Boise State - TCU

the S.D.C.C.U. Poinsettia Bowl Tuesday, December 23rd, 8:00pm New Orleans, Louisiana

Boise State (12-0)______WAC______376.20 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Idaho State -486.97 W, 49-7 3 Bowling Green -47.49 W, 20-7 4 Oregon 207.78 W, 37-32 6 Louisiana Tech 13.10 W, 38-3 7 Southern Miss -33.64 W, 24-7 8 Hawaii 12.83 W, 27-7 9 San Jose State -37.52 W, 33-16 10 New Mexico State -269.98 W, 49-0 11 Utah State -184.14 W, 49-14 12 Idaho -316.44 W, 45-10 13 Nevada 34.12 W, 41-34 14 Fresno State 63.06 W, 61-10

TCU (10-2)______MtnWest_____272.51 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 New Mexico -142.13 W, 26-3 2 Stephen F. Austin -424.52 W, 67-7 3 Stanford -56.12 W, 31-14 4 SMU -377.91 W, 48-7 5 Oklahoma 528.65 L, 10-35 6 San Diego State -330.21 W, 41-7 7 Colorado State -1.56 W, 13-7 8 Brigham Young 220.45 W, 32-7 9 Wyoming -173.43 W, 54-7 10 UNLV -108.41 W, 44-14 11 Utah 423.50 L, 10-13 13 Air Force 116.54 W, 44-10

Sure the Broncos were undefeated this year, but they didn't have to play the likes of Oklahoma or Utah. Lots of big wins by both of these two... it'll be interesting to see who can hold it together in a close game, if that's the way it goes.

Stats Matchup
Team	Boise State	TCU
Points (rank)	376.20 (#8)	272.51 (#16)
Record	12-0	10-2
Opp. Points (rank)	-1,045.29 (#109)	-325.16 (#77)
Opp. Record	63-72	69-65
Points (% of Opp. Avg)	39.4 (135%)	35.0 (126%)
dPoints (% of Opp. Avg)	12.3 (43%)	10.9 (38%)
Rush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	162.7 (101%)	215.7 (132%)
dRush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	104.9 (72%)	48.7 (24%)
Pass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	294.1 (133%)	201.4 (95%)
dPass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	189.6 (92%)	166.4 (73%)
Tot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	456.8 (119%)	417.1 (111%)
dTot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	294.5 (79%)	215.1 (56%)
ST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	100.3 (76%)	108.4 (88%)
dST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	140.8 (114%)	126.2 (109%)
Penalties / Pen. Yds	7.4 / 67.8	9.1 / 78.1
TO's / TO Margin	2.0 / +7	1.1 / +13

Everybody's been raving about the TCU defense, and they're good, don't get me wrong, but the Boise State D is almost as tough. They're allowing under 13 points and 300 yards a game, which is stellar, even against their weak schedule. Keep an eye on one area though - special teams. Both teams average under what their opponents allow, and their dST allows a lot more than teams average. Whoever can get the return game going will have a big advantage.

The Line: Boise State +3

The Call: Boise State by 7

The Result: TCU 17-16

Great overall game from these two. The TCU D was as good as expected, but the Boise State D fell a bit flat. Not really any suprises on special teams like I was expecting - oh well. Let's hope some of the other big games match up to this one in terms of excitement.