With TCU hanging onto a 10-6 lead late in the fourth quarter, all Utah’s defense wanted to do was give its offense a chance. Two empty TCU drives deep into Utah territory and a game-ending interception later and Utah’s defense did all it could to keep Utah’s BCS hopes alive.
“This whole game was rough man,” said Utah safety Robert Johnson. “We just had get the offense the ball and we knew they were going to come through no matter what.”
Utah’s defense, which had been solid since the start of the second quarter, allowed TCU to drive to its 9- and 18-yard line on consecutive drives and then benefitted from two missed chip-shot field goals from Ross Evans late in the game to keep Utah within striking distance. Robert Johnson then picked off Andy Dalton’s fourth-down desperation pass with five seconds left to give Utah its second straight thrilling Thursday night victory.
“We had our chances to be up 16-6 and we missed two field goals,” said TCU head coach Gary Patterson. “It’s one of those things. It’s two good football teams that played their tails off…they had some guys that could make some plays.”
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The billing of a defensive slugfest that was expected when TCU’s No. 2 ranked defense and Utah’s No. 7 defense collided at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Thursday night, left nobody surprised8212;just one team with a long ride home.
“I gotta give a lot of credit to TCU, they are tough. It was a hard-fought battle the whole game,” Utah defensive end Greg Newman said shortly after the victory. “When Robert (Johnson) got that interception, all the pressure was just gone. I’m drained right now, I’ve got nothing left.”
TCU came into the game ranked No. 1 against the run. That aspect of its defense lived up to that ranking, holding Utah to 45 yards rushing on 25 attempts.
Utah’s defense came into the game looking shaken in the first quarter. The No. 7 overall defense allowed TCU to score on its first two drives, as the Horned Frogs collected 103 yards through the air and 99 yards on the ground in the first quarter alone to jump out to a 10-0 lead.
The Ute defense settled in considerably in the second quarter.
“The first quarter they came out and we got kind of rattled a little bit,” Johnson said. “We had to see where we were at. After the first quarter we realized that they’re a normal offense just like anybody else. We just had to make sure we shut them down.”
TCU started the second quarter with 202 total yards. Fifteen plays and 15 minutes later, that total had ballooned to 208 behind a Utah defensive effort that was able to put pressure on TCU quarterback Andy Dalton, and a spirited crowd that helped force three false start penalties, all of which came on TCU’s second possession of the second quarter.
Louie Sakoda helped the defensive effort by pinning TCU inside the 20-yard line three times for the game.
While Utah’s defense was impressive after the first quarter, TCU kept up that effort for the entire game. Every play to the edge seemed to get smothered by a darting TCU linebacker or defensive back. Utah tailback Matt Asiata, whose punishing running style is normally allows him to find creases in the defensive line, was swallowed up by the Horned Frog defense. Despite allowing TCU to gain 416 yards of total offense, Utah stopped the Horned Frogs when it counted.
“We were tired of hearing about TCU’s defense,” said Utah strong safety Joe Dale as fans surrounded him on the field. “We wanted to show we’re pretty good ourselves.”
When the Utes were able to move the ball on TCU’s side of the field, that’s when the Horned Frog defense got stronger. Utah moved the ball across the 50-yard line seven times. It got the ball inside the TCU 20-yard line just one times, resulting in a game-winning touchdown.
Tyler CobbPaul Kruger sacks TCU quarterback Andy Dalton Thursday night. Kruger had two sacks on the night, both of which came on crucial third-down plays.