ARLINGTON -- TCU football put forth a tremendous performance against No. 4 Ohio State, but it wasn’t quite enough in a tight 40-28 loss to the Buckeyes.

The Horned Frogs led for much of the second and third quarter, but made some critical mistakes down the stretch to give the game away. The loss drops No. 15 TCU’s record to 2-1, but with a pair of strong wins on the schedule heading into Big 12 play.

Here are three takeaways from the emotional rollercoaster at AT&T Stadium.

Disastrous stretch

This game was lost in the third quarter. The Horned Frogs gave up a 63-yard touchdown, coughed up a 28-yard pick-six and mishandled a punt to set up a third touchdown. The game swung from a 21-19 lead to a 33-21 deficit in just four minutes of game time.

TCU outplayed Ohio State. It wasn’t even that close. But the baffling stretches at the beginning of the first and middle of the third was simply too much against one of the most talented teams in the nation.

Breakout performance

While the final result wasn’t what TCU fans hoped, sophomore quarterback Shawn Robinson flashed a tremendous amount of upside. He ultimately completed 24-of-39 for 308 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, it also included a pick-six, a fumble which Ohio State recovered for a touchdown and a critical pick to effectively end the game.

However, the performance transcended the numbers. Robinson looked much more comfortable dealing with pressure than his first three starts. He flashed much more effective touch on some pretty downfield passes. Simply put, he looked like a blue-chip quarterback. Robinson will learn from this performance and be even better heading into Big 12 play.

Plenty of optimism

TCU is in a moderate rebuilding year. Much of the offense is very young. This team was never supposed to compete with Ohio State, and it definitely wasn’t supposed to outplay the Buckeyes with a young quarterback in his fourth career start.

The Horned Frogs flashed a level of upside that we didn’t think we’d see this season. TCU can compete with any team in the nation. Once this team fixes its mental errors – and on a Gary Patterson-coached team, that will happen – the Horned Frogs can legitimately compete for a Big 12 championship this season.