PROVO — For most of three quarters, BYU's defense appeared to be in control against TCU's offense.
It wasn't until the 1:51 mark of the third quarter that the Cougar "D" gave up its first touchdown. But it wasn't the Horned Frogs' last. TCU scored 35 points after halftime.
Thanks to the inspired play of backup quarterback Jeff Ballard, who replaced injured starter Tye Gunn in the second half, and his array of playmakers, TCU roared back to defeat BYU in overtime, 51-50.
So what happened to the Cougar defense?
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall pointed out that his team lost both starting cornerbacks, Nathan Soelberg and Justin Robinson, though Robinson returned to the contest late. The Cougars also were without linebacker Paul Walkenhorst and defensive lineman Daniel Marquardt. Linebacker Cameron Jensen also missed plays because of injury.
"Anticipation of losing one corner was possible. Two was something I'll now have to prepare for as well," Mendenhall said. "But I'll give TCU credit. They made more plays on the outside with a backup quarterback, throwing the ball and moving the chains. It was enough to win the football game.
"But with that backup quarterback in, we had a chance to make some plays and didn't. That credit goes to (TCU)."
"TCU made some really good adjustments, and we lost a lot of starters," Cougar linebacker Aaron Wagner said. "A lot of guys went down. We were playing with a different lineup in there. They just made plays when they needed to. Their go-to guys were making plays."
BYU wide receiver Todd Watkins praised Ballard for his play. "When their starting quarterback went down, that was probably the worst thing that happened to us," he said. "That guy came in and did a great job. He made a lot of plays for them."
CAREER DAY: Quarterback John Beck completed 30 of 51 passes for a career-high 517 yards and career-high five touchdown tosses. Both marks were also single-game Mountain West Conference records.
HONORARY CAPTAIN: A 6-year-old boy from Clovis, N.M., Andrew Alley, was named an honorary game captain on Saturday for BYU. Alley has been diagnosed with cancer. The Cougar team leadership council invited Alley to serve as honorary captain after learning that the Alley family would be attending the game. Alley and members of his family carried the team flag onto the field before the game, and the Cougars performed the Haka dance in his honor. Andrew's father, Maj. Matthew Alley, is an F-16 pilot in the U.S. Air Force and is stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. Matthew and his wife, Wendy, are BYU graduates.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com