What was left of BYU's season sat just above the cast on Dekoda Watson's left arm, a paperback-sized chunk of manicured grass that looked like a divot from Goliath's back nine.
The Florida State linebacker the turf trophy around in front of a small crowd of Seminole supporters in LaVell Edwards Stadium, beaming like an oversized 5-year-old at his first show and tell. Florida State had arrived a seemingly fragile program, looking at a 1-2 start following a heartbreaking loss to Miami in Week 1 and a vague impersonation of a win against Jacksonville State last Saturday.
But over 60 minutes of a 54-28 rout of Brigham Young that likely proved even Utah friendly has its limits, the Seminoles hadn't just ripped their heart out. They'd ripped their turf out, too.
By the time Watson finished his parade, they had literally taken the ground out from under the Mountain West Conference. The Cougars lost the battle, the MWC lost the turf war.
The above video shows Brian Smith, a reporter for the student newspaper at Texas Christian University, saying he thinks TCU would be better off with incoming freshman Casey Pachall at quarterback than with returning starter Andy Dalton. Smith offers some mild criticism of Dalton and praises Pachall's talents, and overall it's a rather unexceptional commentary on the state of the TCU program. But when TCU coach Gary Patterson heard about the commentary, he was furious.
The 12-0 Boise State Broncos came to San Diego with an eye on perfection. If they had studied history they would have known to exercise extreme caution. San Diego was where famed thoroughbred Cigar was felled after a 16-race win streak. He very nearly won the Pacific Classic at Del Mar but was passed not far from the finish line. Football teams aren't horses but they can suffer the same athletic tales of defeat.
And so it was for the previously unspoiled Broncos who held a lead for much of a tightly fought game before falling behind in the fourth quarter. At different points in the game TCU had outgained Boise nearly 3-to-1 and 2-to-1, but Boise also built a 13-0 lead before surrendering a touchdown just before halftime. TCU further carved into that, making it 13-10 in the third quarter before taking a 17-13 lead on the strength of a gamelong 278-yard ground assault marked by a ridiculous nine (!) third down conversions.
Boise State rallied to 17-16 after another field goal, but giving the ball to TCU with just over four minutes left was a bad choice as TCU chewed up over three minutes of clock to hold on. Coffee is for closers and after blowing a fourth quarter lead against Utah earlier in the year, TCU redeemed itself and got its coffee while Boise State wonders what 13-0 and several weeks of BCS complaining could have felt like.
This thing lived up to the hype, but not in a way most fans expected.
This is the biggest non-BCS Bowl in Bowl Season '08. It is the one with national buzz and curiosity. In the abstract, writing that a battle between WAC and MWC teams, in a pre-Christmas bowl, would be one of the most anticipated bowls seems almost absurd. The reality is that this not only provides an intriguing match-up between two teams ranked in the top 11, but it is expected to be one of the most competitive and exciting of all the bowl games. A meeting between two well-coached, very good teams.
TCU's defense and Boise State's offense get the attention, but it isn't as if either team is a slouch on the other side of the ball. TCU has the 29th-best offense and Boise has the 16th-best defense in 1-A.
The game and the liveblog kickoff around 8 PM EST. Join us to talk about the game as it unfolds and the other bowl matchups for the rest of the week.
Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego, California), which pits TCU against Boise State.
Overview/Matchup: Ah. San Di-ahgo. In German, it means ... er, nevermind. The Poinsettia Bowl normally features a Mountain West team matched up against someone from the PAC-10. But with "things" happening, the Poinsettia actually ended up pulling on TCU and Boise State -- a fantastic matchup that probably leaves to underrated teams a little bitter, considering the strong seasons both had and the relative earliness of their bowl appearance.
Hotels: The Grand Del Mar is the best and newest hotel in San Diego, it has great Southern California architecture gorgeous canyon views... unfortunately it's 20 minutes North of town & the stadium. In town stay at the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter (which is pricey but they should have rooms under 200) or for a cheaper rate and better proximity to the stadium try the Courtyard by Marriott San Diego.
