Boise State vs TCU

[50's PONY]

Posted on Wed, Dec. 10, 2003



Boise State is dodge tough

By Gil Lebreton
Star-Telegram Staff Writer


STAR-TELEGRAM/ALISON WOODWORTH
Says Boise State coach Dan Hawkins, "We're not the best-looking group coming off the bus, but when the game starts, our kids will play."


Among the sillier charges leveled at TCU for declining the Mobile Bowl invitation was the one that accused the Horned Frogs of dodging a dangerous Miami of Ohio team.

Yeah, well, whatever.

TCU's bowl hopes were never about finding the daintiest foe possible. The evidence was in downtown Fort Worth on Tuesday night.

The Boise State Broncos have a non-marquee name, a 12-1 record and the No. 18 ranking in The Associated Press writers and broadcasters poll.

"We're not the best-looking group coming off the bus,"coach Dan Hawkins said at an introductory news conference for the PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl. "But when the game starts, our kids will play."

Maybe you caught them on TV on Sunday morning on the late-late-late show from Hawaii. A bowl-bound Hawaii team, one that had throttled Alabama the week before, was systematically flustered and beaten 45-28 by Hawkins' Broncos.

They can throw, and they can run. And wait -- what's this? A Western Athletic Conference team that plays dominating defense?

Boise State will come into the Dec. 23 game with the nation's eighth-stingiest scoring defense. The Broncos defenders are No. 5 against the run.

The passing game, on the other hand, ranks fifth in the NCAA listings. And in senior Ryan Dinwiddie, Boise State has a quarterback who threw for 28 touchdowns (only five interceptions) and finished his college career with a 169.79 efficiency rating, an NCAA record.

"I'd play Miami-Ohio 10 times before I'd play Boise State," TCU coach Gary Patterson said Tuesday night.

Yes, he really said that. It's a brassy overstatement, but Patterson often speaks his mind.

He was nearing the end of a very brief, thanks-for-inviting-us speech before Fort Worth Bowl supporters and organizers, and his tongue elected not to run out of bounds. He knows Hawkins from way back, and Patterson's respect for the Broncos appears to be genuinely sincere.

On the other hand ...

"We have never ducked anybody," Patterson said, firmly, "and that started with my first game here as head coach when we played at Nebraska."

Patterson rightly pointed out TCU's future schedules, which include games against Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

Of all the bogus things that were written, said and e-mailed about the TCU-Mobile Bowl decision, the one that seems to most stick in Patterson's craw is the notion that the Frogs were simply trying to avoid Miami of Ohio.

Oh, please. The "other" Miami had a nice little team this year. Congratulations are in order for beating, among others, Colorado State and Marshall and rising to the No. 11 ranking in the land.

And we all know how valid those rankings are, right, Sooner fans?

During my college years I worked with two friends who were Miami-Ohio grads. They assailed our office relentlessly with talk about Miami's coaching lore -- the "Cradle of Coaches" -- and how the then-Redskins had a tradition of upsetting any big team they played.

In the long run, however, Miami has proved to be an occasional contender in a traditionally sub-major conference and a team that, every now and then, ratchets up for an unsuspecting opponent and upsets them. Then Miami brags about it for the next 10 years.

The Frogs' scalps must have fit the Miami profile.

Just a guess, but I think the TCU coaches privately liked the idea of pitting their overall team speed against those Mid-American Conference boys.

Too late now.

To listen to Patterson, this is no consolation prize. The Boise State Broncos, with their head-turning 12-1 record, are no consolation opponents.

The Fort Worth Bowl got lucky. Its inaugural matchup could end up being one of the most entertaining games of the bowl season.

Bring it on, the two coaches said Tuesday night.

It's a matchup that should settle all charges.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gil LeBreton, (817) 390-7760 sports@star-telegram.com





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

© 2003 Star Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.dfw.com

[Dooby]

One of these days, the Startle-Gram is gonna mess up and forget to remove the TCU Sports Information Department letterhead from the press release before they put it on Page 1.

[PK]

If TCU plays the Broncos the way they played SMU, the only folks that will be entertained will be the Broncos' fans...and all those SMU fans that love to hate the froggies.

What's the line guys?

[gostangs]

Supposedly Boise favored by 10 1/2 -pretty amazing since it is a Frog home game. I think it will be much closer then that.

[SMUguy]

Originally posted by Dooby:
One of these days, the Startle-Gram is gonna mess up and forget to remove the TCU Sports Information Department letterhead from the press release before they put it on Page 1.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Dooby!

Go Ponies (or Broncos)!

[PonyTime]

This game will not be close. Boise will put up 50. Unless the frogs do the same - they will ahve no chance whatsoever.

[Frog81]

Originally posted by Dooby:
One of these days, the Startle-Gram is gonna mess up and forget to remove the TCU Sports Information Department letterhead from the press release before they put it on Page 1.

Give me a freaking break. Fans from both TCU and SMU, and probably a majority of non-BCS schools, gripe because their hometown media (specifically newspapers) rarely write about them, and when they do, its usually negative. So now you're mad when TCU's hometown newspaper gives them some support? Get over yourself. These kinds of articles are what TCU needs from the Star-Telegram and SMU needs from the DMN.

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

<img src="http://home.swbell.net/bigdog24/gilcheerleader.jpg" alt=" - " />

[No Cal Pony]

boise st. is a very underrated team. They could beat a couple of squads ranked ahead of them, and they will beat tcu no problem. Living out in No Cal, I've seen what they've done, blue field and all. While many here have bashed the WAC, there are three teams playing in bowl games, which looks good and as for SMU, we gotta get our team going forward or get left behind forever.

Go Ponies!