12.31.2002 TCU Wins AXA Liberty Bowl
LaTarence Dunbar |
The TCU defense held Colorado State to 153 total yards and forced six turnovers as the Horned Frogs (10-2) posted a 17-3 win. LaTarence Dunbar, who caught six passes for 71 yards and a touchdown, was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - TCU figured out how to stop Colorado State standout Cecil Sapp after just two runs in the Liberty Bowl.
Sapp reeled off big gains of 59 and 25 yards on the Rams' first two possessions, and the Horned Frogs - who rank first in the nation against the run - knew something had to change.
Sapp had 22 yards the rest of the game, and TCU tailback Ricky Madison stole the show with 111 yards rushing and a touchdown as the Horned Frogs beat No. 23 Colorado State 17-3 Tuesday.
"We were a little anxious, moving too fast," linebacker LaMarcus McDonald said. "We were trying to get there before the play developed. We had to slow down and catch the tempo."
It was the Horned Frogs' 500th victory in school history.
Madison ran for 107 of his yards in the rainy second half as TCU's offense came alive after a sloppy opening by both teams.
In the first half, the teams combined for three lost fumbles, two interceptions, a missed field goal and an unsuccessful faked field goal. Their sloppy play made for the lowest scoring first half of a Liberty Bowl since Penn State led Tulane 6-0 in 1979.
TCU (10-2) finally put together a seven-play, 62-yard scoring drive led by Lonta Hobbs in the closing minutes of the second quarter. The freshman ran for 39 yards in the drive, capped when Sean Stilley threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to LaTarence Dunbar with 1:21 remaining to put TCU up 7-0 at the break.
Colorado State (10-4) countered quickly in the third quarter with a 46-yard field goal by Jeff Babcock at 11:22. The score - which tied Babcock's career long - came on a four-play drive for negative-6 yards.
"I thought it was a big key at the start of the second half when they had the punt return down there and we held them to a field goal," TCU coach Gary Patterson said.
The Rams had another opportunity for points on their next possession, when short back-to-back runs by Sapp brought them to the TCU 22. But two penalties and a play for negative yardage pushed them back to the 38, and they had to punt.
The Rams were held to 89 yards rushing - compared with 197 for TCU - for their lowest total of the season. TCU also outgained Colorado State 338-149.
"They are one hell of a defense, they are very athletic. I've got to respect them because of what they've done all year," Sapp said.
Quarterback Sean Stilley directs a play against Colorado State in the second quarter.
TCU added cushion in the fourth when Nick Browne scored on a 25-yard field goal with 6:57 remaining. Madison then scored just over three minutes after the field goal for the final margin.
Sapp's first run - the longest allowed by TCU from scrimmage this season - brought Colorado State to the TCU 11, but the Rams couldn't capitalize. Though they set up for a field goal, they instead attempted a fake with holder Joey Cuppari passing to an open Brandon Alconcel in the end zone. But Alconcel dropped the pass
"The first big run they had was my fault. I called a blitz, and as he has done all year, Cecil Sapp hit the seam and took off to the races," Patterson said. "We adjusted a couple of things to make sure" that didn't happen again.
Sapp finished with 106 yards - although 84 of them came on those first two runs. Despite that, the total gives him his ninth 100-yard game of the season, tying a school record set by Steve Bartalo in 1986.
2002 AXA LIBERTY BOWL NOTES
TCU 17, Colorado State 3
AWARD WINNERS
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: LaTarence Dunbar (6 rec., 71 yards, TD; 2 tackles, 1 FF on ST)
TCU Outstanding Offensive Player: Lonta Hobbs (20 att., 77 yards)
TCU Outstanding Defensive Player: Jason Goss (4 PBU?s, 1 TFL, 1 INT)
Colorado State Outstanding Offensive Player: Cecil Sapp (19 att., 106 yards)
Colorado State Outstanding Defensive Player: Rhett Nelson (6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU)
GENERAL NOTES
Today?s announced crowd of 55,207 (tickets distributed) marked the sixth consecutive year the AXA Liberty Bowl has produced a crowd of better than 50,000.
TCU?s victory gave Conference USA wins in five of the last six AXA Liberty Bowls. Conference USA teams are 8-4 all-time in the AXA Liberty Bowl.
