MEMPHIS, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Texas Christian's second-ranked defense lived up to its billing Wednesday, keeping Colorado State out of the end zone as the Horned Frogs downed No. 21 Colorado State in the Liberty Bowl, 17-3.

TCU reached the 10-win mark for the sixth time in school history by consistently shutting down the Rams in a game plagued by a steady rain. Since going 1-10 in 1997, the Horned Frogs are 41-19 over the last five years.

After the teams battled to a scoreless tie for more than 28 minutes, TCU (10-2) took the lead on Sean Stilley's 15-yard pass to Latarence Dunbar with 1:21 left before intermission.

"We were fortunate in the first half to survive playing on our end of the field," TCU Coach Gary Patterson said. "Colorado State had a couple of turnovers and we were able to keep them out of the end zone."

The Horned Frogs put away the contest on Ricky Madison's three-yard run with 3:15 left in the fourth quarter. Madison rushed for 111 yards on 19 carries, gaining all but four of his yards in the second half.

TCU, which came in yielding fewer than 63 yards per game on the ground, allowed only seven total yards after halftime as conditions worsened.

Texas Christian's defense and the chilly rain at Liberty Bowl Stadium made it a long afternoon for Colorado State's Bradlee Van Pelt, who completed just four of 19 passes for 24 yards.

Backup Justin Holland fared no better, going two of eight for 26 yards. Overall, Colorado managed just 139 total yards.

"I'm really proud of this defensive group," Patterson said. "They played like that all year. I'm hoping the total number of yards gives us the opportunity to be the No. 1 defense in the nation."

The Rams (10-4) got their only points on Jeff Babcock's 46-yard field goal 3:38 into the third quarter.

Colorado State's Cecil Sapp tied a school record with his ninth 100-yard game of the season, rushing for 106 on 19 carries. But a large chuck of his total came on two runs of 57 and 29 yards early in the first quarter.

"We made the mistake of missing tackles and that's how Sapp got the big runs," TCU cornerback Jason Gross said. "After the first quarter, we wrapped up and made sure the other guys came in and made tackles. They passed more than we expected, basically because I felt like we stopped the run."

The Rams lined up for a field goal on their first possession, but faked it and Van Pelt's pass fell incomplete.

Colorado State became the first bowl team this season to be held without a touchdown.

The Rams, who were averaging 31 points per game, finished with just 139 total yards, including 89 on the ground. Sapp ended the year with 1,601 rushing yards, extending his school record.

"They're really athletic over there," said Sapp, who ended the year with 1,601 rushing yards, extending his school record. "You've got to respect what they've done. They were putting 10 people in the box."

Stilley completed 16 of 28 passes for 141 yards for the Horned Frogs, who gained 338 total yards.

Colorado State had some success moving the ball in the first quarter, gaining 95 yards. But its offense was non-existent thereafter.

"TCU is a tough team to get anything going against," Colorado State Coach Sonny Lubick said. "They closed very rapidly and knocked balls away from us."

The teams combined for three fumbles, two interceptions and a missed field goal in the opening 30 minutes, resulting in the second-lowest scoring first half in Liberty Bowl history.

Colorado State's failed to convert a faked field goal on its opening possession.

"In hindsight now, it would have nice to get three points," Lubick said. "From that point on, we couldn't sustain anything."

In the fourth quarter, TCU had an apprarent four-yard touchdown run by Madison nullified by a penalty for blocking in the back and had to settle for Nick Browne's 25-yard field goal with 6:57 left.

But Colorado State started inside the 10 on its next possession and a short punt gave the TCU the ball at the Rams' 38.

The Horned Frogs took nearly three minutes off the clock and cemented the victory on Madison's touchdown. Madison accounted for 69 yards on the ground on TCU's last two scoring drives.

Texas Christian, which shared the Conference USA title with Cincinnati, snapped a two-game bowl losing streak and improved to 7-11-1 in the postseason.

Colorado State, the champion of the Mountain West Conference, had a two-game bowl winning streak snapped and dropped to 4-5 all-time in bowl play.

This was one of just two non-BCS bowl games to bring together Division I-A conference champions. The other was the New Orleans Bowl, where Cincinnati fell to Sun Belt Conference champion North Texas.