Can La. Tech pull an upset over TCU at Qualcomm Stadium?

Poinsettia Bowl

TCU v. La. Tech

The Fiesta Bowl.  The Rose Bowl.  The San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.  Which one is not like the others?  It’s pretty obvious that the SDCUPB (that took me two minutes to figure out how to make an acronym out of it, but I digress…) isn’t a BCS bowl and that could, key word COULD, be a stumbling block for one of the most successful programs in the nation.  TCU lost so many seniors off the 2010 offense that there was seemingly no way that the offense could keep the Horned Frogs in games the way it did in prior years.

But, the way that QB Casey Pachall threw the football this season, the offense was nearly better than it was in 2010.  Following the loss to SMU, Pachall and the offense cranked it up a few notches, registering key wins over San Diego State, BYU and of course on the Blue Turf against Boise State.  However, the Horned Frogs don’t definitively have the best offense in this game, believe it or not.  Okay, okay, I was just trying to get your attention, TCU has a better offense, but it’s not going to be a walk in the park for the TCU defense facing this La. Tech offense.

Sonny Dykes’s Bulldogs won seven games in a row to finish the season, including five of those seven on the road.  The offense, led by WR Quinton Patton and RB Lennon Creer, has averaged nearly 35 points a game over the last five games.  Patton is electric with the ball in his hands, while Creer has been dealing with an injury that sidelined him for the last two games of the regular season, which could be a factor in slowing down the Bulldog running game.

The TCU secondary will struggle when it’s in man coverage on Patton, but in the end, the Horned Frogs are going to put a ton of pressure on the Bulldog defense with its ability to run it and throw it equally well.  The three TCU backs, Ed Wesley, Waymon James and Matthew Tucker, will combine to run for 175+ yards and a couple of touchdowns, while Pachall riddles the La. Tech secondary throughout the night.  I’d like for it to be close.  It won’t be.

Player to Watch

TCU CB Greg McCoy – as one of the defense’s returning starters this season, McCoy was under the microscope from the opening game of the year against Heisman winner Robert Griffin III.  And, the siege hasn’t stopped all season long.  Against Patton, McCoy has a huge challenge ahead and his ability to slow down La. Tech’s best offensive threat is a key to another TCU bowl win.

TCU – 42 vs. La. Tech – 21