The 153 yards of total offense by Colorado State is the lowest team total in a Liberty Bowl game since 1988, when South Carolina had 153 yards of offense in a 34-10 loss to Indiana.
Today marked the Liberty Bowl?s first scoreless first quarter since Penn State-Tulane in 1979.
TCU NOTES
The victory gives TCU an all-time record of 7-11-1 in bowl games. One of 13 programs to appear in a bowl game in each of the last five seasons, the Horned Frogs have made more bowl appearances than any other Conference USA school.
Today?s win gives TCU (10-2) its second 10-win season in three years (the 2000 team also finished 10-2). The Horned Frogs have produced six 10 win seasons in their program?s history.
Senior CB Jason Goss? second quarter interception was his eighth of the season, tying TCU?s single-season record. With 14 career INT?s, Goss has moved into a tie for fifth on the school?s all-time list.
TCU did not trail at the half in any of their 12 games this season. The Horned Frogs were tied at halftime three times.
The TCU defense forced four turnovers in the first half, intercepting two passes and recovering two fumbles.
With six forced turnovers, today was the fifth time this season that TCU has forced five or more turnovers in a game. The Horned Frogs have forced a total of 42 turnovers (20 fumbles and 22 interceptions) on the season.
Senior FS Kenneth Hilliard picked off his fifth pass of the season to end the first half. He is tied for fifth in Conference USA in interceptions this season. Hilliard also recovered TCU?s first forced fumble.
Junior RB Ricky Madison recorded his third 100-yard game of the season, carrying 19 times for 111 yards and a touchdown. He had just one carry for four yards in the first half. He had 69 yards rushing on TCU?s two second half scoring drives.
With 20 carries for 77 yards, true freshman RB Lonta Hobbs became the eighth player in TCU history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. After taking his redshirt off for the Oct. 5 game vs. Houston, Hobbs carried 157 times for 1,029 yards in eight games.
Cecil Sapp?s 59-yard run on the second play of the game was the longest run against TCU this season. After allowing Sapp to rush for 84 yards on his first three carries, the TCU defense limited Sapp to 22 yards on 16 attempts the remainder of the game.
Senior Ed Johnson had his first career punt in the first quarter, a 29-yarder that was downed at the TCU 15-yard line.
COLORADO STATE NOTES
Today?s loss snapped a two game bowl winning streak for CSU and dropped the Rams all-time bowl record to 4-5, which includes a 1-2 mark in the AXA Liberty Bowl.
This marks the first time in Sonny Lubick?s 10 seasons as head coach that CSU lost their final two games of a season.
Junior DT Brian Save?s streak of 17 consecutive starts ended today. This marks the first change in CSU?s starting defensive tackle spots this season.
Colorado State?s fake field goal attempt in the first quarter marked the fourth straight bowl game (including three AXA Liberty Bowls) that the Rams have attempted a fake field goal.
Today was just the second time in Colorado State bowl history that the Rams did not score in the first quarter. In nine bowl appearances, the 1949 Raisin Bowl was the only previous time CSU did not score in the opening period. Colorado State has only led after the first quarter in two of the nine appearances.
With his 11-yard reception on the first play of the second quarter, sophomore h-back Joel Dreesen has now caught at least one pass in 24 consecutive games.
Today marked the first scoreless first half for Colorado State since Oct. 4, 2001 at Louisville. That game was also the last time that Colorado State did not score a touchdown in a game before today.
The 153 yards of total offense were the fewest by a CSU team since the 2001 Louisville game.
Jeff Babcock?s 46-yard field goal in the third quarter tied his career long.
Cecil Sapp ran for 106 yards today to tie the school record for 100-yard rushing games in a season with nine (set by Steve Bartolo in 1986). It was the 13th 100-yard game of Sapp?s career. His 106 yards was the fourth-highest by a CSU player in a bowl game.
Sapp finished the 2002 season with a single-season school record 1,601 rushing yards. He closes out his career with 2,481 yards, the seventh-highest total in school history.
Today was a CSU bowl record for fewest points (3), fewest total yards in a bowl game (153),
This was the third time in CSU bowl history that the Rams were held under 100 yards rushing as a team (89).
The 17 points allowed by CSU tied for the fewest in a bowl game.