I wanted TCU to be successfully – I really did. I kept waiting for its high-powered offense to settle in and start lighting up the scoreboard like it had all season, and for the Frogs to make a definitive statement on national television that they deserved to at least be in the national title discussion.

But it never happened.

TCU’s 17-10 loss to Boise State in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl left little doubt that Glendale was all the Frogs deserved this year. Their No. 1 rated defense was good, but not great as Kellen Moore and the Broncos’ offense routinely moved the ball into TCU territory. Andy Dalton looked nervous the entire night and the same could be said for his offensive line and receivers.

The Frogs failed on many levels last night. They failed to move the ball, they failed to prove that they deserved better and they failed to entertain. I was one of the many who watched them dismantle Utah earlier in the year and think to myself, “Damn, this team is special. This team has something and it can contend with the big boys in the SEC, Big 12, etc.”

But they can’t, or at least, not based on what they showed last night. Special teams score more than 10 points in BCS bowl games when they averaged 35-plus during the regular season. Special teams have quarterbacks that can consistently throw the ball vertical with success. Special teams have receivers that can make plays and make routine catches in crunch time.

TCU isn’t a special team: They’re a very good team, but they’re not special. Just based on what we saw last night, it’s hard to argue that the Frogs would have hung with Alabama, Texas or Florida. They wouldn’t have gotten waxed the same way Cincinnati did in the Sugar Bowl, but it’s hard to image that TCU would have given any of this year’s top teams a good fight.

Call it big game nerves, the pressure of playing in their first big bowl or whatever, but TCU failed to live up to expectations last night. Gary Patterson is a great coach and the program has been heading in the right direction for the pat couple years, so hopefully the Frogs will continue to compete for years to come. They’re also a better team than what they showed last night.

But “meh” is the only thing to describe the effort of a team that was supposed to wow us.