By Chadd Cripe
ccripe@idahostatesman.com
© 2011 Idaho Statesman

For the second year in a row, the Boise State football team’s Bowl Championship Series dreams were riding on a kick Saturday afternoon at Bronco Stadium.

And for the second straight time, that kick sailed wide right.

Redshirt freshman Dan Goodale missed a 39-yard field goal on the final play of the game as the No. 5 Broncos lost 36-35 to the TCU Horned Frogs.

“Just missed opportunities,” senior quarterback Kellen Moore said of his thoughts, echoing what he said in a similar situation last year in Reno. “I don’t think it’s one play. There are a variety of plays that you look back and try to improve on those and maybe we have a little better opportunity. But they made more plays than us.”

The Horned Frogs scored a touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:05 left in the game to take the 36-35 lead. That touchdown drive immediately followed a fumble by walk-on tailback Drew Wright when it looked like the Broncos were going to run out the clock and win 35-28.

TCU snapped Boise State’s national-best 35-game home winning streak and is the first conference opponent to win on the blue since Idaho in 1998.

“We didn’t shock the world,” TCU linebacker Tank Carder wrote on Twitter. “We just reminded them.”

Boise State falls to 8-1 and most likely will play in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas like last year or the Poinsettia Bowl. They have the first two selections from Mountain West teams.

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Some game notes:

Boise State played much of Saturday’s game without its top three cornerbacks — Jerrell Gavins (out for the year), Jamar Taylor (started, but left early with nagging leg injury) and Ebo Makinde (leg injury).
True freshman Lee Hightower and sophomore Quaylon Ewing-Burton took over. Hightower got burned on one of three first-half deep balls for touchdowns — the other two were on Makinde — and Ewing-Burton twice was unable to knock down a pass at the goal line on the Horned Frogs’ decisive final drive.
Hightower did make a key interception in the fourth quarter.
“They were getting us on double moves,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. “That’s not totally just on the secondary. Everybody’s involved. We’ve got to get some pressure.”
TCU quarterback Casey Pachall threw for 473 yards, five touchdowns and a two-point conversion.
“We knew they had been banged up at corner and they play their secondary like us, they sit on routes,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “… We knew we weren’t going to be able to drive on that defense, so we were going to have to create some big plays.”

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Boise State starting tailback Doug Martin didn’t play until the final 2 minutes of the game. He was hobbled during the UNLV game and didn’t look great during warm-ups, Petersen said. He came in for the last drive because of an injury to D.J. Harper (ankle).
Defensive tackle Billy Winn, injured against UNLV, didn’t start but played. Center Thomas Byrd, who started for the first time since September against UNLV, didn’t play.

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Boise State redshirt freshman wide receiver Matt Miller made nine catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. That gives him 48 catches and seven touchdowns this season — both school records for freshmen.
Austin Pettis set the previous receptions mark with 46 in 2007.

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Boise State senior quarterback Kellen Moore was 28-of-37 for 320 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers and two sacks. His efficiency rating was 166.16, by far his best game against TCU. He hadn’t topped 111 in two previous meetings.
Moore also extended his streak to 22 straight games with at least two touchdown passes.

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Boise State trailed 20-14 at halftime — the Broncos’ first halftime deficit since the 2007 Hawaii Bowl loss to East Carolina.
It was the Broncos’ first halftime deficit at home since the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl loss to Boston College.

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Boise State senior defensive end Tyrone Crawford scored on a 32-yard fumble return on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. Linebacker Byron Hout knocked the ball loose in the backfield.
“I just got the perfect Sunday hop,” Crawford said.
True freshman wide receiver Dallas Burroughs, the record-setting track star from Rocky Mountain High, finally got his first deep ball in the fourth quarter. He made a 54-yard touchdown catch at the goal line — the first completion for the Broncos this season on a ball that traveled 40 or more yards in the air from the line of scrimmage.
“Dallas ran a great route, got under the ball and made a big play,” Moore said.

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Here’s the drive chart:

DRIVE CHART

TCU 7 13 8 8 36
Boise State 7 7 14 7 35

First Quarter
BSU — Matt Miller 22 pass from Kellen Moore (Dan Goodale kick), 11:27. Key play: Tight end Kyle Efaw made a tough leaping catch for 5 yards on fourth-and-4. Drive: 8 plays, 60 yards, 3:33. Boise State 7, TCU 0
TCU — Josh Boyce 74 pass from Casey Pachall (Ross Evans kick), 8:34. Key play: Boyce beat Ebo Makinde down the sideline and Makinde couldn’t catch him to make a tackle. Drive: 1 play, 74 yards, :11. Boise State 7, TCU 7

Second Quarter
TCU — Brandon Carter 75 pass from Pachall (Evans kick), 13:17. Key play: The Horned Frogs got the ball when Boise State wide receiver Mitch Burroughs fumbled deep in TCU territory. Drive: 3 plays, 78 yards, 1:28. TCU 14, Boise State 7
BSU — D.J. Harper 17 run (Goodale kick), 8:13. Key play: Boise State converted two third downs and two second-and-longs. The most important was a defensive holding penalty on the Frogs on third-and-4 at the TCU 27. Drive: 10 plays, 77 yards, 5:04. TCU 14, Boise State 14
TCU — Boyce 69 pass from Pachall (Evans kick failed), 6:34. Key play: Boyce beat true freshman cornerback Lee Hightower, who was in the game because of injuries. Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards, 1:39. TCU 20, Boise State 14

Third Quarter
BSU — Tyrone Crawford 32 fumble return (Goodale kick), 14:43. Boise State 21, TCU 20
BSU — Harper 3 run (Goodale kick), 7:03. Key play: Harper gained 14 yards on third-and-1 and Moore fired an 8-yard pass to Miller in tight coverage on fourth-and-4. Drive: 10 plays, 67 yards, 4:47. Boise State 28, TCU 20
TCU — Boyce 2 pass from Pachall (Pachall run), 2:02. Key play: Hightower was called for pass interference on third-and-6 from the TCU 18-yard line, jumpstarting the drive. Drive: 9 plays, 86 yards, 5:01. Boise State 28, TCU 28

Fourth Quarter
BSU — Dallas Burroughs 54 pass from Moore (Goodale kick), 14:47. Key play: On the previous play, TCU was flagged for defensive holding on third-and-2. Drive: 5 plays, 82 yards, 2:15. Boise State 35, TCU 28
TCU — Carter 25 pass from Pachall (Boyce pass from Pachall), 1:05. Key play: Jonathan Jones broke two tackles on a 21-yard reception. Drive: 7 plays, 73 yards, 1:21. TCU 36, Boise State 35