How's everyone doing this morning?
With Boise State's loss to TCU still taunting us in the rearview mirror, I thought I'd look back at what went wrong for the Broncos on Saturday. And then we're totally moving on. Get ready to bury those emotions on Monday, people.
But until then, here are five reasons why TCU was able to pull the upset over Boise State. Vote in the poll and share your thoughts in the comments.
TCU exploited Boise State's secondary
The Broncos have been bitten by big plays all season long, particularly in the passing game. Gary Patterson and his staff noticed, and the deep pass was on. Now finding a weakness and exploiting a weakness are two different things, as Colorado State made obvious when it missed on several deep throws. Casey Pachall missed his first but nailed his next three, which is exactly how TCU drew it up.
Speaking of TCU receivers running past Bronco corners ...
Boise State injuries cost them
The Broncos were missing their No. 1 and No. 2 cornerbacks on Saturday with Jerrell Gavins and Jamar Taylor out, and No. 3 corner Ebo Makinde left after giving up his second long TD catch. Playing with a true freshman (Lee Hightower) and a sophomore (Quaylon Ewing-Burton), the Bronco secondary looked completely vulnerable, and TCU made BSU pay.
And the injuries didn't stop there. Drew Wright was on the field for his fourth quarter fumble because of an injuries to Doug Martin, who didn't play, and D.J. Harper, who played like a champ until four carries before The Fumble.
Speaking of fumbles ...
TCU recovered more fumbles than Boise State
Of the six fumbles in the game, the Horned Frogs recovered five of them. If you believe fumble recovery is mostly luck (the way the ball bounces, and so on and so forth) and that teams recover about 50 percent of fumbles, then TCU had a decided advantage on Saturday. Both Bronco fumbles were recovered by the Horned Frogs, and three of the four TCU fumbles stayed with TCU. The one that didn't was returned by Tyrone Crawford for a touchdown.
Reason No. 4?
You tell me. What else do you think contributed to Boise State's loss to TCU? What do you think was the most important factor? Share your thoughts in the comments.