BSU allows 472 yards to TCU's 'physical' offense

SAN DIEGO - Boise State's defense spent an entire year trying to redeem itself for last year's Hawaii Bowl meltdown.

And for 364 days, the group succeeded.

On the 365th, they ended up right back where they started.

The No. 11 TCU Horned Frogs rushed for 275 yards and gained 472 total yards - both the most the Broncos had allowed since losing to East Carolina in the 2007 Hawaii Bowl.

The result was another bowl loss - a 17-16 setback against the No. 9 Broncos.

"We made some big plays on defense, but we didn't get the stops we needed," said sophomore safety Jeron Johnson, who had a game-high 14 tackles and an interception. "We knew it would be a defensive ballgame - and their defense won it."

TCU entered the game with the nation's No. 2 defense in yards and points allowed - and the Horned Frogs held the Broncos to 250 yards, a little above their average of 215.1 yards allowed.

Boise State entered with the nation's No. 3 defense in points allowed and No. 16 defense in yards allowed - and gave up nearly 180 more yards than its average.

The biggest problem was the run defense. TCU averaged 5.4 yards per carry against a defense that was allowing 104.9 rushing yards per game. That led to 28 first downs and 36 minutes, 7 seconds of possession time - more possession time than the Horned Frogs' nation-leading average.

The Frogs' offense was underrated all year because of their defense, but much like the Broncos they have a deep playbook and a gutsy quarterback.

"In terms of schematics, they're harder than any team we prepared for because they do all those things so well," Boise State defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox said. "Usually teams that do (that much), it's hard for them to get good at one thing, but those guys are very good at it."

The Horned Frogs did most of their damage in small chunks -that's why they didn't score more points. The Frogs entered Boise State territory on all but their first drive, but two interceptions and two fourth-down stops allowed the Broncos to hang in the game.

Twice, though, the Frogs were able to get into the end zone with long red-zone runs - a 16-yarder by Aaron Brown and a 17-yarder by Joseph Turner, two plays on which the Broncos' tackling got sloppy.

"That's their style; they're good at it," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. "They're a physical team on offense as well as defense."