A primary concern for TCU as they prepared for the Poinsettia Bowl against Louisiana Tech was the motivation for the Horned Frogs. Although ranked in the Top 16 in the AP, Coaches and Harris polls, TCU found itself at No. 18 in the BCS at regular season’s end and out of an at-large spot.
So TCU went from playing January to playing before Christmas, and for the first half of tonight’s game, it looked like TCU would rather be in Ft. Worth than San Diego (although I don’t see how that’s possible. San Diego is amazing). Gary Patterson‘s team was uncharacteristically lethargic on defense. They couldn’t execute on offense, either, failing to convert a third down through two quarters.
But a late first-half interception from La Tech quarterback Colby Cameron set up a 7-yard Ed Wesley touchdown run with under a minute to play. TCU took that momentum into the second half, scoring first to go up 17-10. But, two La Tech touchdowns put the Bulldogs back on top, and it looked like Sonny Dykes’ team had a very real chance of pulling the upset -- the first of this bowl season.
TCU needed 14 unanswered fourth quarter points to win 31-24. I wouldn’t classify a loss to the Bulldogs as embarrassing per se, but it wouldn’t have looked great heading into the Big 12. TCU avoided a major letdown loss.
The win gave Patterson his 109th victory with the Horned Frogs, who move to 11-2. Although La Tech falls to 8-5 on the season, Dykes will be getting a substantial contract extension for the great job he’s done.