[Vision2020] Frogs rain on Bronco parade

Wed Dec 24 10:54:17 PST 2008

Fun game to watch, even more so with the final score.  The sun is a little brighter this morning, the birds sound happier.   Carl Westberg Jr.

From: areaman at moscow.com
To: vision2020 at moscow.com; vandal at uidaho.edu
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:17:13 -0800
Subject: [Vision2020] Frogs rain on Bronco parade

Maybe I’m
petty, maybe it’s just my deep-seated hatred of smurf-turf and all things
blue and orange, but dog gone it, BSU got beat!

Now begins
the downward spiral . . .

Frogs rain on parade

Broncos' undefeated
season washed away by TCU

By Bernie Wilson of
the Associated Press

Wednesday,
 December 24, 2008

SAN DIEGO - After
getting a pregame pep talk from LaDainian Tomlinson, the TCU Horned Frogs went
out and promptly fell behind Boise State 10-0 midway
through the first quarter.

No big deal. L.T.
had told them to do what Frogs do, and in this case TCU kept it close before
wrecking Boise State's shot at an
undefeated season.

Joseph Turner scored
on a 17-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to give the No. 11 Horned
Frogs their first lead of the night, which they preserved for a 17-16 victory
over No. 9 Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl.

"We just wore
them down. They can't last forever," Turner said.

Boise State (12-1) was
trying to finish 13-0 for the second time in three seasons.

"It's OK -
you've not going to win every time," BSU coach Chris Petersen said.
"As long as you learn from it and become better for it down the road, we can
live with that."

It was the second
time in five years BSU lost a chance at a perfect season by losing its bowl
game. In 2004, it lost to Louisville in the
Liberty Bowl to finish 11-1.

The Broncos took a
10-0 lead on Ian Johnson's 20-yard touchdown run midway through the first
quarter, but their high-scoring offense bogged down against TCU's fast,
aggressive defense.

TCU (11-2) piled up
yards if not points until finally wearing down the Broncos' defense in the
fourth quarter. The Horned Frogs moved 80 yards in 10 plays on the winning
drive, with Turner finishing it off by shedding a tackle inside the 5-yard line
and diving into the end zone for a 17-13 lead.

Tomlinson, the
former TCU standout who's in his eighth season with the San Diego Chargers,
jumped in celebration and pumped his fist near the TCU bench.

It was a good night
to be a Horned Frog, current and past.

"Two top
defenses, two top offenses in the nation, we just wanted it more," TCU
running back Aaron Brown said.

There wouldn't be a
crazy, victorious finish for Johnson and the Broncos as there was two years ago
in their memorable, highly entertaining overtime win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta
Bowl.

"They had
better athletes than we've ever seen," Johnson said. "They played
with so much heart. You didn't look over there one time and say, 'We broke
them.' They knew they were going to come back and they believed in themselves
the whole time."

After Turner's TD, Boise State got to the
TCU 14 before having to settle for Kyle Brotzman's 33-yard field goal to make
it 17-16.

The Broncos got the
ball back with 6 seconds left on their 33, but Jeremy Childs' lateral after a
catch flip was grabbed by TCU's Matt Panfil.

"The game plan
going in was to stop the run and watch all the trick plays," said TCU
safety Stephen Hodge, who had 10 tackles and an interception. "They know
the trick plays."

Said Johnson:
"You could see they were a little ready for what we had planned."

TCU outgained Boise
State 472 yards to 250. BSU had only 28 yards rushing.

BSU came in
averaging 39 points and 456 yards, one of the benefits of dominating the
Western Athletic Conference.

Johnson scored on a
20-yard run midway through the first quarter. It was his 58th career rushing TD,
breaking former San Diego State star Marshall
Faulk's WAC record and giving the Broncos a 10-0
lead.

Broncos quarterback Kellen
Moore faked a sweep handoff to Childs, then handed to Johnson, who broke
outside and found an open field. Officials brought to the ball to the sideline
for Johnson to keep.

The Broncos needed
the cushion, because TCU's fast, aggressive defense finally clamped down.

Johnson is best
known as scoring the winning 2-point conversion against Oklahoma on a
"Statue of Liberty" play, then proposing to his cheerleader
girlfriend moments later.

Johnson's wife, Chrissy,
spoke with Tomlinson on the sideline after doing a TV interview during the
first quarter.

Boise State defensive
end Bryon Hout intercepted Andy Dalton midway through the second quarter, and
his 62-yard return included a nice spin move to get away from one TCU player
and a stiff arm against another Horned Frog. Hout was a running back in high
school.

Hout returned the
ball to the TCU 11, but the Broncos had to settle for Brotzman's 24-yard field
goal and a 13-0 lead.

"We've had that
happen to us before," TCU quarterback Andy Dalton said. "But it was
early on in the game and we knew we had a lot of time."

TCU finally scored
on Brown's 16-yard run just before halftime.

"That gave us
big momentum. We needed that," Dalton said."

Brown had 102 yards
on 14 carries while Turner had 83 yards on 16 rushes.

"What did they
have, three, four field goals and a touchdown?" TCU coach Gary Patterson
said. "I think that was the key - not letting them have their plays they
needed to do."

BSU had to settle
for field goals by Brotzman three times after getting inside the 20. Brotzman
also missed a 38-yard attempt.

"I knew a
couple of those field goals were going to come back to haunt us," Petersen
said. "We were trying too many field goals. One of them had to be a
touchdown."

Boise State 10 3 0 3 -
16 

TCU 0 7 3 7 - 17 

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