Fort Worth, Texas – Now this was more like the TCU that beat Oklahoma.
Not a full week after losing to SMU, the Horned Frogs showed signs of the team that toppled the Sooners in their season opener, beating Utah 23-20 in overtime on Thursday night to snap the Utes’ 18-game winning streak.
Tye Gunn won the game with a 4-yard scoring pass to Michael DePriest, set up by Robert Merrill’s 15-yard run three plays earlier.
Tied at 17 after regulation, TCU won the coin toss and elected to start overtime on defense. Utah went three-and-out and settled for a 34-yard field goal by Dan Beardall before TCU scored on its first possession.
“We came back here to win two of three, and these are the two I wanted to win,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “One’s for conference and the other is for national respect.”
Freshman Aaron Brown rushed for 163 yards on 17 carries in his debut for TCU (2-1, 1-0), playing its first conference game in the Mountain West.
Utah (2-1, 0-1) lost for the first time since dropping a 47-35 decision to New Mexico on Oct. 25, 2003. The Utes entered the game with the nation’s second-longest winning streak behind top-ranked USC, which has won 23 in a row.
“Nothing lasts forever,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “One streak was not going to go to infinity, that’s obvious.”
Utah lacked the offensive punch it showed in its first two games and last season, when the Utes went 12-0 under Urban Meyer and trounced Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl.
TCU contained running back Quinton Ganther to mostly short bursts and smothered short passes. One week after Brian Johnson set a school record for pass efficiency against Utah State, missing on just 3-of-21 attempts, the sophomore went 15-of-30 for 208 yards.
He also threw his first interception with a reckless pass into double coverage. Marvin White made the pick for TCU, which scored on the ensuing possession on Merrill’s 3-yard touchdown run.
Johnson had better luck on other throws. Facing third-and-7 from midfield in the first quarter, Johnson threw a perfect pass over the shoulder of Brian Hernandez for a 45-yard gain. On the next play, Ganther scored on a 5-yard run.
Utah later set up its second touchdown after Johnson found Brent Casteel for a 15-yard gain, again on third down. The play put the Utes on the 4-yard line, and Johnson scored on a 1-yard keeper two plays later.
TCU had rallied within a field goal before Brown had his biggest run of the game, a 50-yard sweep down the Utah sideline. He was finally brought down at Utah’s 10, and Merrill scored two plays later on a 4-yard run.
