In front of a blacked out crowd of 46,522, the second-largest crowd in Utah history, the No. 3 Horned Frogs defeated the No. 5 University of Utah Utes 47-7, breaking the Utes 21-game home-win streak.
Head Football Coach Gary Patterson said that the team made a statement today in their performance against the Utes and that it was such a large margin win that no coach could have predicted it.
“For us to do it the way we did it today says a lot about what we’ve done as a program,” Patterson said. “We wanted to be peaking at the end of the season and I think we have an opportunity to do that.”
Kevin Ash, chief administrative officer of the Rose Bowl Game, said, “TCU is sending a message, that’s for sure in the BCS.”
Senior quarterback Andy Dalton passed for a career-high 355 yards and 3 touchdowns. Dalton’s 93-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Josh Boyce in the first half marked the third longest offensive play (and pass) in school history.
Patterson and Dalton both said they were impressed with Boyce’s performance this season.
“For him to come out and play like he did, and play like that the whole year, he’s really showing his potential,” Dalton said.
On defense, the Frogs held Utah to 199 yards, only 51 of those rushing. They also recorded two interceptions for 55 yards.
Sophomore linebacker Tanner Brock led the team in tackles with 10. The defense has held their last 6 opponents to single digits, which is something that Brock said brings him, and the defense, a lot of pride.
He also said that the Utah “blackout” didn’t affect his focus.
Senior wide receiver Jimmy Young, however, said the blackout was something the team benefited from.
“We fed off of that crowd,” he said. “The only difference is they aren’t cheering for you.”
In response to the Utah blackout, ISP and Railhead BBQ sponsored a “whiteout” effort for the TCU fan section by providing white T-shirts.
Brock added that while it was cool to see the whiteouted TCU-fan section, his focus was on the game.
Heading into the Mountain West Conference showdown, freshman Utes’ quarterback Jordan Wynn was ranked No. 11 in the nation among college quarterbacks while Dalton trailed at No. 17, according to ESPN.com. But in today’s game Wynn completed less than 50 percent of his pass attempts and had two interceptions.
Utes head football coach Kyle Whittingham credited their loss to a strong TCU football team.
“TCU thoroughly outplayed us today and it was not even close,” he said. “We were out-coached and out-played. Gary Patterson has something special there and they are an exceptionally high football team.”
On his own team’s strength, Whittingham said, “I still believe that we are a good team, but it was painfully obvious today that we are not as good as TCU.”
Wynn did manage to get the Utes onto the board in the fourth quarter with a 19-yard touchdown pass to senior runningback Matt Asiata, but it was too little, too late.
Senior defensive end for the Utes Christian Cox said, “[TCU] smoked us in almost every phase of the game. It is disheartening and frustrating.”
Patterson said that his team’s performance today put them on a new level.
“The bottom line is, they’ve put themselves on a different plateau, but they have to finish the season. We can only control what we can control, but I thought they made a statement today,” he said.
The Frogs advance to 10-0 on the season as the prepare to take on the San Diego State University Aztecs next Saturday in what will be the last game in Amon G. Carter Stadium before renovations begin.