picking off a win
Frogs’ top-ranked defense leads team to 11th straight
win
By Matt Stiver
skiff staff
The TCU defense entered Saturday’s game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane boasting the nation’s top-ranked unit.
Following a 17-3 victory, TCU’s defense remained the nation’s stingiest unit, allowing just 246 yards and 8.5 points a game. To TCU coaches and players, even that ranking may not do the defense justice.
With the TCU offense bogged down by the rain and held down by an inspired Tulsa squad, the Frogs’ defense carried the team to victory and preserved the Frogs’ unbeaten season.
“Sometimes you have to win ugly,” head coach Dennis Franchione said. “Our defense certainly came through for us tonight.”
The offense struggled most of the night. The three points at halftime and 17 total were the fewest for TCU this season. Senior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 119 yards, 75 yards below his average. The Frogs were outgained on offense for the first time this season (294-284), after usually doubling up their opponents.
Though the numbers were not spectacular, the defense ensured the outcome
of the game was never in doubt.
Senior safety LaVar Veale said senior defensive end Shawn Worthen exhorted
their teammates to a silent TCU locker room during halftime.
“He said, ‘We didn’t come this far to lose,’ ” Veale told The Dallas Morning News. “The offense was struggling, and it was up to us to keep (Tulsa) from scoring. We knew the offense would come through sooner or later.”
The Frogs scored two touchdowns Saturday. Both came as a direct result
of the efforts of the defense.
With 3:18 left in the third quarter, sophomore cornerback Bo Springfield
picked off a Josh Blankenship pass at the Tulsa 47-yard line. With the
Tulsa defense focusing on stopping Tomlinson, sophomore quarterback Casey
Printers found running room on the option. At the Tulsa 21, Printers dropped
back and threw a strike to senior wide receiver Tim Maiden for a touchdown.
The Frogs would not trail again.
TCU’s second touchdown, which put Tulsa away, again resulted from an interception. Starting in place of sophomore cornerback Jason Goss, junior Kenneth Hilliard picked off an Andrew LeCrone pass at midfield and returned it 36 yards to the Tulsa 14. Printers kept the ball on the option and gained 13 yards to the Tulsa 1-yard line. On the next play, Tomlinson plunged in for the 45th touchdown of his career.
Though the Frogs allowed 285 yards, 49 more than their average, they kept Tulsa out of the end zone.
With the score tied at 3 late in the second quarter and Tulsa driving, the TCU defense stood firm. When Blankenship rolled out from the TCU 6-yard line, he fired the go-ahead touchdown pass into the end zone. But Veale intercepted the pass, preserving the tie.
Defensive coordinator Gary Patterson said the Frogs’ defensive strategy is “one more point.” His unit held Tulsa out of the end zone and enabled the offense to score that “one more point.”
Matt Stiver
m.r.stiver@student.tcu.edu
Offense sputters to season’s lowest output
By Chad Carey
staff reporter
Going into Saturday night’s football game against Tulsa, another easy TCU win wasn’t a bold prediction. After all, the Frogs were ranked in the top 10 and were riding the second-longest winning streak in the nation.
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Tulsa World
Junior weak safety Charlie Owens drags down Tulsa’s Ken Bohanon in the first half at Skelly Stadium in Tulsa, Okla., Saturday. |
But somebody forgot to tell Tulsa that all of that mattered. TCU struggled throughout the rainy conditions, but in the end had enough fight left to pull out a 17-3 win.
The Horned Frogs (6-0, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference) took advantage
of four interceptions to score twice in a two-minute span late in the
third quarter and early in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
The win was the Frogs’ 11th straight and marked the first time since
1938 the Frogs have started a season 60.
Senior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson had 119 yards on 27 carries against a Tulsa defense that gave up 450 rushing yards to New Mexico State just one week before. Tomlinson’s 119 yards were enough to get him over the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season. He is the only player to rush for 1,000 yards in two separate seasons at TCU.
The Horned Frogs took a 3-0 lead on a 42-yard field goal by senior place kicker Chris Kaylakie in the first quarter.
The Golden Hurricane had a chance to score in the final two minutes of the first half, but senior safety LaVar Veale intercepted quarterback Josh Blankenship’s pass in the end zone.
Tulsa and the Horned Frogs went into halftime knotted at 3-3. It was
the
first time this season the Frogs were tied at halftime. In TCU’s
previous
six games, they had outscored their opponents 110-31 in the first
half of games this season.
Senior defensive tackle Shawn Worthen said he could see the team needed some motivation.
“I told (the team) that I’ve been here since 1997 when we were 1-10, and I didn’t come this far and we didn’t come this far, to give it all up against Tulsa,” Worthen said. “Tulsa is a good team, but there is no team TCU can’t beat if we play TCU football.”
With less than one minute remaining in the third quarter, sophomore cornerback
Bo Springfield picked off Blankenship, giving the Frogs the ball at the
Tulsa 47-yard line. Five plays later, sophomore quarterback Casey Printers
connected with wide receiver Tim Maiden for a 21-yard touchdown pass to
give TCU a 10-3 lead.
On Tulsa’s next offensive series, senior wide receiver Andrew LeCrone fumbled a hand-off from Blankenship. Instead of falling on the ball, LeCrone tried to throw it down field. Junior cornerback Kenneth Hilliard made the interception and returned the ball to Tulsa’s 14-yard line. Two plays later, Tomlinson scored to give TCU a 14-point lead.
After a game where the offense seemed to struggle through the sloppy weather conditions, head coach Dennis Franchione praised the defense.
“There is not enough you can say about the defense,” Franchione said. “That interception by Veale in the second quarter in the end zone was big. The turnovers in the third quarter were big.
“(Defensive coordinator) Gary Patterson had them in good position, played them physical and got the turnovers we needed.”
Chad Carey
chadcarey@mindspring.com