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No. 23 Frogs Dismiss UC Davis, 46-13 Ballard accounts for three touchdowns as TCU rolls to 12th straight win.
Sept. 9, 2006
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Jeff Ballard threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score to remain undefeated as TCU's starting quarterback after the No. 23 Horned Frogs beat I-AA UC Davis 46-13 on Saturday night for their 12th straight victory. After replacing injured senior Tye Gunn last season, Ballard has been the starter in the last 10 TCU wins. He was 18-of-23 passing for 190 yards before freshman Marcus Jackson took over to start the fourth quarter for the Frogs (2-0). Aaron Brown, again the only one of TCU's top three tailbacks to dress for the game, ran for 73 yards and two touchdowns. He took an option pitch to the right for a 4-yard TD, then swept to the left for a 7-yard score in the second half. UC Davis (1-1), which won 20-17 at Stanford last season, got a field goal on its opening drive in its first game ever against a Top 25 team. But TCU scored on its next four possessions to go ahead 23-3. Jon Grant was 13-of-25 passing for 211 yards with two interceptions and scored the Aggies' only touchdown on a disputed leaping dive into the end zone. The Aggies are completing the transition from Division II to I-AA and have had 36 straight winning seasons. TCU coach Gary Patterson was the linebackers coach at UC Davis in 1986. Brown finished with 132 total yards (13 rushes and five catches for 59 yards). The sophomore had 156 total yards in the season-opening 17-7 victory at Baylor when he ran 15 times for 49 yards and caught four passes for 107 yards, including the go-ahead 84-yard TD.
Senior running backs Robert Merrill (back) and Lonta Hobbs (foot), both who have had 1,000-yard seasons at TCU, haven't played in either game. Ballard ran for TCU's first score, lunging into the end zone after a UC Davis defender swiped at his ankles inside the 5. That came two plays after Walter Bryant made a leaping, one-handed catch across the middle of the field. TCU had short fields for its next three drives, starting at the UC Davis 36 after a muffed punt snap and twice at the 32. The Frogs got a 49-yard field goal from Peter LoCoco, an 18-yard TD pass from Ballard to Shae Reagan and Brown's first score. Marvin White's interception set up the TD for Brown, who had a 16-yard catch and 12-yard run on the short drive before scoring. Grant scored just before halftime on a keeper, leaping inside the 5 and extending the ball. While in the air, he was undercut by Jared Retkofsky and didn't appear to get the ball over the goal line. But the referee ruled touchdown. With no indisputable evidence to overturn the call, the touchdown stood after a review. |
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