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TCU defense decimates Broncos in the second half
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San Diego, Calif. – Coming into this game, Texas Christian University knew what they were up against with one of the most dynamic and intelligent offenses in the country. They planned on beating Boise State up front and forcing them to put the ball in the air. They did and it worked.
The Horned Frogs held BSU to just 18 rushing attempts apart from two sacks on redshirt freshman quarterback Kellen Moore. Not nearly enough to keep the TCU defense honest or on their heels. The sunny side was that Broncos Senior Ian Johnson broke the Western Athletic Conference record for career rushing touchdowns which now stands at 58.
“The game plan going in was to stop the run and watch all the trick plays,” TCU senior safety Stephen Hodge said. “.[We needed to watch] balls over our head – we let that get our of hand a little bit, but once we got that under control, we got it under control.”
But the Broncos defense didn’t leave with a broken and battered résumé. Sophomore Jeron Johnson scored one in the record books, becoming the leader in solo tackles for the Poinsettia Bowl with 12. He recorded 14 tackles total.
The Horned Frogs kept the football out of BSU’s hands, controlling it for 36:07 of the game and hold the Broncos offense to just 250 offensive yards. TCU accrued 472 yards total.
“It really got back to their style,” BSU coach Chris Petersen said. “They’re a physical team and you could see that coming in the second half.”
The Horned Frogs held the ball for and extra 2:23 in the second half alone.
TCU recorded their fourth straight bowl game victory and sent their senior class out with the most victories of any prior, the seniors reaching 41 victories total.
The big play belonged to the Broncos with two plays over 50 yards and one leaping interception by J. Johnson near the endzone early in the game and another by freshman Bryon Hout, returning it for 65 yards.
But by the end of the day, it wasn’t enough.
We didn’t stop them like we needed to,” J. Johnson said. “The better team won tonight.”
The best thing BSU can take away from this loss is yet another improved season which would consist of another great bowl match-up and conference championship during their 2009 campaign.
“You’re not going to win every time,” Petersen said. “As long as you learn from it and you become better for it down the road, we can live with that. I know this game somehow, some way will make us better.”
They will do just that without a fifth of their roster returning next season with seniors graduating. Much of their roster will be battle tested next year.
Kirk Bell