San Diego, CA (Sports Network) - Aaron Brown led a pack of three Horned Frogs with 70-plus yards rushing, totaling 102 yards and a touchdown, as No. 11 TCU slipped past ninth-ranked Boise State, 17-16, in a Poinsettia Bowl that lived up to its billing.

A contest dubbed one of the best of the non-BCS bowls, matching two big-time football programs outside the realm of the big-time conference conglomerate, was a difference of two halves.

In the first 30 minutes, the Horned Frogs made a litany of mistakes, trailing 13-7 at intermission, despite holding a 188 to minus-seven edge in second- quarter yardage.

In the final two periods, TCU (11-2) just exerted its will with mistake-free physicality.

Joseph Turner rumbled for 83 yards on the ground and quarterback Andy Dalton accumulated 74 yards rushing along with 197 yards passing on 22-of-35 through the air.

"We were executing in the first half. We knew we could overcome those (turnovers). We were down 13-7 at halftime and we were still in the game," surmised Dalton. "We just had to keep doing what we were doing in the first half."

The Horned Frogs racked up 275 yards on the ground -- 25 more than Boise State's total yardage -- and got 67 receiving yards from Walter Bryant and 62 from Jimmy Young.

Boise State's (12-1) loss left Utah as the lone unbeaten team left in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Kellen Moore threw for 222 yards and one interception on 22-of-35 passing, but the big Broncos news came on Ian Johnson's 58th career rushing touchdown in the first quarter, moving him past former San Diego State star Marshall Faulk into the top spot in WAC rushing touchdown lore.

"We had a nice season, no question about it. We lost to a heck of a football team. We had our chances and didn't make the most of them," said Broncos head coach Chris Peterson. "We're going to learn from this game. There will be some good things for us to learn from."

Movement and trickery were themes on Boise State's initial possession of the contest. Johnson played dead on the kickoff, literally falling to the ground and staying down for a second or two before getting up and taking a lateral pass 25 yards to midfield.

A methodical march with an assortment of fake reserves and end-around runs reached scoring territory thanks to a 14-yard pass interference penalty on third down. The Horned Frogs buckled down after the infraction, but Kyle Brotzman split the uprights from 30 yards out for the game's first points.

The Broncos again tactically carved apart the TCU defense on their next series. Moore found Austin Pettis twice on the drive, including a 19-yard pitch-and-catch on third down, before Johnson benefited from a fake reverse and broke free down the right sideline for a 20-yard touchdown burst.

TCU moved the football inside the Boise State 40-yard line before a trick play out of the Wild Frog formation backfired. Jeremy Kerley lined up under center, but was intercepted by Jeron Johnson.

The Horned Frogs defense rose up in the second quarter, allowing just a field goal off a Dalton interception.

That interception fell into the arms of defensive lineman Byron Hout, who nimbly spun away from Dalton and rumbled 61 yards to the TCU 11-yard line. Brotzman was eventually called on again, nailing a 24-yard chip shot.

TCU embarked on a five-play, 60-yard march to light up the scoreboard prior to intermission. Dalton found Bryant for 15 yards and Young for 17 more before Brown bounced off several tacklers and high-stepped into the end zone from 16 yards out for a 13-7 game.

The Horned Frogs managed the only points of the third quarter on Lou Groza semifinalist Ross Evans' 32-yard field goal for a 13-10 contest.

TCU took its first lead of the game with a 10-play, 80-yard march to paydirt. Dalton found Bryant for 14 yards then the Horned Frogs ground game took over. Turner sprinted for eight yards prior to his 17-yard TD jaunt for the 17-13 lead.

Brotzman's 33-yard boot narrowed TCU's edge to 17-16 with 4:47 to play in the game.

Moore was intercepted by Stephen Hodge with under two minutes to play to seal the victory.