Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Second half rally not enough as Pirates drop Horned Frogs
By Brandon Ortiz
Sports Editor

Perhaps Pirate defensive tackle Ty Hunt said it best as he walked off the field of Amon Carter Stadium at the end of Tuesday’s game.

David Dunai/SEnior Photographer Junior starting quarterback Sean Stilley playactions to sophomore tailback Corey Connally. Stilley was knocked on the last play of the first half with a high left ankle sprain.

“That was a dog fight.”

At least in the second half it was.

The Frogs(4-4, 2-2 Conference USA) probably couldn’t have played much worse in the first half than it did Tuesday in front of 25,134 fans and a national television audience. They probably couldn’t have played much better in the second half, either, as TCU fell just short, 37-30 to East Carolina (5-3, 4-0).

“We got to play 60 minutes,” head coach Gary Patterson said. “In the second half we came out and played the way we are supposed to play for four quarters. There wasn’t much difference except we decided to play. First half we didn’t.”

The first half was both bad on paper and on the field.

Junior quarterback Sean Stilley was sacked from behind by defensive tackle Ja’Waren Blair and twisted into an awkward position in the waning seconds of the first half. Stilley did not get up from the play, and had to be carted off the field. Stilley missed the rest of the game with a high ankle sprain in his left leg.

After Stilley was knocked out of the game in the final seconds of the first half, junior Casey Printers, who didn’t start because of bruised shoulder he suffered Oct. 13 against Tulane, stepped into rally the Frogs from 24-point deficit. Printers completed 24-of-50 passes for 319 yards – all career highs – and two touchdowns in the second half to put the Frogs within a touchdown of tying the game.

“We knew we were going to have to come out and throw the ball,” Printers said after the game with an ice pack on his shoulder.

The Frogs regained possession with 1:50 left in the game when second-string kicker Tommy Taylor kicked an onside kick where redshirt freshman strong safety Marvin Godbolt recovered. It was TCU’s second onside recovery of the game.

With 35 seconds left in the game and TCU trailing by a touchdown, Printers fired to senior tight end Matt Schobel in a crowd of Pirates for a 17-yard gain to convert on fourth-and-10.

The play got TCU to the East Carolina 10, but it was the closest the Frogs would get to victory. After spiking the ball, Printers threw to wide receiver Adrian Madise (10 catches, 109 yards) in the corner of the end zone, but he couldn’t hang on. TCU then had a costly holding penalty on third down and was penalized 10 yards.

On the next play, Printers threw to junior receiver LaTarence Dunbar (10 catches, 139 yards) in the back of the end zone, but Dunbar caught the ball out of bounds.

On fourth-and-goal on the 20, Printers drilled a pass to Madise in front of the goal line, but Pirates free safety Travis Heath broke up the pass and the game was over.

“When I took my five step drop, all I saw were my guys waiting in the end zone and I looked to the left on Madise’s side,” Printers said. “It was one-on-one, so I took a chance. We didn’t have anything to lose so I tried to stick it in there. The cornerback made a great play.”

Things looked bad in the first half.

TCU’s quarterback was knocked out of the game on the final play of the first half, its defense surrendered 301 yards and looked overmatched at times against East Carolina’s prolific offense, and its offense was stagnant, managing only four first downs, 57 yards total offense and minus-4 yards rushing.

On East Carolina’s first drive, junior linebacker LaMarcus McDonald trounced on a fumble by quarterback David Gerrard to recover possession for TCU.

The Frogs went three and out, but sophomore placed-kicker Nick Browne hit a career best 47-yard field goal to put TCU on the board.

Pirates fullback Leonard Henry took the pitch on the option and slashed his way to the 5-yard line, where he was hit at the knees by two TCU defenders, leapt and did a backwards flip into the end zone for a touchdown. Place-kicker Jarad Preston missed the point after attempt, and TCU trailed by a field goal, 6-3.

“What happened in the first half was pretty much pathetic in my point of view from the defensive standpoint,” senior linebacker Chad Bayer said. “We missed way too many tackles. Way too many people caught balls on us. In the locker room we told ourselves we were still in this. We had a chance.”

TCU trailed on the score board 27-3 and Patterson gave his team a talk at halftime.
“Instead of yelling at them, I told them ‘Are they that much better than you? Are they that much more talented? Do I need to go recruit better players?’” Patterson said.

“That’s what it looked like in the first half, and that’s not true.”

The Frogs responded, scoring 34 points, rolling up 350 yards of offense and holding East Carolina to 10 points and 50 yards.

“I thought we really grew up in the second half,” Patterson said. "We came up about 10 yards short. “I give our kids a lot of credit. They came out in the second half and fought. We grew up a lot today.”

Printers rallied the Frogs back, but in the end, they came up just short.

“We knew this was going to be a dog fight," Printers said. “Those guys came out and they fought. They wanted the game. They broke tackles. They fought. They pushed, they shoved, they scratched, they clawed. That’s what it takes to win. That’s what we did in the second half.”

Brandon Ortiz
b.p.ortiz@student.tcu.edu