Houston Bowl
2005
TCU 27
Iowa State 24
HOUSTON - Peter LoCoCo kicked a 44-yard field goal with less than 6
minutes remaining to give No. 14 TCU a 27-24 win over Iowa State in the
Houston Bowl on Saturday (video). The win
extended TCU’s winning streak to 10 games, the third-longest in the
nation behind No. 1 USC (34) and No. 2 Texas (19). LoCoCo’s field goal
was TCU’s only score in the second half after the Horned Frogs built a
24-17 halftime lead.
The Mountain West champion Horned Frogs were out to prove themselves
after being snubbed by the BCS. TCU has the best record among teams from
non-BCS conferences. The win gave TCU (11-1, 8-0) 11 victories for the
fourth time in school history and the first time since 2003. It was an
sloppy game with four fumbles, three interceptions and 20 penalties.
Quarterback Jeff Ballard improved to 8-0 as a starter by throwing for
275 yards and a touchdown, despite being sacked six times. TCU had a
chance to go ahead early in the fourth quarter, but running back Robert
Merrill fumbled at the 1-yard line after a 21-yard run, and Iowa State
recovered.
Bret Meyer threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Todd Blythe to move Iowa
State (7-5, 4-4 Big 12) into a 24-all tie in the third quarter (video).
Blythe lost his helmet following the diving catch. The score was
Blythe’s school-record ninth touchdown reception of the season. Meyer
was 20-of-33 for 254 yards and three touchdowns.
TCU didn’t seem rusty, even after a 49-day layoff since its last game.
The Horned Frogs jumped out to an early lead when Merrill was untouched
on a 20-yard scoring run that capped an 80-yard drive on the team’s
first series. Merrill finished with 11 carries and 109 yards. The Horned
Frogs extended their lead to 14-0 when Aaron Brown scored on an 7-yard
run that followed an Iowa State fumble.
Iowa State had just 21 yards in the first quarter, but took advantage of
TCU mistakes to score 17 unanswered points to take the lead in the
second quarter. On the last play of the first quarter, Iowa State’s
LaMarcus Hicks got in front of TCU’s Cory Rodgers to make his fifth
interception of the season. Two plays later, Blythe outran TCU’s Drew
Coleman and grabbed a 48-yard touchdown pass from Meyer (video).
It was the first touchdown allowed by the Horned Frogs in 10 quarters.
On the ensuing series, TCU punter Brian Cortney chased a high snap out
of the back of the end zone for an Iowa State safety. Meyer shook off
two would-be tacklers before scampering for a career-long 39 yards to
the 6. On third down, he found Jon Davis in the corner of the end zone
with a 6-yard touchdown pass (video), and
then hit a wide-open Ben Barkema for the 2-point conversion for a 17-14
lead.
A fumble by Meyer set up a bowl-record, 84-yard touchdown reception by
Michael DePriest that put TCU back on top. Chris Manfredini kicked a
30-yard field goal just before halftime to leave the Horned Frogs ahead
24-17.
It was the second time TCU has faced a Big 12 team this season. The
Horned Frogs beat then-No. 7 Oklahoma in their season opener.
Private Pic: Davis catches 5 yd TD pass from Meyer in 2nd Quarter.
Attendance: 37,286
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
TCU- Merrill 20 yard run (Manfredini kick)
TCU- Brown 8 yard run (Manfredini kick)
Second Quarter
ISU- Blythe 48 yard pass from Meyer (Culbertson kick)
ISU- Safety
ISU- Davis 5 yard pass from Meyer (2 pt conversion attempt good)
TCU- DePriest 84 yard pass from Ballard (Manfredini kick)
TCU- FG Manfredini 30
Third Quarter
ISU- Blythe 22 yard pass from Meyer (Culbertson kick)
Fourth Quarter
TCU- FG LoCoco 44
Individual Statistics
Rushing
ISU- Meyer 12-27
TCU- Merrill 11-104
Passing
ISU- Meyer 20-33-249
TCU- Ballard 21-33-280
Receiving
ISU- Blythe 5-105
TCU- Rodgers 4-47
