TCU rallies to beat Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl

by Todd E. Jones of College Football Top Ten

In a game that should probably be a part of college football playoffs instead of a bowl game, it looks as if the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl pulled off the best bowl game of the year. Eleventh ranked TCU trailed 13 to 0 in the second quarter, but scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17-13 lead in the fourth quarter and hung on to beat the ninth ranked Boise State Broncos 17-16.

What did we learn from this game? We learned that the San Diego County Credit Union is made up of a bunch of nice folks who really work for the community, if you believe their commercials, and a great place to bank, unless you live in Texas. Here we have Legacy Texas Bank. It is, of course, in Texas. We watched as Boise State running back Ian Johnson break the Western Athletic Conference rushing touchdown record. And, we learned that this is the winningest senior class in TCU football history with 41 wins.

Wearing black jerseys, TCU came out a bit flat. It was the Broncos who jumped out to the early lead scoring on their first two possessions to take a 10-0 lead while TCU’s offense was stagnant. Later, when the Horned Frogs offense began to roll, they self destructed with turnovers, penalties and missed opportunities. Then, with no timeouts and a minute and twenty-two seconds left, TCU quarterback Andy Dalton successfully led TCU on a drive that ended with a nifty run by Aaron Brown with 24 seconds left. The touchdown cut the lead to 13-7 at halftime.

In the second half, after a missed field goal by Boise State, the Frogs went to work. They drove deep in to Boise’s territory getting a field goal making the score 13-10. After a Boise punt, TCU drove 80 yards capped off by a Joseph Turner touchdown giving the Frogs a 17-13 lead. On the next possession, Boise was able to drive down for a field goal making the score 17-16.

TCU got the ball with four minutes and 39 seconds left and tried to keep the ball on the ground to run out the clock. TCU benefited from a great catch by Shae Reagan to keep the drive going. However, the Frogs were forced to punt the ball away and Anson Kelton punted the ball to the Bronco 17 with a minute and fifty-three seconds left. On first down, the Frogs brought an all out linebacker blitz forcing Bronco quarterback Kellen Moore to throw an interception to TCU’s Stephen Hodge. The Frogs ran the cock down to six seconds before giving the ball back to Boise State. Boise’s pass and attempted lateral was picked off by TCU’s Matt Panfil to seal the game.

For the game, TCU’s Aaron Brown rushed for 102 yards while Joseph Turner had 83 rushing yards. The Horned Frog defense held the prolific Bronco offense in check with just 250 total yards. Quarterback Andy Dalton completed 22-of-35 passes for 197 yards and rushed 16 times for 74 yards and was named the Offensive MVP of the bowl game. Stephen Hodge was named the Defensive MVP with 11 tackles, one sack, and an interception. Wide receiver Jimmy Young had 62 yards receiving, just missing a 1,000 yard season as he finished with 988 yards receiving.

The win gives the Horned Frogs 11 wins on the year for the third time in four seasons. TCU now has four bowl victories in a row. The Poinsettia bowl was coach Gary Patterson’s 100th game as TCU head Frog with a record of 73-27.

Information courtesy of the TCU Athletic Decpartment

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