Homecoming Loss Comes Against No. 8 TCU

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PROVO -- Homecoming festivities and a visit from ESPN’s College GameDay weren’t enough to help pull off a win for No. 16 BYU as No. 8 TCU walked out of Provo with a 38-7 win at LaVell Edwards Stadium in front of 64,641 fans.

“I thought we had a great week of practice and prepared very well, we just didn’t execute,” said BYU defensive back Andrew Rich.

Cougar running back Harvey Unga was the highlight of the BYU offense, scoring BYU’s lone touchdown in the second quarter. Unga, the Mountain West Conference’s leading rusher, ran 21 times for 122 yards. The junior also recorded three receptions for 11 additional yards.

Senior quarterback Max Hall threw for 161 yards, completing 18-of-28 passes and recording one touchdown pass. Tight end Dennis Pitta caught four receptions for 62 yards, leading the Cougars in catches, having done so in 7-of-8 games this season.

On the defensive side, junior Andrew Rich totaled eight tackles in the first half alone before finishing with 11, a new career high. Shawn Doman and Matt Bauman also added seven tackles apiece.

After each team’s initial possessions ended in punts, TCU running back Joseph Turner gave the Horned Frogs a 7-0 lead with six minutes left in the first quarter.

Redshirt freshman Ed Wesley caught a 28-yard touchdown catch on Texas Christian’s very next drive to cap off another drive of 80-plus yards while Jimmy Young, a junior wide receiver, helped extend the Horned Frog lead to 21-0 with a catch in the back of the end zone with five minutes left in the first half.

After a key 23-yard reception on third-down by freshman Brett Thompson, the Cougars began to march in sync late in the second quarter. A pass interference penalty by TCU gave BYU first-and-goal from the five-yard line, setting up Unga for a touchdown on a swing pass right from three yards out on fourth down, to put BYU on the board, 21-7, with just under two minutes left in the first half.

The touchdown is the junior running back’s tenth on the year and the 17th TD pass of the season by Hall.

“I’m very pleased with the way Max [Hall] managed that situation tonight,” said BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae. “It didn’t show on paper, but I felt he grew from a year ago in that situation.”

Pressure from the Horned Frogs defensive line created difficulties for the Cougars on offense in the second half. Besides being sacked five times, TCU forced BYU into one interception and one lost fumble, converting the two turnovers into a field goal and touchdown, respectively.

“Offensively I guess the point I’m making is we did not hold up our end of the bargain,” Anae said. “Early in the game all our reads were pressured. The coverage was very good and very quick.”

The Cougars finished with 298 total yards to TCU’s 412 yards. The Horned Frogs’ Andy Dalton threw for 241 yards to go with TCU’s 127 yards on the ground. BYU recorded 188 yards passing and 110 yards rushing.

