BYU NewsNet - BYU Dominates No. 17 TCU

The TCU dynasty is over…

And BYU is to blame.

Thursday night, Sept. 28, 2006, in the Texas heat, the BYU football program took a huge step forward and got itself one step closer to its ultimate goal: being Mountain West Conference champions.

With a convincing 31-17 victory, BYU ended the 17th-ranked Horned Frogs’ NCAA-best 13-game win streak in a dominating performance that put the Ghosts of Football Past back in their graves.

“It’s the most significant game that I’ve had as a head coach, and maybe the best of my career,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

John Beck and company came out sluggish, going three-and-out and punting away to TCU on their first possession. Fortunately for BYU, the rustiness from a 10-day layoff stifled the Horned Frogs’ offense and TCU was forced to kick a field-goal attempt.

On fourth and five on BYU’s 33-yard line, TCU’s Peter LoCoco lined up for a 50-yard field goal, but instead pooch-punted the ball into the end zone, giving BYU the ball on their 20-yard line.

Enter the Cougars’ real offense. On first down, Beck completed a 14-yard pass over the middle to tight end Dan Coats. Driving smoothly to TCU’s 43-yard line, luck once again shined on BYU. On a carry up the middle, Fui Vakapuna sliced his way to the 40, had the ball stripped but pounced on his own fumble for the recovery.

Seven plays later BYU’s Jared McLaughlin split the uprights from 21 yards, giving BYU an early 3-0 lead, capping a dominating 15-play, 7:11 drive. That score stood as the first quarter came to a close.

BYU couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to the second quarter. On third and seven, TCU quarterback Jeff Ballard stood on BYU’s 10-yard line. Taking the snap, he dropped back to pass and was drilled by Cougar linebacker David Nixon. The hit rocked Ballard hard enough that the ball came loose and Russell Tialevea recovered for BYU. That turnover changed the momentum of the first half.

“It’s the first one of the year, it felt good to finally clock the quarterback,” Nixon said. “It was a key point in the game, and I got outside and hit him as hard as I could and the ball came loose. It was a great sack.”

On BYU’s own 21-yard line, Beck stood in the pocket and delivered a strike over the middle to a streaking Zac Collie for a 25-yard completion. Six plays later, BYU faced a difficult fourth-and-one decision on TCU’s 35. Mendenhall decided to go for it, and Beck stepped back and fired a 16-yard bullet to Matt Allen, giving BYU an important first down.

“I told them, ‘I want you to go for it on first down, I don’t care what play you run,’” Mendenhall said.

After a nine-yard run by Vakapuna, BYU gave the ball to Manase Tonga who rumbled his way eight yards to the end-zone pylon for the touchdown. After the made extra point, BYU led 10-0.

The Horned Frogs added a field goal with eight seconds in the half, taking a seven-point deficit into halftime.

On BYU’s first possession of the second half, they faced three consecutive third-and-longs, and each time Beck was able to hook-up with a Cougar receiver.

“It [converting] gave us confidence and it boosted our morale, and it showed that we were capable of converting against a very good team,” Mendenhall said.

The most spectacular of the three came on third-and-ten. With the pocket collapsing, Beck waited patiently, and while getting hit threw a 40-yard bomb to Michael Reed, the Texas native who played the ball perfectly, towering over the defender. He fell into the end zone for a touchdown, giving BYU a decisive 17-3 lead.

“He [Beck] threw a nice ball and I just went up and made a play and got in the end zone,” Reed said. “It’s a great feeling to come home and score, and just get this team a win.”

TCU, showing why they are the Mountain West Conference champions, came back aggressively on offense and put together an impressive 10-play, 80-yard drive, finished by a two-yard touchdown pass from Ballard to tight end Brent Hecht, a score which closed the gap to 17-10 with six minutes left in the third quarter.

From that point on, the Cougar defense stuffed the unbeaten Ballard and the rest of the TCU offense. The Frogs faced a tough third-and-11 on the first play of the fourth quarter, a play that broke the back of the defending conference champs. Ballard threw a deep pass over the middle and three BYU defenders converged on the ball, knocking it away from TCU’s Derek Moore. The Horned Frogs elected to punt, giving the powerful BYU offense the ball back.

Facing a critical third-and-long, Beck hit tight end Jonny Harline for a 21-yard strike that gave BYU another first down and valuable time off the clock. Two Curtis Brown runs later, Beck hit Matt Allen for a 26-yard touchdown strike that sealed the victory.

The celebration was on.

After another impressive defensive stand that ended in a Cameron Jensen interception, BYU drove 59 yards, scoring another passing touchdown when Beck hit Harline on a four-yard strike.

TCU did drive the length of the field, scoring the final touchdown of the game, giving BYU the 31-17 win.

John Beck threw for 321 yards on 37 attempts, passing both John Walsh and Robbie Bosco on BYU’s all-time passing yards list. He now is in third place.

In addition to Beck passing former greats, Curtis Brown ran for 56 yards, passing Pete Van Valkenberg and Luke Staley for third place in all-time rushing yards in a career.