BYU football: TCU scores first-quarter knockout

Provo » A horrible start sank Brigham Young in last year's loss at TCU.

So, after what the Cougars called one of their best weeks of practice this season, they promptly went out Saturday night and ... went splat to open their biggest game of the year.

This time at home, in front of a sellout crowd and a national television audience. And the No. 10 Horned Frogs rode it all the way to a 38-7 victory that likely obliterated BYU's conference championship hopes and smoothed their own path towards what could end up a BCS bowl berth.

"It did feel a lot like last year," said BYU linebacker Coleby Clawson, recalling last season's 32-7 beat-down in Fort Worth.

Saturday,

the Frogs punted on their first possession of the game, but then put together back-to-back 80- and 84-yard touchdown drives.

It was 14-0 before the latecomers had settled into their seats, and TCU wound up outgaining the Cougars 170-21 in total yardage for the opening quarter.

As bad as that was though, BYU's players and coaches say they didn't truly feel flustered until the second quarter, when TCU took a three-touchdown lead on Andy Dalton's 12-yard scoring pass to Jimmy Young with six minutes to play in the half.

"Fourteen-nothing wasn't an issue," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "But 21-0 started to make me a little uneasy in terms of being patient and playing catch-up."

Last year, it was 14-0 Frogs

after a quarter and 23-0 at the half.

In both cases, the BYU offense was disrupted. Quarterback Max Hall once again faced enormous pressure, and the BYU run game was quieted to a whisper after experiencing some early success.

Still, the Cougars felt like they still had a shot after closing to 21-7 by intermission.

"Last year we lost hope a lot sooner," said BYU defensive end Brett Denny. "This year, we were only down 14 points at the half, and we felt like if we jumped out in the second half and got it to 21-14, we'd be right there. But things didn't fall together."

Thanks in no small part to another bad start.