Laramie – On the Texas Christian defense, everybody goes after the ball.
That’s why the Horned Frogs continue to lead the Mountain West Conference in turnovers, with 13 after six games. It’s also why TCU (5-1, 4-0) – not Wyoming (4-2, 2-1) – leads the MWC standings this morning.
The Horned Frogs, brash newcomers to the MWC this season, forced seven turnovers against the Cowboys – all by quarterback Corey Bramlet – to hand Wyoming a 28-14 loss Saturday and disappoint 27,723 fans, the largest crowd at War Memorial Stadium since 1998.
So complete was Bramlet’s nightmare (four interceptions, three lost fumbles, six sacks) that he twice fumbled at the goal line in the second half when the Cowboys appeared to have stopped the bleeding and were threatening to come back.
“Of all the people I hurt for: Corey Bramlet – and you know, you can’t hang it all on Corey,” Cowboys coach Joe Glenn said. “They had a nice scheme for us. They played a real soft zone coverage, and we couldn’t get open. They did a real nice job of dropping their linebackers in there, and we didn’t have time to throw over the top.
“They spread the net on Corey pretty good and then put on a terrific pass rush. In between that combination, we just laid an egg. I don’t know what to do about Corey fumbling the football. He’s got to learn to run with two hands on it. But you know, those things will happen; one day you’re the toast of the town and the next day you’re toast.”
Those seven turnovers were collected by seven different players, a trend the Frogs have continued since upsetting then-No. 5 Oklahoma in the season opener.
“Our defense was swarming,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “We knew we couldn’t come in here and play good football and win. We had to play great football.”
“I give this one to our defense,” said TCU quarterback Jeff Ballard. “They were awesome. Everyone was flying around.”
With five big, fast defensive backs on the field, the Frogs caught three Bramlet passes in their net in the first half, dominating field position and scoring 28 points on drives of 19, 19, 15, 36 and 17 yards.
Yet as good as TCU’s defense was, Wyoming’s league-leading defense might have been better, hanging in there to force the Frogs to settle for field goals on two of those first three turnovers, and totally shutting them down in the second half to give Bramlet a chance.
“I thought we could at least tie it up and go to overtime,” said Cowboys wide receiver Jovon Bouknight, who scored two touchdowns, the first on a perfectly thrown 31-yard strike from Bramlet after Derrick Martin had picked off a Ballard pass late in the second quarter.
The Cowboys were down 28-7 late in the third quarter when Bouknight, who became Wyoming’s all-time all-purpose yardage producer with his first catch in the game, got the ‘Pokes to within 14 on a tackle-breaking 11-yard catch-and-run down the left sideline.
Another interception, this one by Dorsey Golston of an about-to-be-sacked Ballard pass, put the Cowboys within easy reach of making it 28-21 early in the fourth quarter. But on third-and-goal at the 2, TCU’s defensive tackle Zarnell Fitch punched the ball out of Bramlet’s hands.
It was first-and-10 at the TCU 15 with more than seven minutes left when Bramlet fumbled for the last time. His last interception came at the TCU 7 with 2:38 left that safety Marvin White wrestled away from C.J. Brewer.
“We knew we had to go out and set the tone early,” said TCU defensive end Tommy Blake, who had two sacks. “We were able to get to Bramlet early, and he got a bit rattled.”
TCU 9 19 0 0 – 28
Wyoming 0 7 7 0 – 14
First quarter: TCU – Merrill 1 run (kick failed), 11:26. TCU – FG Manfredini 32, 1:53. Second quarter: TCU – FG Manfredini 34, 13:40. Wyo – Bouknight 31 pass from Bramlet (Yaussi kick), 6:18. TCU – Brown 13 pass from Ballard (Manfredini kick), 1:42. TCU – Henson 22 fumble return (kick failed), 1:03. TCU – FG LoCoco 52, 00:00. Third quarter: Wyo – Bouknight 11 pass from Bramlet (Yaussi kick), 3:36. A – 27,723.
TCU WYO
First downs 19 17
Rushes-yards 53-145 32-73
Passing 112 220
Passes 9-24-2 16-36-4
Return yards 98 36
Punts-avg. 8-43.0 7-38.3
Fumbles-lost 3-0 3-3
Penalties-yards 10-84 8-78
Time of possession 34:59 25:01
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – TCU, Merrill 21-81, Brown 11-49, Ballard 19-17, Jackson 1-0. Wyoming, Seldon 16-56, Moore 2-20, Doss 1-0, Bramlet 13-(minus 3).
PASSING – TCU, Ballard 9-23-2-112. Wyoming, Bramlet 15-33-2-205. Doss 1-2-0-15, Bouknight 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING – TCU, Harmon 3-51, Moore 2-17, Grimmett 1-21, Brown 1-13, Merrill 1-9, Massey 1-1. Wyoming, Bouknight 11-157, Seldon 2-16, Ford 1-22, Barge 1-17, Wadkowski 1-8.
Staff writer Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303 820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
