CONFERENCE USA TCU escapes Louisville's upset bid

A missed field goal spared the Horned Frogs from losing for the first time.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- TCU coach Gary Patterson was already thinking about what to do in overtime. Quarterback Brandon Hassell stood nearby, his heart beating fast in anticipation.
Then Louisville kicker Nate Smith missed his third field goal, a 44-yard attempt that bounced off the crossbar on the final play to give 13th-ranked TCU a 31-28 win Wednesday night.
The Horned Frogs had barely survived their toughest test to remain undefeated and in the running for a spot in the Bowl Championship Series.
"It looked like it was right on," Hassell said. "When it hit the crossbar, I just felt joy."
And an incredible sense of relief.
Only unbeatens
TCU (9-0, 6-0 Conference USA) and Oklahoma (9-0), the No. 1 team in every poll, are the only undefeated teams remaining in major college football. Both have 11-game winning streaks.
It was the fifth three-point win of the season for the Frogs, who are ninth in the BCS rankings. They were coming off a 62-55 win at Houston.
"The bottom line is that not everything went our way, but we still found a way to win," Patterson said. "It's about wins. We have to find a way to win three more games."
The Frogs have to be at least three spots higher in the BCS to be guaranteed a spot in one of the four lucrative bowls. No team from a non-BCS conference has ever finished higher than 10th.
"They shouldn't have anything left to prove to anyone," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. "Everybody they play, they beat."
Smith's sudden struggles came at the right time for TCU, which gave him another chance by not running the clock out after he was well short on a 47-yarder with 2:36 remaining.
Louisville (7-2, 3-2) got the ball at its 20 with 55 seconds and no timeouts. Stefan LeFors completed passes of 10 and 19 yards to J.R. Russell, then on fourth-and-15 scrambled to find Robert Haskins for 29 yards to the 27 to give Smith a chance at redemption.
Smith had made 13-of-14 field goals, including 21- and 26-yarders in the first half before pushing a 22-yard attempt just right of the upright late in the third quarter. His only miss had been a blocked 47-yard attempt against South Florida.
"In no way is this loss all his fault," Petrino said.
Big numbers
Louisville had 580 total yards, but was penalized 15 times for 120 yards. A personal foul play at the end of a third-down play on the game's opening drive pushed the Cardinals out of field goal range, and TCU then scored touchdowns the first two times it had the ball.
LeFors finished 31-of-46 for 459 yards with a touchdown, and scored on a 9-yard run on a fake field goal in the fourth quarter. Lionel Gates had nine catches for 134 yards, and Russell caught eight passes for 119 yards.
Hassell completed 17 of 27 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 61 yards and another score. The junior had never thrown a pass before this season, but has won all five of his starts in two stints for injured Tye Gunn.