LOOKING BACK: TCU vs. N. Illinois in 2006
12/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 29, 2007
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Penned in by a bunch of tough Horned Frogs, Garrett Wolfe had nowhere to run.
The national rushing leader was held to 28 yards, a whopping 130 below his average, and No. 25 TCU won a Poinsettia Bowl mismatch against Northern Illinois 37-7.
While Wolfe was repeatedly stuffed by one of the nation's best defenses, led by end Tommy Blake, Horned Frogs quarterback Jeff Ballard ran for three touchdowns and threw for another.
Ballard looked like more of a running back as he scored on runs of 10, 1 and 6 yards. He threw a 6-yard TD pass to tight end Brent Hecht and finished with 258 passing yards.
TCU's Lonta Hobbs rushed for 114 yards and one TD. Wolfe came in leading the nation with an average of 158.3 yards rushing and 178.9 all-purpose yards.
The Horned Frogs, though, were fourth nationally in run defense after allowing only 67.6 yards per game. TCU kept alive its string of not allowing a 100-yard rusher, one of only four teams to do so this year.
Wolfe, who carried 20 times, came dangerously close to his career-low of 24 yards set in his first game, the 2004 season opener. The Huskies had only five first downs and 60 yards of total offense, compared to 23 first downs and 456 yards for TCU.
