COLUMN: State your case
Which college football team is better? No. 3 Boise State or No. 4 Texas Christian?
Mark Israelson (Staff Writer)
Tougher Schedule. Alright, let’s be honest, neither of these teams play in tough conferences, but the Broncos have a tougher schedule. Boise State started its 2010 Bowl Championship Series campaign by posting a dramatic win over then No. 10 Virginia Tech and then decimating Wyoming. Although most of their remaining games are against weaker opponents, they still have a few tough ones. On Saturday they take on No. 24 Oregon State, and they also have Nevada and Fresno State to contend with at the end of the season. If Boise State posts convincing wins and their opponents do them the favor of winning games, the Broncos definitely have a shot at the championship.
More returning players. Boise State returns every key contributor on an offensive squad that, last year, outscored opponents by a staggering margin of 42-17 last year. The Broncos are still led by Heisman trophy candidate Kellen Moore, who last year threw for over 3500 yards and an incredible 39 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions. CU on the other hand lost defensive superstar DE Jerry Hughes to the NFL, as well as top rusher Joseph Turner.
Media Hype. Everybody knows about Boise State and what they are trying to accomplish this season. After losing only one game (to TCU, coincidentally) since 2008, all the talk and all the hype has been about the Broncos and their chances of making it to the title game. Through all of this, TCU has been performing brilliantly, but quietly – not the way you make it to the National Championship. Boise has the attention of the college football world, and that can only help their quest for the top.
Tyler Huskinson (Staff Writer)
The dominance of Boise State football throughout its Western WAC campaign since 2001 has been nothing short of impressive, with an overall record of 60-4. Junior Kellen Moore, the best quarterback in the WAC and maybe even a possible Heisman trophy candidate, leads an offense that is 15th in the nation in passing and 22nd in rushing yards. The Bronco defense has allowed 18 points per game so far, but has average 42 points per game.
The Texas Christian University Horned Frogs from the Mountain West Conference rank higher in the nation, statistically, at the moment. They are ninth in points allowed and rushing yards per game. They are sixth in points scored per game, but the equalizer is that they have averaged 86 fewer passing yards than the Broncos so far this year, good for only 70th in the nation.
What about strength of conference schedule? The WAC and the MWC are comparable conferences as far as toughness of schedule is concerned, with the exception of No. 13 Utah in the MWC. Putting statistics aside, these two teams have met for each of the past two years in the post-season. TCU defeated Boise State in the 2008 Poinsetta Bowl, 17-16, and Boise State defeated TCU in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, 17-10. Until further notice, the Broncos have the upper hand because final scores speak louder than statistics. For now, Boise State is better than TCU.
Matt Sonnenberg (Assistant Sports Editor)
Comparing TCU and Boise State has grown to be a much more difficult task than it would have been three or four years ago. Boise State used to beat teams with flawless execution of trick plays to go with an already brilliantly-coached team, but even still, they had a gimmicky kind of feeling to their program.
While that gap has apparently closed to the point where Boise State teams can simply out-run and out-muscle most other teams, I think this year’s TCU team has got that little extra chip on its shoulder to give them the edge.
The reason for that chip is none other than Boise State. After the Broncos beat the Horned Frogs in last year’s Fiesta Bowl, Boise State put itself in position to be the primary non-BCS media darlings. And even though TCU was never far behind in the polls, I think there’s an extra spark of motivation working with them, and TCU returns essentially just as much from a team that was right on the same level as Boise State at the end of last year.
TCU has the speed of an SEC defense, along with the toughness of a Big-Ten defense, and the offensive prowess that was seen all over the Big-XII the past several years. They’re one of the three best teams in the nation in my opinion, along with Alabama and Boise State, but out of those three, I like the one with the chip on its shoulder.
Adam Nettina (Sports Editor)
You guys are wack. Boise may be good – don’t get me wrong – but Texas Christian might just be unstoppable. Sure, we all know about Kellen Moore and the Heisman hype, but I’ll take college football’s winningest quarterback (TCU’s Andy Dalton with 32 career wins) over Moore any day. Schedule? Puh-puh-please. Virginia Tech might be solid, but after losing to James Madison and sleepwalking through the first half against East Carolina, saying they’re a legit national title contender is a stretch. They sure aren’t any better than the Oregon State team TCU beat in week one.
Oh yeah, and what about that 45-10 drudging the Horned Frogs put on Baylor last week, in which the TCU defense made Baylor quarterback and all-around athletic super-freak Robert Griffin admit that he has “never been more embarrassed” in his life? TCU didn’t just blow the Bears out with their defense, either. Baylor, which hadn’t yielded a touchdown all season, gave up touchdowns to TCU in the games’ first five series. The win proves TCU’s dominance, especially over BCS conference teams (The team has won 15 of its last 18 games against BCS conference schools.)
Last year’s bowl game? Welcome to this year, Tyler. Boise State is good – dang good – but the Horned Frogs are better. But don’t take my word for it. Check out ESPN2 tonight when coach Gary Paterson’s team takes on Conference-USA heavyweight Southern Methodist, but the Horned Frogs are better.