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Vanderbilt Falls at TCU 30-14 9/20/2003
Vanderbilt Falls at TCU 30-14 9-20-03 The Commodores lost to Texas Chistian University in the first road game of the season 30-14 Saturday night in Dallas, Texas. FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Freshman Robert Merrill ran for 119 yards and the go-ahead touchdown as No. 20 TCU beat Vanderbilt 30-14 Saturday night without its starting quarterback and top two running backs. Merrill, who didn’t have a carry in the first two games, ran 29 times — all after starting tailback Lonta Hobbs left the game midway through the first quarter with an injured right foot. He also caught three passes for 44 yards. The Horned Frogs (3-0) started the game without quarterback Tye Gunn (separated right shoulder) and backup tailback Ricky Madison (torn knee ligament). Vanderbilt (1-3), which had all four of its turnovers in the first half, hasn’t beaten a Top 25 team since a 27-25 win over No. 17 Georgia in 1991. Brandon Hassell, a fourth-year junior who had never thrown a pass in a game, overcame three fumbles (one lost) and an interception in the first quarter of his first start. He completed 15 of 30 passes for 227 yards, including a 17-yard TD to Quentily Harmon with 4:31 left in the game. Hobbs scored the first TD and ran for 40 yards on five carries, but landed awkwardly after being tackled on a 4-yard run and didn’t return. TCU didn’t provide injury details, but Hobbs was on the sideline after halftime leaning on crutches with his foot in some kind of brace. Merrill put the Frogs ahead to stay with a nifty 18-yard run that made it 17-14 on the first play after a fumble in the second quarter. He started toward the right sideline, then made a stutter-step through a small gap in a wall of defenders back to the middle of the field. As a senior two years ago at San Antonio’s Taft High School, Merrill rushed for 2,891 yards and 39 TDs. TCU drove 88 yards on 20 plays on its previous drive, but had to settle for Nick Browne’s 22-yard field goal after Hassell lost a yard on a third-and-goal keeper from the 3. Browne added field goals of 35 and 50 yards in the second half. Hassell completed a 27-yard pass on his first play of the game, but fumbled twice the three plays after that for minus-16 yards and TCU punted. The Frogs got the ball back when Marvin Godbolt picked off a pass — his third straight game with an interception — that deflected off receiver Brandon Smith. An illegal block wiped out Godbolt’s 21-yard TD return, but Hobbs scored on a 7-yard run. Vanderbilt’s Jay Cutler threw his second interception, but Hassell gave the ball right back when he threw a pass behind his receiver that was picked off by defensive end Jovan Haye and returned 10 yards. The Commodores tied it at 7 on the next play when Kwane Doster took a pitch, found a gap to the right and ran untouched 27 yards. After TCU moved from its own 10 to the Vanderbilt 31 on just three plays, with the help of a personal foul penalty, Hassell made a great fake and then ran for 12 yards before fumbling after being hit by Haye. Early in the second quarter, after another Vanderbilt fumble, TCU got to the 35 before an incomplete pass on fourth-and-3. Vanderbilt needed just three plays to go 65 yards for a 14-7 lead when Cutler threw a 43-yard TD pass. Smith, who wrestled the ball away from a defender for an 18-yard gain on the first play, streaked past two Frogs and was wide open when he caught the TD pass in stride at the goal line. Cutler finished 17-of-36 for 250 yards. |
