TCU students and football fans alike turned to numerous social media outlets Thursday to express their support for Trevone Boykin as the new starting quarterback.
When news broke Thursday morning of Casey Pachall’s arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, people took to Twitter and Facebook to spread the word.
Another social media frenzy began when head coach Gary Patterson announced the redshirt freshman from Mesquite would be starting as quarterback for Saturday’s game.
Boykin and Pachall have similar statistics when it comes to their high school football careers. As a senior Pachall passed for 2,808 yards with 31 touchdowns and Boykin passed for 2,930 yards with 28 touchdowns.
Boykin surpassed Pachall when it came to rushing yards.
In a radio interview with SiriusXM College Thursday Patterson said, "We actually have more offense with Trevone Boykin in the game than we have with Casey Pachall in the game."
In light of Pachall’s arrest and indefinite suspension, fans and students chose to focus their attention on backing up Boykin.
A Facebook page named “TCU vs. The World 2012: In Boykin We Trust” was created by sophomore mechanical engineering major Kyle Schambach.
Schambach said he wanted to create the page because he felt the student body should rally around the team.
On the Facebook page Schambach wrote, “I don't know what Gary Patterson plans to do about Casey in the long term, but right now we need to support the man that will be playing in his absence.”
All posts on the page include positive messages for the football team and Boykin. Schambach said he didn’t want people to think the page was a way to bash Pachall.
As for the name of the page, Schambach wrote in an email that he got the idea from another Facebook group he saw last year, “LSU vs. The World 2011: In Lee We Trust.” Schambach said that group was created after LSU’s starting quarterback was suspended indefinitely.
“They rallied around their backup quarterback and he did not lose a game while the starting quarterback was suspended,” Schambach wrote.
Schambach wrote that he remembered the LSU group after he heard about Pachall’s suspension and figured the name would fit perfectly.
Schambach’s page received a lot of interest from Facebook users. The page accumulated more than 1,200 “likes” after it was created on Thursday.
“I honestly didn't expect so many people to like the page so quickly. I guess that says a lot about how quickly our school can rally behind the football team when faced with adversity,” Schambach wrote.
Some social media users chose Twitter to voice their support for Boykin. Many tweets included the hashtag handle #InBoykinWeTrust.
— Trey Fallon (@TreyFallon) October 4, 2012
A common theme from Twitter users was confidence and belief in Boykin to get the job done.
I believe in Trevone Boykin
— Drew Herschmann (@drewskii7) October 4, 2012
YouTube videos featuring highlights of Boykin showed a spike in views on Thursday.
One viewer commented on a Boykin video Thursday, ”This video is about to get a lot more hits.” Another viewer commented, “Now you are a freshman starter… good luck Trevone! Go Frogs.”
Horned Frog fans are hoping Boykin will dominate the field against Iowa State on Saturday, but for now he is dominating social media.