Bear Bachmeier Ran Through TCU’s Answer in Fort Worth

The final decisive sequence began with TCU’s missed 46-yard field goal and ended with Bear Bachmeier running 21 yards through the middle of Amon G. Carter Stadium. In between, BYU covered 72 yards in 10 plays, drained 5:55 and turned a three-point game into a 17-7 lead with 2:06 remaining.

That was the shape of TCU’s 17-10 home loss to No. 9 BYU in Fort Worth: the Horned Frogs closed one door so firmly that the Cougars simply walked through another. TCU made Bachmeier a remarkably ineffective passer. He completed 11 of 24 throws for 62 yards, a number that looks almost comically small for a winning quarterback.

Yet Bachmeier ran 15 times for 66 yards and two touchdowns, and his legs supplied every BYU touchdown.

There is a reasonable defense of TCU’s performance here. The Frogs held BYU to 216 total yards, allowed just 62 through the air and finished with 259 yards of their own. The limit to that success was BYU’s eight conversions on 16 third downs.

TCU’s offense converted only four of 13. The problem is that BYU’s most important conversions came with Bachmeier carrying the answer in his hands.

His first touchdown followed the game’s only turnover. Jaden Craig’s second-quarter interception was returned 59 yards by Faletau Satuala, from the BYU 25 to the TCU 16. Six plays later, Bachmeier converted a third-and-goal from the 9 with a straight-ahead run.

That was a short field, and BYU deserves credit for cashing it in, but TCU was left defending just 16 yards of grass. The margin for error was tiny; the finish was direct.

The more revealing damage came late. TCU’s offense had just stalled at the BYU 28 after a six-play, 27-yard possession. Jeremy Payne ran for 13 yards earlier in that drive, but a 1-yard loss, a 1-yard gain and a 1-yard completion to Ed Small left the Frogs settling for the missed kick.

The miss gave BYU the ball with a chance to create separation, and the Cougars did not need a pass-heavy rescue operation.

Bachmeier opened the response with an 8-yard completion to Preston Rex, then added a 9-yard run on second-and-6 from the BYU 43. On third-and-5 from the TCU 43, he ran left for 10 more. Journee Tonga followed with a 14-yard burst to the TCU 19, and after a 2-yard loss, Bachmeier scored on a 21-yard run.

The drive featured only two completions, both short. Its real engine was the quarterback’s ability to keep converting ordinary downs with his legs.

That is the uncomfortable part for TCU. Its defense did not get beaten by a barrage of explosive throws. It was beaten by a quarterback who had already shown, on the first touchdown drive, that third-and-short runs were available.

Bachmeier converted third-and-1 from the BYU 46 in the third quarter and later picked up 9 yards on second-and-6 during the winning possession. The Frogs repeatedly made the passing game a narrow lane, but the rushing lane remained wide enough to decide the night.

TCU’s offense supplied enough isolated production to make the result sting. Payne carried 14 times for 77 yards, including a 25-yard run in the first half, while Kari Ashley caught six passes for 108 yards and the Frogs’ lone touchdown. But TCU finished with only 72 net rushing yards, and Craig’s minus-27 included four sacks.

Those figures made the offense dependent on chunk plays rather than steady down-to-down control.

The defense deserves real credit for reducing BYU’s passing threat. It also deserves a blunt question: how does TCU prevent a contained passer from becoming the game’s leading difference-maker on the ground? Until that answer arrives, an opponent can be held to 62 passing yards and still leave Fort Worth with the scoreboard.

Sources

TCU: game report and box score

TCU: game report and box score

ESPN: game statistics and play-by-play