Restaurants: Spend time in the gas lamp district downtown, good shops and restaurants. If you're willing to drive, head for Silver Strand Blvd and eat at Mistral. The restaurant has great seafood and the best views in town. Lou & Mickey's is known for steaks, but our recommendation is the iced shellfish platter. Trophy's is a historic sports bar with plenty of fans, plenty of televisions and plenty of sports memorabilia.
Nightlife: Trophy's is also a great spot to enjoy a beer before or after the game. Head to the Altitude Skybar and Garden Lounge for higher-brow (and higher-priced) nightlife. 22 stories up, this rooftop bar caters to young professionals, offers great city views and even has blankets for patrons on cold nights.
Yeah, which is it- bowl-ambitious BCS team deciding to add a difficult non-conf game in lieu of a Sun Belt creampuff or just the kind of game a BCS-ambitious team like TCU needs to beef up those Sagarin numbers in the event they run the table? Either way, it's something of a relief for each of these schools that they play each other in 2009- it's a considerable downshift from each team's premiere non-conference game this season- USC for Virginia, Oklahoma for TCU. And of course, it's the first time they've faced each other since the 1994 Poulan Weedeater Independence Bowl. But lord knows I don't need to remind you of that fact.
Next year, the game takes place in Charlottesville as part of UVA's considerably southern OOC slate (Southern Miss, William & Mary, and um...some to-be-named MAC team), with a return date in Fort Worth in 2012. It's a good set-up for TCU, and hopefully the next Virginia coach can use the back end of this home-and-home to expand the Cavaliers' recruiting base into Texas. Groh's contract does run out in 2011, after all.
This is exactly why you need to join us on the adventure that is Thursday night college football. The Florida State/North Carolina State headliner was alright, but down on the rodeo-mad Versus network TCU was putting the whuppin' on previously undefeated BYU 32-7.
BYU was almost staring down a 21-0 first quarter deficit, before it appeared to pick off a TCU pitch near the end zone. In the typical banana republic fashion of college football reviews, the interception was overturned and TCU got redemption with a gimme field goal to go up 17-0 and never looked back.
The Horned Frogs' smashing victory -- this thing was over well before the end of the first half -- ends BYU's nation-leading 16 game win streak and narrows by one the already dwindling list of small conference BCS crashers. We know you want your MTV -- and Boise State and BYU and Ball State. Problem is, until someone like TCU makes their season beating the Oklahomas on their schedule (they lost to the Sooners 35-10), unfortunate defeats like this seem inevitable.
We don't want to get too sappy, but this may be Bobby Bowden's last major primetime game as the head coach at Florida State. Mind you its on a Thursday night, but when your program takes the turn Florida State's has, them's the breaks, sadly.
Maybe ESPN will ignore the significance of it, or maybe there's a goofy showing of respect/admiration/appreciation with montages of Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke and Deion Sanders and a million other interesting players and events that have been part of the man's remarkable career.
And if all of that stuff somehow bores you, we'll also be monitoring another game starting a half hour later, No. 9 BYU at TCU. Whatever strikes your fancy, it's College Football's Monday night, and we're here to emcee.
Festivities begin at 730 ET (BYU at TCU begins at 8 ET on Versus). Chat application after the jump.
NCAA Football 
What was left of BYU's season sat just above the cast on Dekoda Watson's left arm, a paperback-sized chunk of manicured grass that looked like a divot from Goliath's back nine. 
The 12-0 Boise State Broncos came to San Diego with an eye on perfection. If they had studied history they would have known to exercise extreme caution. San Diego was where 
Turkey Legs to Go
Yeah, which is it- bowl-ambitious BCS team deciding to add a difficult non-conf game in lieu of a Sun Belt creampuff or just the kind of game a BCS-ambitious team like TCU needs to beef up those Sagarin numbers in the event they run the table? Either way, it's something of a relief for each of these schools that 
This is exactly why you need to join us on the adventure that is 
We don't want to get too sappy, but this may be 