Box Score (Final)
      #8 TC Horned Frogs vs #16 BYU Cougars (Oct 24, 2009 at Provo, Utah)
Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
TC Horned Frogs..... 14  7 10  7  - 38       Record: (7-0,3-0)
BYU Cougars.........  0  7  0  0  -  7       Record: (6-2,3-1)
Scoring Summary:
1st 06:16 TC - TURNER, Joseph 4 yd run (EVANS, Ross kick), 9-80 4:44, TC 7 - BY 0
    02:27 TC - WESLEY, Ed 28 yd pass from DALTON, Andy (EVANS, Ross kick), 4-84 1:40, TC 14 - BY 0
2nd 05:03 TC - YOUNG, Jimmy 12 yd pass from DALTON, Andy (EVANS, Ross kick), 11-73 5:18, TC 21 - BY 0
    01:42 BY - Unga,Harvey 3 yd pass from Hall,Max (Payne,Mitch kick), 9-73 3:12, TC 21 - BY 7
3rd 09:35 TC - EVANS, Ross 28 yd field goal, 8-29 3:35, TC 24 - BY 7
    05:53 TC - HICKS, Antoine 75 yd pass from DALTON, Andy (EVANS, Ross kick), 3-92 1:07, TC 31 - BY 7
4th 12:00 TC - TUCKER, Matthew 7 yd run (EVANS, Ross kick), 4-25 1:27, TC 38 - BY 7
                                     TC       BY
FIRST DOWNS...................       21       18
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   37-127   37-110
PASSING YDS (NET).............      285      188
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  25-14-0  33-20-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   62-412   70-298
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............      1-0     3-10
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     1-24    7-152
Interception Returns-Yards....      1-5      0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............   6-40.8   6-47.0
Fumbles-Lost..................      1-0      3-1
Penalties-Yards...............     5-45     9-85
Possession Time...............    29:09    30:51
Third-Down Conversions........  3 of 10  5 of 15
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 0   1 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      4-4      1-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     5-36     2-15
RUSHING: TC Horned Frogs-TUCKER, Matthew 10-42; TURNER, Joseph 9-36;
WESLEY, Ed 6-25; KERLEY, Jeremy 3-12; DALTON, Andy 7-11; DAWSON, Skye 1-3; TEAM
1-minus 2. BYU Cougars-Unga,Harvey 21-123; Nelson,Riley 4-19; Kariya,Bryan 1-4;
Tonga,Manase 3-minus 2; Team 1-minus 2; Hall,Max 7-minus 32.
PASSING: TC Horned Frogs-DALTON, Andy 13-24-0-241; KERLEY, Jeremy
1-1-0-44. BYU Cougars-Hall,Max 18-28-1-162; Nelson,Riley 2-5-0-26.
RECEIVING: TC Horned Frogs-YOUNG, Jimmy 4-44; KERLEY, Jeremy 3-38; HICKS,
Antoine 2-85; JOHNSON, Bart 2-69; WESLEY, Ed 1-28; BROCK, Logan 1-14; CHRISTIAN,
Ryan 1-7. BYU Cougars-Pitta,Dennis 4-62; Tonga,Manase 4-31; Hafoka,Spencer 3-31;
Unga,Harvey 3-11; Thompson,Brett 2-29; Chambers,O'Nei 1-12; George,Andrew 1-5;
Ashworth,Luke 1-5; Di Luigi,Jj 1-2.
INTERCEPTIONS: TC Horned Frogs-WASHINGTON, Dar 1-5. BYU Cougars-None.
FUMBLES: TC Horned Frogs-DALTON, Andy 1-0. BYU Cougars-Hall,Max 1-1;
Chambers,O'Nei 1-0; Tonga,Manase 1-0.
SACKS (UA-A): TC Horned Frogs-GRANT, Cory 2-0; YENDREY, DJ 1-0; HUGHES,
Jerry 1-0; DANIELS, Wayne 1-0. BYU Cougars-Clawson,Coleby 1-0; Denney,Brett 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): TC Horned Frogs-JOHNSON, Tejay 5-9; JONES, Colin 4-5;
WASHINGTON, Dar 2-7; CARDER, Tank 4-4; IBILOYE, Alex 3-5; HUGHES, Jerry 2-2;
TEAGUE, Jason 3-0; BROCK, Tanner 2-1; SANDERS, Nick 2-1; LUTTRELL, Tyler 1-2;
DANIELS, Wayne 1-2; GRANT, Cory 2-0; PRIEST, Rafael 1-1; YENDREY, DJ 1-1;
HUNTER, Corderr 1-1; CUBA, Tekerrein 1-1; GARDNER, Kris 0-2; GRIFFIN, Kelly 0-2;
MCCOY, Greg 1-0; CLAY, Curtis 1-0; KERLEY, Jeremy 0-1; FOBBS, Johnny 0-1;
BROUGHTON, Bray 0-1; BROCK, Logan 0-1. BYU Cougars-Rich,Andrew 3-8; Doman,Shawn
3-4; Bauman,Matt 0-7; Pendleton,Jord 3-3; Clawson,Coleby 1-5; Johnson,Scott 4-1;
Denney,Brett 3-1; Hooks,Terrance 2-2; Bradley,Brando 1-3; Fuga,Romney 0-4;
Jorgensen,Jan 1-2; Tialavea,Russe 0-2; Bills,Craig 1-0; Atkinson,Jorda 1-0;
Brown,Terence 0-1; Aguirre,Lee 0-1; Putnam,Matt 0-1; So'Oto,Vic 0-1;
Hansen,Braden 0-1.