By David Mann
For the second year in a row the University of Louisville football Cardinals were upset by the TCU Horned Frogs, this time 45-31. The game, which took place under took place under a drizzly overcast sky was one of the toughest losses all season for the Cardinals.
The Horned Frogs didn’t waste anytime putting points on the board, opening up their first drive of the game by scoring a touchdown in the first five minutes. TCU’s freshman quarterback Tye Gunn completed a 17-yard pass to TE Ricky Madison, giving the Frogs the early 7-0 lead.
Minutes later they followed that effort with a 37-yard field goal: the result of a fumble by U of L kickoff returner Broderick Clark.
It became apparent in the first quarter that U of L’s offense couldn’t perform against the young TCU defense, only getting two first downs.
On the other side of the ball U of L’s defense struggle to contain the Horned frogs running game giving up a couple of huge rushing gains, including one for 50-yards in the closing seconds of the first quarter by Lonta Hobbs that left them to 1st and goal on the seven as the quarter expired.
Things got even uglier for the Cardinals during the second quarter. TCU easily put the ball in the end zone just under two minutes into the quarter, giving the Horned Frogs a 17-0 edge. Before the half had expired TCU was able to score three more times.
The Cardinals were finally able to scrape together a 7-play 60-yard drive to find the end zone late in the second quarter. As the first half expired TCU had a 38-6 lead. The biggest factor working against U of L was the amount of mistakes they made on both sides of the ball. The cardinals gave up 17-points on three turnovers inside their own 35-yard line.
In the second half things improved only slightly for the Cardinals. They were able to come out swinging early on in the 3rd quarter scoring two touchdowns and a safety early on. The first coming off of a six-yard Dave Ragone pass, which capped off a 5-play, 55-yard drive, the second coming just minutes later after a 4-yard draw play by Henry Miller, his tenth rushing TD of the year.
“We fought back in the second half,” said quarterback Dave Ragone. However after 16 early points by the Cardinals, TCU slowed down the tempo by reestablishing their running game and running the clock down. Before game’s end each team was able to score once more, leaving the score, 45-31 TCU. “As a coach, I’ve never been quite so embarrassed” said head coach John L. Smith, later adding “We’re a group of undisciplined “I” and “me” guys. That’s not what we preach in this program.”
