any this season, including the blitzing by Utah.

Riley Nelson went the whole way at quarterback for BYU, and hurt the Frogs with his legs while costing his own team several times with his arm. Nelson threw two interceptions and an incomplete backward pass that was recovered by the Frogs and set up their clinching field goal with 5:32 remaining. He completed 15 of 29 passes for 215 yards and a TD. He rushed for a game-high 84 yards and a two-point conversion, then showed his frustration by high-fiving the official who was signaling the score.

"This one hurts because I could not have played worse in the first half," Nelson said. "... I feel really disappointed in my performance."

Trailing 35-21 after JD Falslev's 67-yard punt return for a TD, the Cougars forced a TCU punt and were driving again before the backward pass disaster. They seemingly recovered from that, but on third-and-5 Travis Uale was flagged for "targeting" a TCU receiver after an incomplete pass. The Frogs eventually kicked a 35-yard field goal to put the game out of reach with 5:32 remaining.

"I thought [Uale's hit] was a clean play," Mendenhall said. "... I thought it was a great play."

But just like BYU's game, a great play was soured by a sour result.

drew@sltrib.comTwitter: @drewjay