BYU football: Frogs show they can beat you through the air, too

PROVO — The TCU Horned Frogs proved Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium that there's more than one way to skin a cat.

When the Horned Frogs humbled the BYU Cougars last year 32-7 in Fort Worth, they did most of the offensive damage running the football. In that game, TCU rushed for 240 yards on 51 carries and passed for another 170 yards.

Entering Saturday's game against the Cougars, the Frogs were averaging 206 yards per game through the air, which is by no means a sub-standard number. Still, in earning a perfect mark so far this year and a Top 10 ranking, TCU has dieted mainly on the ground, where it's averaged more than 225 yards per game.

In Saturday's 38-7 romping over the Cougars, however, the Frogs picked apart BYU's secondary for 285 yards and three touchdowns, compared to only 127 yards rushing. The Frogs' passing yardage likely would have been even higher if not for spending much of the fourth quarter milking the clock on the ground. In fact, 264 of those passing yards were compiled through three quarters.

"They are really strong and physical up front, and even last year we knew we had to take our shots against BYU, because if you don't back them up they'll get after you," TCU coach Gary Patterson said of his game plan to throw the football early.

And the Frogs didn't save their pass plays for times of desperation. In fact, most of TCU's big plays through the air came on first and second downs.

"We came out firing tonight, and that's what we need to do in a game like this," TCU quarterback Andy Dalton said.

Perhaps the biggest pass, which led to TCU's second score, was on a first down deep in its own territory, when receiver Jeremy Kerley took a reverse handoff and rolled wide left to avoid pressure before tossing deep downfield for a 40-yard gain to Bart Johnson.

"I thought I was going to be tackled, man. I mean it was crazy. But I guess it was a pretty good pass," Kerley said.

The pass that officially put the dagger in BYU's hopes came midway through the third quarter, again on a first down, when Dalton pumped on an out route, and then hit Antoine Hicks in stride down the sideline for a 75-yard TD strike that gave the Frogs a 31-7 lead.

"That was a big play for us," Dalton said. "We ran a little stutter on the corner, he bit on it, Antoine got behind him, and I just put it out there and let him go make the play."