This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah entered its showdown against TCU on Saturday with one of the stingiest defenses in the country.
Through their first eight games of the season, the Utes were ranked sixth in scoring defense, sixth in total defense and 10th in pass defense.
No longer.
Utah's defense could not stop the Horned Frogs, who rolled up 558 yards of offense during their 47-7 victory at Rice Eccles Stadium.
"It was a team loss," coach Kyle Whittingham said. "[It's] not on any one guy or any one phase."
True.
TCU's ability to overwhelm the Utah defense, however, left the Utes with little chance.
The efficient Horned Frogs had five scoring drives that lasted at least seven plays and covered a minimum of 46 yards.
TCU converted 10 of its 15 third-down conversion attempts, which Whittingham called "… a recipe for disaster" against a "great team" like the Frogs.
TCU was also able to go over the top and strike quickly against the Utah defense.
On the Horned Frogs' opening drive, quarterback Andy Dalton completed one pass to Skye Dawson for 24 yards before hitting Josh Boyce for a 26-yard touchdown. TCU took control of the game late in the first quarter, when Dalton hit Boyce on a 93-yard catch-and-run.
"We took some shots," said Frog coach Gary Patterson.
Referring to a 13-10 loss at Utah in 2008, he said, "When we came in here last time we felt like we did not play very well. The offense had a lot of yards but when we got in the red zone we didn't make any plays. So we wanted to take some shots."
Said Dalton: "We saw on film we could take a couple shots. We did that early and we completed them. We made some big plays."
The 93-yard touchdown pass was the third-longest play in TCU history. It was the longest since 2003.
On the play, Dalton beat a Utah blitz and gave himself enough time to find Boyce along the sideline.
"We got fortunate on the one coming off our goal line," Patterson said. "We caught them in man coverage, one on one, and Josh Boyce made a play. Sometimes you just get lucky."
Said Dalton: "… We were going to run a come-back [route], but he beat him and we threw it and he made a big play."
Ute quarterback Jordan Wynn fumbled on the next possession, and TCU beat the Utah defense with another quick-strike on the next play when receiver Jeremy Kerley took a direct snap and threw a 26-yard touchdown pass.
"It was a pretty good pass, wasn't it?" Dalton said. "We drew it up and executed it well. It was a good play for us, obviously."
Utah defensive end Christian Cox said, "The game turns quickly when we make turnovers and give up big plays. And that happened today."
Dalton's passing numbers
TCU quarterback Andy Dalton's passing statistics, game-by-game and against Utah:
Opp. Comp Att Int Yds TDs Long
Oregon State 17 27 2 175 1 52
Tenn. Tech 15 21 2 182 1 32
Baylor 21 23 0 267 2 37
SMU 14 26 2 174 1 41
Colorado State 11 24 0 109 1 39
Wyoming 14 17 0 270 3 50
BYU 24 36 0 273 4 35
Air Force 11 20 1 185 1 38
UNLV 16 23 0 252 2 54
Utah 21 26 0 355 3 93