The Big 12 Conference named TCU’s KaVontae Turpin as its Special Teams Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.

TCU head coach Gary Patterson said Turpin’s passion helps fuel the success on gameday.

“Turp just loves to play the game,” Patterson said. “You put him out there in front of people and he loves to play.”

Saturday, Turpin totaled 169 return yards, including a career-long 64-yard kickoff return with less than a minute to play in regulation, putting TCU in field goal position for a potential win against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

“Turpin is everywhere and he’s one of those guys who you can’t quantify by size what he means to a football team and what he does,” Patterson said.

Turpin tied a career high with seven receptions for 126 yards while recording a career-best 3695 all-purpose yards. He averaged 22.7 yards each time he touched the ball.

Turpin leads the Big 12 in punt return average (28.8 yards) and kickoff return average (34.0 yards). He also leads the nation in all-purpose yards (236.0 yards per game). He is the only player nationally to rank in the top five in both categories, placing second in punt returns and fifth in kickoff returns.  

Turpin also leads the Horned Frogs with 14 catches. His own personal record has been tied with seven catches in each of TCU’s first two games.

Patterson compared Turpin to former TCU wide receiver Jeremy Kerley, who Monday night led the San Francisco 49ers with seven receptions for a team-high 61 yards in the team’s victory against the Los Angeles Rams.

The Horned Frogs face the Iowa State Cyclones Saturday at 11 a.m. in Amon G. Carter Stadium.