5 Thoughts ... 2008 San Diego Country Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
TCU 17 ... Boise State 16
GAME REVIEW:
TCU comes back and hangs on
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2008 Poinsettia Bowl
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2008 Poinsettia Bowl
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1.
There are family reasons why
Chris Petersen has been lukewarm
about leaving Boise, but it
boggles the mind that no one has
pried Gary Patterson out of Fort
Worth. Hey, no disrespect is
intended to TCU, which has been
one of the nation’s premier
mid-majors over the past few
seasons, but Patterson has
earned a chance to coach at a
school, where 10 wins equals
more than a second-tier bowl
game in December. Year-in and
year-out, his teams are among
the most physical and
defensively-sound in America.
His guys just wear you out with
ball control and 60 minutes of
ferocity on defense. Heck, if
Dennis Franchione can use Fort
Worth as a launching pad for
jobs in the SEC and Big 12,
Patterson has surely positioned
himself for similar promotions
with five 10-win seasons in the
last seven years. -
Richard Cirminiello
2. The debate now ends. I have a
theory that when it comes to the
NCAA basketball tournament, if
your team is on the bubble it
doesn’t deserve to be in, but if
your team gets in and it wins
its first round game, it proved
itself worthy. When it comes to
the BCS, if your team didn’t get
in and you’re mad about it, then
it had better win its bowl game
impressively. Boise State fans
were all up in arms about being
passed over by the Fiesta Bowl
for a lower ranked Ohio State
team, and they had a point
considering the Broncos were
12-0 with a strong road win over
Oregon. But with the loss to
TCU, now it might be tough for
Boise State and the WAC to get
the benefit of the doubt the
next time around. It’s not like
the Broncos played poorly, but a
loss to the Mountain West’s
second best team is still a loss
to the Mountain West’s second
best team. For all the great
things Boise State has done over
the last decade, and for all the
wins, there’s still no margin
for error because almost no one
with a pulse wants anything to
do with this team in
non-conference play. Dominating
the WAC is nice, but Boise
needed this win.
-
Pete
Fiutak
3. I am in awe of Boise State
coach Chris Petersen. Call it a
"man crush" if you will, but
it's just impossible not to love
the boss Bronco. His team had
just 29 rushing yards when TCU
took a 17-13 lead midway through
the fourth quarter. Yet,
Petersen and his offensive
coordinator, Bryan Harsin, were
still able to draw up pass plays
with wrinkles and misdirection
principles that fooled TCU's
secondary. Any coach who can
design pass plays that prove to
be very effective--and enable a
not-very-strong-armed
quarterback (Kellen Moore) to
deliver balls early in the face
of a talented TCU pass rush--is
a first-rate football mind. Yes,
TCU won a very entertaining
ballgame, and Gary Patterson's
coaching stock should
only continue to rise, but
Petersen's display of X-and-O
wizardry was almost as good as
the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. That's
saying a lot... even in defeat. -
Matthew
Zemek
4. How screwed is Utah going to
feel if it upsets Alabama in the
Sugar Bowl and finishes the
season as the nation’s lone
unbeaten? Now that Boise State
has suffered its first loss, a
17-16 squeaker to TCU in the
Poinsettia Bowl, the Utes are
the last team left without a
blemish. That ought to count for
something, right? Listen, I
recognize that Utah isn’t
Florida or Oklahoma, but a
perfect record would surely net
the program a few first-place
votes when the final polls are
released. Plus, the resume would
include victories over Michigan,
Oregon State, BYU, the Frogs and
the Tide. It’s not the SEC or
the Big 12, but it’s certainly
not too shabby. The Broncos’
loss in San Diego opens the door
for an element of controversy
and debate if Utah can keep the
Mountain West rolling this year.
-
Richard Cirminiello
5.
When you get a change to score
against a top-shelf defense, you
had better do it. Boise State
had its chances to put TCU away
early, but the Horned Frog
defense was able to rise up when
the offense kept making mistakes
and held the score to a
reasonable 13-0 deficit before
Aaron Brown got into the end
zone late in the first half to
cut the lead to six. This bowl
season, outside of the USC-Penn
State Rose Bowl, will be all
about offense. Several of the
minor bowls will be shootouts,
and Oklahoma got into the
national title game because of
its attack. TCU showed just how
good it is because of a defense
that put the clamps down and
held Boise State to 28 yards
rushing. Even though the pass
rush wasn't its normal,
devastating self, the D still
came through time and again.
Boise State has a defense of its
own, and it did a solid job even
though TCU marched up and down
the field, but the offense
didn't come through. Considering
the talent across the board for
the Bronco O, and with an
innovative head coach like Chris
Petersen, the TCU defense
pitched a gem. Credit the Horned
Frogs for tightening up, but
blame the Broncos for three
field goals when they needed
touchdowns.
-
Pete
Fiutak