ow, what a way for the Mountain Wast to lay an egg, eh? Despite how close the score was, TCU looked more hapless (less hap?) against Boise State than Cal did against Utah or Oregon State did against BYU. You could blame the quarterback – who was off all night – or you could blame the receivers – who seemed to drop every other pass – but that would ignore the coaches who really lost the game.

A coaching mantra is “you go with what works.” So why did Patterson continue to pass on first down when it was evident that his passing game wasn’t working? You might say, their running game was struggling, but they had the same average-yardage-per-rush as BSU (though those stats are not the same as ESPN’s). Further, TCU moved the ball with they ran the ball first:

First-half first downs:

When TCU used the run – either by itself or to set up the pass – they were moving the chains. And this includes those brain-dead qb draws. Simply put: Patterson and his staff screwed up.

On the other side, Peterson’s staff called a great game, especially on offense. They neutralized Jerry Hughes with a double team, but you would never know that a receiver was missing from the pattern. Anybody else want their coach of the year vote back?

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FYI:

Second-half first downs:

Total first downs: