No. 11 TCU beats No. 9 Boise St. in 2008 Poinsettia Bowl
December 24, 2008 by Travis L. Brown · Leave a Comment
The TCU Horned Frogs should finish the year inside the top 10 after beating the Boise State Broncos 17-16 Tuesday.
TCU came back from being down 13-0 in the second quarter to win it by one in the last 4 minutes of the game.
Boise St. started the scoring on a 20-yard touchdown run by star running back Ian Johnson of Fiesta Bowl fame. This play gave Johnson the career record for touchdowns in the WAC, passing Marshall Faulk and bumping former Horned Frog LaDanian Tomlinson to third.
After an Andy Dalton Interception, the TCU defense held the Broncos to a fieldgoal making it 13-0 in the first quarter.
TCU drove down the field at the end of the second and scored on a 16 yard touchdown on an Aaron Brown run, cutting and weaving through the Bronco defense. TCU went into the locker room cutting the score to 13-7 and gaining momentum into halftime.
TCU more than doubled BSU’s offensive production, yet trailed in the score until Joseph Turner powered through the Boise St. secondary and scored on a 17-yard touchdown run.
Stephen Hodge defensive MVP
Boise St. had two opportunities to try and win it within the last two minutes, both being cast aside by TCU interceptions, one coming from the bowl defensive MVP Stephen Hodge. The Broncos also had one opportunity to take the lead on a field goal, but missed wide left.
TCU finished with a total of 475 yards of offence, 278 coming by way of ground and 197 through the air. The Horned Frogs held the high powered Bronco offense to only 255 yards of offence, only 29 on the groud. The nations sack leader Jerry Hughes had one key sack in the second half. Andy Dalton, the games offensive MVP, went 22-35 with one INT.
The game was ended when defensive end Matt Panfil intercepted a pitch attempt after a completed pass with no time left on the clock. Sportscenter closed the highlight piece saying, “Boise State tries and pull another last minute upset and TCU’s Matt Panfil says ‘No, I am NOT Oklahoma.’”
Aaron Brown scores a TD at the end of the first half.
The Horned Frogs only ran the “Wild Frog” offense twice, once trying to throw a deep fade towards the endzone which ended in an interception charged to Jeremy Kerly.
TCU finishes the season 11-2 with losses to no. 1 Oklahoma and no 7 Utah. While TCU sat no 11 before the game, with a few key losses by a large number TCU has the potential to finish as high as no 7 in the nation. Worst case scenario, the Horned Frogs finish 9, the spot occupied by the Bronco’s before the game.
