2006 Poinsettia Bowl

2006 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Northern Illinois Huskies TCU Horned Frogs (7–5) (10–2) 7 37 Head coach:  Joe Novak Head coach:  Gary Patterson AP Coaches 25 24
1 2 3 4 Total Northern Illinois 0 0 0 7 7 TCU 6 10 14 7 37
Date	December 19, 2006
Season	2006
Stadium	Qualcomm Stadium
Location	San Diego, California
MVP	Jeff Ballard (offense), Tommy Blake (defense)
Referee	Greg Burks (Big 12)
Attendance	29,709
Payout	US$750,000 per team
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Rece Davis, Lou Holtz and Mark May

The 2006 Poinsettia Bowl was an American college football bowl game between the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs (TCU) and the Northern Illinois Huskies (NIU) on December 19, 2006 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. TCU defeated NIU 37–7 in this game, which was the second year in the bowl's existence.

Scoring summary

• TCU - Hobbs 4 yard touchdown run (Manfedini kick blocked), 1st 12:03 (3-26, 0:46)
• TCU - Ballard 10 yard touchdown run (Manfredini kick), 2nd 14:49 (7-55, 2:09)
• TCU - Manfredini 25 yard field goal, 2nd 0:00 (12-77, 3:52)
• TCU - Ballard 1 yard touchdown run (Manfredini kick), 3rd 12:06 (7-80, 2:54)
• TCU - Ballard 6 yard touchdown run (LoCoco kick), 3rd 9:08 (3-19, 1:11)
• Northern Illinois - Tranchitella 32 yard blocked punt return (Nendick kick), 4th 14:14
• TCU - Hecht 6 yard touchdown pass from Ballard (LoCoco kick), 4th 10:55 (6-62, 3:19)

TCU rushed for 198 yards while NIU rushed for -20 yards. The Horned Frogs threw for 258 yards while the Huskies threw for 80 yards. They controlled the ball for 32:24 of the game while Jeff Ballard threw 19-of-29 for 258 yards, with three touchdowns runs (rushing for 19 yards on 11 carries). It was not so much that NIU had terrible rushing as it was their quarterback Dan Nicholson, who was sacked five times for -48 yards. TCU finished the season 11-2 while NIU finished 7-6.

Statistics

Statistics	NIU	TCU
First downs	5	23
Plays–yards	48–60	75–456
Rushes–yards	29-(-20)	46-198
Passing yards	80	264
Passing: comp–att–int	6-19-1	19-29-0
Time of possession	16:56	19:44

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Illinois	Passing	Dan Nicholson	6/18, 80 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Garrett Wolfe	20 carries, 28 yards
	Receiving	Matt Simon	1 reception, 62 yards
TCU	Passing	Jeff Ballard	19/29, 258 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Lonta Hobbs	18 carries, 109 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Quentily Harmon	6 receptions, 94 yards