No. 4 TCU Defeats BYU

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FORT WORTH, Texas -- No. 4 TCU earned a 31-3 home victory over BYU on Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

BYU’s injury-riddled defense played well against TCU’s high-scoring offense, but the hometown Horned Frogs used their No. 1-ranked defense to stifle the Cougar offensive attack and improve to 7-0 on the year. With the loss, BYU falls to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain West Conference.

The BYU defense held strong against TCU, holding the Horned Frogs to some of their lowest offensive totals of the season. The Cougars held TCU to 108 rushing yards, the Horned Frogs’ lowest total of the season and far below their season average of 278.7 yards per game, seventh-best in the country. BYU also kept TCU 100 total offensive yards below its season average.

The Cougars set their strong defensive tone in the first half, holding a TCU team averaging 279 yards on the ground per game to just 37 rushing yards on 21 carries in the opening 30 minutes. The Horned Frogs had trouble getting on the scoreboard as well until scoring two late touchdowns on back-to-back short field possessions in the final two minutes of the half.

Unfortunately for BYU, the Cougar offense could not get anything going against the nation’s top defensive team, managing only one first down in the half and 13 total yards. TCU has led the NCAA in total defense each of the last two years and four times in the past 10 seasons.

The only score of the first quarter came with 2:19 left when TCU kicked a 20-yard field goal for the 3-0 advantage. Highlighted by strong defensive plays from senior defensive end Vic So’oto and junior cornerback Corby Eason, BYU forced punts on TCU’s first two possessions of the second quarter. So’oto kept pursuit on TCU quarterback Andy Dalton as he ran to his right on a third-and-three call, taking the All-MWC quarterback down for a 2-yard loss. On the next defensive series, Eason blindsided Dalton on a third-and-five corner blitz to record the first sack of his career.

TCU’s two first-half touchdowns came through the air as the second quarter was winding down, converting a 45-yard pass and a 14-yard strike to widen the margin to 17-0. The Horned Frog scores came quickly on a two-play 46-yard drive and a three-play 38-yard drive with both scores happening with less than 90 seconds on the clock. TCU made the second drive possible thanks to a Tank Carder interception of Heaps at the 38-yard line.

Offensively, BYU regrouped in the locker room and put the only points of the third quarter on the board. The Cougars totaled 112 yards in the quarter, 70 of which coming on a 14-play drive that resulted in a Mitch Payne 27-yard field goal. The senior kicker is a perfect 8-for-8 on field goals attempted inside 30 yards this season and is 8-of-10 overall.

TCU pushed the lead to 24-3 on a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Josh Boyce, his second touchdown of the day, with 10:03 remaining, then capped the day’s scoring on a 21-yard pass play on fourth down with 4:26 left in the game.

BYU will host Wyoming on Saturday, Oct. 23 at LaVell Edwards Stadium at 12 p.m. MT. TCU will play No. 23 Air Force at home.

BYU (2-5,1-2) vs. TCU (7-0,3-0)

Date: Oct 16, 2010 Site: Fort Worth, Texas Stadium: Amon Carter Stadium

Attendance: 40416

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

BYU................. 0 0 3 0 - 3

TCU................. 3 14 0 14 - 31

Scoring Summary:

1st 02:19 TC - EVANS, Ross 20 yd field goal, 7-39 3:23, BY 0 - TC 3

2nd 01:30 TC - BOYCE, Josh 35 yd pass from DALTON, Andy (EVANS, Ross kick), 2-46 0:12, BY 0 - TC 10

00:26 TC - YOUNG, Jimmy 14 yd pass from DALTON, Andy (EVANS, Ross kick), 3-38 0:46, BY 0 - TC 17

3rd 01:14 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 27 yd field goal, 14-70 5:31, BY 3 - TC 17

4th 10:03 TC - BOYCE, Josh 20 yd pass from DALTON, Andy (EVANS, Ross kick), 8-64 3:41, BY 3 - TC 24

04:26 TC - KERLEY, Jeremy 21 yd pass from DALTON, Andy (EVANS, Ross kick), 9-51 4:35, BY 3 - TC 31

BYU TCU

FIRST DOWNS................... 10 23

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 27-56 38-108

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 91 273

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 30-14-2 36-24-0

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 57-147 74-381

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............ 1-23 4-56

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 6-123 2-81

Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 2-2

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 7-48.0 6-41.3

Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 3-0

Penalties-Yards............... 4-20 4-20

Possession Time............... 24:16 35:44

Third-Down Conversions........ 3 of 14 7 of 16

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 2 1 of 2

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-1 3-3

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 2-12 3-21

RUSHING: BYU-KARIYA, Bryan 12-57; DI LUIGI, JJ 9-11; QUEZADA, Joshua 2-6;

HAGUE, Mike 1-3; HEAPS, Jake 3-minus 21. TCU-WESLEY, Ed 10-53; TUCKER, Matthew

10-31; JAMES, Waymon 5-21; DALTON, Andy 7-16; DEAN, Aundre 2-9; PACHALL, Casey

1-2; SHIVERS, Luke 1-1; DAWSON, Skye 1-minus 5; TEAM 1-minus 20.

PASSING: BYU-HEAPS, Jake 14-30-2-91. TCU-DALTON, Andy 24-36-0-273.

RECEIVING: BYU-DI LUIGI, JJ 6-37; KARIYA, Bryan 4-31; HAGUE, Mike 2-14;

MAHINA, Devin 1-5; JACOBSON, McKay 1-4. TCU-BOYCE, Josh 8-127; KERLEY, Jeremy

5-25; JOHNSON, Bart 3-59; YOUNG, Jimmy 3-40; HICKS, Antoine 2-20; WESLEY, Ed

2-minus 4; TUCKER, Matthew 1-6.

INTERCEPTIONS: BYU-None. TCU-JOHNSON, Tejay 1-2; CARDER, Tank 1-0.

FUMBLES: BYU-None. TCU-KERLEY, Jeremy 1-0; TUCKER, Matthew 1-0; TEAM 1-0.

SACKS (UA-A): BYU-SO'OTO, Vic 1-0; EASON, Corby 1-0. TCU-YENDREY, D.J.

1-0; MAPONGA, Stansl 1-0; GRANT, Cory 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): BYU-RICH, Andrew 10-3; WAGNER, Jadon 4-3; HUNTER, Shane 3-3; SO'OTO, Vic 4-1; BRADLEY, Brando 4-1; OGLETREE, Brand 2-3; PUTNAM, Matt

4-0; LOGAN, Brian 3-1; MEES, Carter 3-0; EASON, Corby 3-0; VAN NOY, Kyle 2-1;

MENDENHALL, Zek 2-0; UALE, Travis 2-0; RICHARDSON, Jor 1-1; MANUMALEUNA, Ea 1-1;

STOUT, Zac 1-1; JORGENSEN, Aust 1-0; FOOTE, David 1-0; ASHWORTH, Luke 1-0;

BROWN, Braden 1-0; VEA, Simote 0-1. TCU-BROCK, Tanner 8-3; CUBA, Tekerrein 5-4;

JOHNSON, Tejay 3-5; DANIELS, Wayne 1-3; MCCOY, Greg 3-0; MAPONGA, Stansl 3-0;

GRANT, Cory 2-1; CAIN, Kenny 2-1; CLAY, Curtis 2-0; TEAGUE, Jason 2-0; JONES,

Colin 2-0; YENDREY, D.J. 1-0; GRIFFIN, Kelly 1-0; CARDER, Tank 1-0; THOMPSON,

Jurre 1-0; BURKS, Greg 1-0; BATTLE, Travara 0-1.