Another undefeated team has been removed from the BCS picture as the Boise State Broncos were stunned 36-35 by the TCU Horned Frogs. The game was back and forth all day long, but for the second straight year, the Broncos came up on the short end of the stick in a tight conference ball game. TCU stunned them with a late touchdown and two-point conversion, followed by the Broncos missing a field goal as time expired.
TCU led 20-14 at the half, but Boise State was able to get on the board early in the second half by returning a fumble for a touchdown. The teams then exchanged the lead before Boise took a 35-28 lead with 14:47 to go in the game. TCU could not get much of anything going for most of the fourth quarter before driving late. Casey Pachall connected with Brandon Carter on a 25-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 35-34. TCU had been dealing with kicker troubles, so rather than go for the tie, they went for two and the win. Pachall connected with Josh Boyce to take the lead.
The kicker troubles reared their head again as the TCU kicker booted the ensuing kickoff out of bounds. Boise State started off on their own 40 and benefited from a huge holding call and an even bigger fourth down pass interference call. They were set up for a 39-yard field goal, but the Broncos kicker pushed it wide right and Boise State was undefeated no more.
The Stanford Cardinal were ranked one spot ahead of Boise State in the rankings, but remained behind them in most of the computer rankings. If Stanford can beat Oregon Saturday night, they'll make a sizable leap over the Broncos in the computers. If they win it would likely not be enough to get past Oklahoma State, but it would probably be enough to climb ahead of Alabama in the BCS rankings. Now if only Oklahoma State or LSU could find a way to lose!