San Diego State Comes Dangerously Close To Ruining TCU's Perfect Record

The TCU Horned Frogs played host to the Aztecs of San Diego State last Saturday, nearly shocking the college football world.

After jumping out to a 14 to zip lead, the Aztecs had what looked to be an early advantage. The game started so surprisingly that the offensive line coach for TCU suffered a heart attack late in the first quarter. Thankfully for him and his family, he is in fair condition at a Texas hospital.

In what looked like the upset of the year, TCU had other ideas. After SDSU took an early lead, TCU took five of their next six drives for scores to take a 34-14 lead at the half. The Aztecs didn't even accumulate a first down during the Horned Frogs attack.

During half-time, the consensus was that TCU was just off to a shaky start, and that the San Diego State Aztecs were who they thought they were. The Aztecs had other ideas.

The Aztecs outscored TCU 21-6 in the second half, with all three touchdowns coming in the final 16 minutes of the game. TCU, however, was able to man the ship, sending SDSU home with its first loss in the last five games, defeating them 40-35.

Ryan Lindley and Ronnie Hillman played horribly, accounting for their worst performances of the year. TCU has a defense that will do that to any team. Ask Utah.

Let's look at some positives.

Lindley finished only 11 of 26, but did connect on two touchdowns, both to wideout Vincent Brown. Brown had 146 yards receiving off of only four catches.

Hillman couldn't get the legs churning against arguably the nation's best defensive team. He finished with just 53 yards on 13 carries, with no touchdowns.

The Aztecs racked up 300 yards on offense, just the second team to break the 300 mark against TCU this year. The first was SMU back in September.

The 27th ranked Aztecs, who are consistently a win away from breaking into the top 25, actually improved their chances with a close loss to TCU. The Horned Frogs had their gap in the BCS standings close to less then a tenth of a percentage point, with Boise State coming that much closer to jumping them in the rankings.

The Aztecs will host the free-falling, No. 23-ranked Utah next Saturday at Quallcom Stadium in San Diego. If SDSU can pull the upset, they will most likely break into the top 25, as they have been on the outside looking in for three straight weeks.