BOISE, Idaho -- Not again.
Surely that was the collective thought of Bronco Nation as Boise State redshirt freshman kicker Dan Goodale lined up for a 39-yard field goal on the final play Saturday afternoon at Bronco Stadium.
And certainly that was the thought -- with some exclamation points for the pain -- as Goodale's kick sailed wide right.
The miss sealed TCU's 36-35 triumph -- Boise State's first home loss in nearly six years and a defeat that shatters the Broncos' lofty dreams for this season, starting with the Mountain West Conference championship that the Horned Frogs can secure with two home wins against league bottom-feeders UNLV and Colorado State.
The Broncos also have little remaining hopes of a Bowl Championship Series bid that would have generated $3 million or more for the university.
"It's definitely hard. It's a feeling similar to the feeling last year," senior defensive end Tyrone Crawford said. "It sucks."
Last year, kicker Kyle Brotzman missed a 26-yard field goal that would have broken a tie on the last play at Nevada. The Wolf Pack won in overtime.
The difference this year is that the Broncos were relying on an unproven kicker, rather than the highest scoring kicker in college football history. Goodale was 3-for-4 on field goals, none longer than 32 yards, and had missed five PATs this season.
Still, coach Chris Petersen decided to play for the field goal rather than try for a touchdown. On third-and-5 at the TCU 20-yard line, with 21 seconds and a timeout left, he instructed quarterback Kellen Moore to run the ball to the middle of the field.
The Broncos (8-1 overall, 3-1 MW) let the clock run down to 1 second, called timeout and summoned Goodale -- a walk-on from Timberline High who won a three-way battle for the kicking job in fall camp.
"He's been kicking pretty well in practice and we thought he could make it," said Petersen, who lost at home for the first time.
TCU (8-2, 5-0) snapped the Broncos' 35-game home winning streak and extended its record Mountain West winning streak to 22 games.
Boise State hadn't lost a home conference game since the 1998 season finale against Idaho.
"To take down a team like that is amazing," TCU senior linebacker Tank Carder said.
Boise State and TCU have split four meetings in the past nine years -- by a combined total of 12 points.
TCU coach Gary Patterson used every defensive call he had against Moore and the senior Heisman Trophy candidate still completed 75 percent of his passes, didn't commit a turnover and had the Broncos in position for many more points (two fumbles, missed field goal) than ended up on the scoreboard.
"I'm glad I don't have to face Kellen Moore again," Patterson said. "... Like I told Kellen on the field, I'm happy for us but I'm also sad for them. I know how hard they've (worked)." The Broncos slipped to 46-3 in Moore's four-year career as the starting quarterback.
Those three losses include two one-pointers to TCU and the overtime loss to Nevada. In those games, the Broncos missed a total of five field goals.
Moore, like last year in Reno, spread the blame.
"Just missed opportunities," he said. "I don't think it's one play. There are a variety of plays that you look back and try to improve on those and maybe we have a little better opportunity. But they made more plays than us."
TCU did most of its damage in the first half, taking a 20-14 lead thanks to Casey Pachall touchdown passes that covered 74, 75 and 69 yards against Boise State's depleted secondary.
It was the first time in Moore's career that the Broncos trailed at the break.
"They were just trying to play base defense and we tore that apart," Pachall said.
The Broncos flipped the game on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. Senior linebacker Byron Hout knocked the ball loose in the backfield and senior defensive end Tyrone Crawford scooped and scampered 32 yards for the touchdown.
Moments later, senior tailback D.J. Harper scored on a 3-yard run that gave the Broncos a 28-20 lead.
"I felt like we were in a lot of trouble," Patterson said, "... but we fought back."
The Frogs erased the deficit with a nine-play touchdown drive, capped by Josh Boyce's third TD catch of the game, and a two-point run by Pachall late in the third quarter.
The Broncos answered with a 54-yard touchdown pass from Moore to true freshman wide receiver Dallas Burroughs for a 35-28 lead.
The defenses stiffened briefly and the Broncos took the ball at their own 32 with 5:37 on the clock. They could have, and probably should have, run out the clock on that drive.
But Harper, who started in place of injured tailback Doug Martin, turned an ankle on a wicked hit at the TCU 47. Walk-on Drew Wright, the No. 3 tailback who has played so well in mop-up duty this year, entered and gained 8 yards for a first down. Then he picked up 4. And then he gained 4 -- which would have set up a third-and-2 that could have iced the game.
Instead, Jonathan Anderson hammered Wright and the ball popped onto the turf. TCU recovered with 2:26 left.
The Frogs scored with ease -- Pachall hit Brandon Carter for a 25-yard score -- and went for the lead on a two-point play. Boise State cornerback Quaylon Ewing-Burton nearly broke up the pass to Boyce, who caught it.
Ewing-Burton also grabbed Boyce's arm and tried to keep him out of the end zone -- but Boyce won.
"I wasn't too sure in my mind that we were even going to get a chance to get the ball back and take it back down," Pachall said. "Once that fumble occurred, I knew we had what it takes to march down the field."
The Frogs kicked off out of bounds, giving the Broncos the ball at their own 40 with 65 seconds left.
"For me, I'm probably thinking touchdown," Moore said, "and others are thinking field goal. ... Coaches understand these circumstances better than us. We just go out and execute and give ourselves a chance."
The Broncos seemed out of sync in their usually dynamic hurry-up attack, but a fourth-down penalty for pass interference kept the drive alive and a couple completions set up Goodale's ill-fated kick.
"It wasn't close," Carder said. "Thank God he missed it for us."
