Blitz helps BYU stave off Horned Frogs

Blitz or prevent?

Defensive coordinators are faced with this decision often, especially when they are protecting a lead late in the game.

BYU's prevent defense almost cost it the game. The Cougars' blitzfi

Saved it.

BYU sacked TCU quarterback Andy Dalton twice late in the game to preserve a 27-22 victory in front of 64,241 at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Thursday night.

TCU (5-5 overall, 2-4 MWC) forced a Cougar punt and with 2:39 to play, took over on its own 32. On its previous possession, TCU shredded BYU's prevent defense on a 94-yard drive to score a touchdown and close to within five points. On this possession, the Cougars blitzed all four downs. BYU linebacker David Nixon sacked Dalton for a 9-yard loss on second down and on fourth-and-8, pressure applied by linebacker Bryan Kehl forced Dalton to slip and fall with less than two minutes to play.

Ball game.

"On the next-to-last drive, we got a little conservative and we learned from that," said Poppinga, who was a demon the entire game with 17 tackles. "On the last drive, we weren't going to let him (Dalton) beat us. We pressured him and blitz four times in a row. That's the first time we did that all season.

"Kehl and I came off the field and said, 'Lets do that every time.' that was sweet."

BYU (7-2, 5-0) won the game by scoring first, converting third downs (13-of-20) and relying on a defense than bent like a rusty nail but came through when it counted. The Cougars forced three TCU field goals, came up with three fourth-down stops and got a key interception return by Kelly Poppinga to begin the third quarter.

"TCU was the fastest defense we'd played all year," Hall said. "They were quick, big guys and we had to be on top of our game. We had to make big plays to win. Hats off to TCU. They played hard. I think they played one of their best games all year."

The Cougars took the opening kickoff and drove 50 yards in 7 plays, Harvey Unga turning the left edge for a 15-yard touchdown run. Leading 7-3 in the second quarter, BYU got a big play when Max Hall (26-of-44 for 305 yards, one touchdown, one interception) improvised and threw deep. Austin Collie outworked a pair of TCU defenders for the ball and continued for a 66-yard gain to the Horned Frogs' 6-yard line. Hall capped the drive with a 1-yard scoring pass to Joe Semanoff and BYU had a 14-3 advantage.

TCU's Chris Mandfredini kicked his third field goal just before the end of the half and BYU's lead was 17-9 at the break.

To open the third quarter, Poppinga picked off a Dalton pass and ran to the TCU 3-yard line, setting up a 3-yard Unga scoring run. Up 24-9, BYU looked to be in control.

But TCU lived on the BYU side of the 50 most of the second half and wouldn't go away. Backup quarterback Marcus Jackson led a 10-play scoring drive for TCU, ending on a 1-yard Marcus Brock run, to close to 24-15. A two-point conversion run failed.

The Cougars got a key stop just before the end of the third quarter when Popping and Nixon stuffed Aaron Brown for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at the BYU 31. The Cougars turned that into a 28-yard Mitch Payne field goal and a 27-15 lead.

BYU cornerback Ben Criddle knocked away a Dalton pass on another fourth-down deep in Cougar territory with 11 minutes to play, but TCU kept up the pressure. Dalton engineered a 94-yard drive by hitting 7-of-8 passes, the final one a 7-yard toss in the corner of the end zone to Bart Johnson. The extra point made it 27-22 with 3:49 to play.

BYU faced a third-and-5 at its own 33 with just under three minutes to go. A crazy play ensued where tight end Dennis Pitta appeared to flip the ball into the air, where it was caught by Andrew George for a 31-yard gain.

But a video replay showed officials (not anyone else because neither the BYU press box or the video big screen gets Versus) that the ball had touched the ground and the Cougars had to punt.

This time, instead of playing deep zone, BYU put pressure on Dalton and won the game.

"It was a hard-fought victory," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I think this might be our most complete game yet. We played with heart and determination. Our heart and will showed throughout the game and that was backed up by making key plays."

The Cougars found it pretty tough to run against TCU, gaining just 112 yards on 34 rushes (3.3 yards per carry). Collie had four catches for 109 yards in the first half but was shut out in the second. BYU managed only 157 yards after halftime.

The win puts BYU in the driver's seat in the MWC with a two-game lead over every team and only three to play. The Cougars travel to Laramie next Saturday. TCU will host UNLV for its next game.

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at ddickson@heraldextra.com