Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
TCU
Bulldogs Fall To Frogs
11/11/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 11, 2000
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas -- LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 231 yards and his 50th career touchdown and Casey Printers scored on a pair of short keepers as No. 18 Texas Christian beat Fresno State 24-7 on Saturday.
A week after its dreams of an undefeated season and BCS bowl ended in a loss at San Jose State, TCU (8-1, 5-1 WAC) beat Fresno and then accepted an invitation to play in the Mobile Alabama Bowl for the second straight year.
Fresno State (5-4, 4-2) led 7-0 when David Carr threw a 27-yard TD pass to Bernard Berrian with 2:40 left in the first quarter. But the Bulldogs didn't score again.
Printers scored both of his touchdowns - from the 2 and 1 - in the final 2:51 of the first half, and Tomlinson scored on a 65-yard run on the first possession after halftime.
Tomlinson, the nation's leading rusher with 1,680 yards, had his 11th straight game with more than 100 yards. That stretch began when he set an NCAA Division I-A record with 406 yards last season against Texas-El Paso, next week's opponent and the surprise WAC leader.
Tomlinson's longest run of the season came on a third-and-14 play. He took an inside handoff, fended off a tackler after bolting through an open gap and sprinted to the end zone, shaking Dante Marsh's attempted ankle tackle at the 15.
That run alone was more than Tomlinson had last season against Fresno, which held him to 49 yards on 20 carries as the Bulldogs won 26-19 in overtime.
TCU won the inaugural Mobile Bowl last season, 28-14 over East Carolina. The Dec. 20 game will be the first bowl this year and match the Frogs against a team from Conference USA, the league they are moving to next season.
Printers tied Saturday's at 7-all on a 2-yard keeper with 2:51 left in the first half, the TD capping an 11-play, 64-yard drive.
When Fresno got the ball back, its drive was kept alive by a pass interference call on third-and-15. But on the next play, Russell Gary stepped in front of the intended receiver and returned the interception 54 yards before being tackled by Carr at the 1.
Two plays later, Printers went into the end zone untouched as several defenders pursued Tomlinson instead.
With 4,785 yards, Tomlinson passed Marshall Faulk (4,589 yards at San Diego State) for second place on the WAC career rushing list. He is within 28 yards of former Colorado State standout Steve Bartalo's 4,813 yards.
TCU couldn't score its first four drives, even though three of them ended in Fresno territory.
Frogs linebacker Chad Bayer recovered a fumble by Paris Gaines at the 26 on the second play of the game. Their fake field-goal attempt failed when holder Matt Schobel's 5-yard shuffle pass to George Layne came up a yard short of a first down.
Printers fumbled at the Fresno 33 on the second possession, and Chris Kaylakie was wide right on a 36-yard field-goal attempt midway through the second quarter.
Kaylakie kicked a 46-yard field goal late in the third quarter for the other TCU points.
