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TCU Edges Boise St.

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The Associated Press

Published: December 24, 2008

SAN DIEGO - TCU's Joseph Turner dived into the end zone for the winning touchdown, and LaDainian Tomlinson went nuts on the sideline.

It was a good night to be a Horned Frog, current and past.

Turner's 17-yard run midway through the fourth quarter gave the No. 11 Horned Frogs their first lead of the night, which they preserved for a 17-16 victory against No. 9 and previously undefeated Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl.
Boise State (12-1) was trying to finish 13-0 for the second time in three seasons. The Broncos took a 10-0 lead on Ian Johnson's 20-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter, but their high-scoring offense bogged down against the fast, aggressive defense of TCU (11-2).

With that touchdown run, Johnson broke Marshall Faulk's Western Athletic Conference record for rushing touchdowns.

It was Johnson's 13th touchdown run this season. He had four as a freshman, 25 as a sophomore and 16 in his junior year.

Tide's Saban AP Coach Of Year

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Four straight losses were bad enough for Alabama, and one humbling defeat to Louisiana-Monroe was even worse.
Nick Saban could have lost his team right there. Instead, he might well have claimed it.

"Coach came in and talked to us and was like, 'We've got an opportunity to change things with this bowl game,'" Crimson Tide safety Rashad Johnson said.

The Tide won the Independence Bowl against Colorado to end last season. It then won the following 12 as well, spending much of the 2008 season ranked No. 1. That startling turnaround and Alabama's return to national prominence brought Saban another honor Tuesday - Associated Press Coach of the Year. He also won the AP award with LSU in 2003.

This season, Saban led a team with only nine scholarship seniors to a 12-1 record and a Sugar Bowl date against Utah for only its second Bowl Championship Series berth.

In voting by college football writers, he drew 32 of a possible 62 votes. He outdistanced Texas Tech's Mike Leach (nine), Utah's Kyle Whittingham (six), Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson (five), Penn State's Joe Paterno (three) and Ball State's Brady Hoke (two). Five coaches got one vote apiece.

Saban led the Tide to a five-game turnaround after going 7-6 in his debut season after he was hired for a then-college football record $4 million a year.

No other Alabama coach has engineered such a Year 2 turnaround.

CLEMSON: Reserve defensive back Sadat Chambers was arrested for driving with a suspended license near his home in Chesterfield County, S.C.

MIAMI (OHIO): Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood was hired as the football coach at Miami University, which went 2-10 this season. He replaces Shane Montgomery, who resigned last month. The RedHawks went 17-31 during his four seasons.

Haywood, 44, becomes the sixth black coach among the 119 Bowl Subdivision schools and joins a university known as the Cradle of Coaches. He has been Notre Dame's offensive coordinator the last four seasons and has no direct ties to the RedHawks.

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