TCU 44, UNLV 14

TCU pounded UNLV in Las Vegas Saturday, adding both a fifth win to its own current streak, and a fifth loss to the Rebels' current streak. Andy Dalton threw touchdowns to three different Horned Frogs-- Justin Watts, Jimmy Young, and Evan Frosch. Luke Shivers, Aaron Brown, and Jai Caveness added scores on the ground. Jerry Hughes sacked the Rebel QB twice; Stephen Hodge once.

Joe Turner sat out much of the game due to a possible concussion-- and a likely critical absence for the Frogs' next game. All eyes turn to the Mountain West's premier matchup on Thursday in Salt Lake City, when the Frogs face the undefeated Utes. Between them, TCU and Utah bring 18 wins and one loss to the gridiron this season. Utah escaped Albuquerque with a 13-10 win over the Lobos.

The only teams ranked higher than TCU that lost this weekend were #1 Texas and #6 Georgia. The Mountain West's three ranked teams all won; Air Force also won, and will add to its vote tally. The Falcons are 6-2.

The eight touchdowns in Las Vegas:

Pre-game press: USA Today on MWC leaders' upset avoidance; LVSun preview; focus on Clayton; LVRJ Preview; FWST: Frogs getting long drives this year; Frogs get ready for UNLV; ESPN-StatsLLC preview; Sports Network; Rebel fans think TCU's headed for an upset; focus on Henson and Phillips.
Post-game press: LVSun blog and recap; LV R-J recap; analysis, notes; DMN lead; WFAA sportsblog; FWST Frogs good on third down; Mercedes Meyer's lead, notes;

TCU 54, Wyoming 7

TCU ate Wyoming for lunch on Saturday, despite being outgained on the ground and holding the ball for fewer minutes than the Cowboys-- both firsts this season for the Frogs.

Andy Dalton connected with Jimmy Young five times for 226 yards-- a school record-- and three touchdowns. Aaron Brown returned a kickoff to the endzone.

The game was poorly attended, but the win was enough to push the Frogs on spot higher in the BCS poll, matching their highest ranking since 2003-- 13th.

Utah tops the cartel outsiders on the poll at 10; if the Frogs can beat UNLV and the Utes beat New Mexico, the two winners will meet for a monster game in Salt Lake City on the 6th.

pre-game press: CGP focuses on Wyoming, not polls; Wyoming optimistic; CGP determined to prevent Wyoming from running all over TCU; matchup notes; AP; Watson; FWST notes.
Post-game press: FWST lead; FWST notes; FWST key performances; Jimmy Young's big day; DMN; Laramie Boomerang lead; CGP's Sunday notes.

photo: M. Walters

Poll Climbing

The Frogs rode their highly-touted Thursday-night victory over #9 BYU out of the dregs and into the sweet middle of all three major college football polls. AP and the coaches both ranked TCU at #15.

The BCS put the Frogs at #14-- the team's highest BCS ranking since November 8, 2005. TCU is one of a record six non-cartel teams to appear on this week's BCS poll. Utah leads them at #11; Boise State is #12. Tulsa, Ball State, and BYU are nos. 19-21.

Meanwhile, something tells me Utah fans might be looking beyond the mark.


The TCU-Utah game has sold out, and Utah is asking its fans to come in black. The question remains: whose funeral will they be attending?

TCU 32, BYU 7

TCU tore the Mountain West's script for the 2008 season to shreds on Thursday, clobbering BYU in Fort Worth. The Frogs played with more intensity, speed, and creativity than the Cougars, who seemed bewildered from the getgo. BYU's first drive collapsed after Daryl Washington dropped a would-be interception, Jerry Hughes sacked Max Hall, and then on the next play he fumbled the ball away. By the game's end, TCU had sacked Max Hall six times, four by Jerry Hughes.

In the first drive of the third quarter, BYU drove to TCU's 11 yard line, and then tried four consecutive pass plays to score. Three were batted away, and Nick Sanders intercepted the fourth in the endzone.

The Frogs showed offensive spark from the first drive-- featuring a 25-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton touchdown to Jimmy Young-- both player's first TD passes of the year. Jeremy Kerley took several direct snaps, netting 77 yards from them and leading the Frogs in rushing.

After shoving the Cougars off the mountain top, TCU must beat Wyoming and UNLV before it faces Utah-- likely for the conference championship, and perhaps for a BCS berth (see Mandel's story, below).

Here's a YouTube compilation of highlights:



Post-game press: Dr. Saturday; Stewart Mandel; Watson spotlight on Kerley; Watson mourns BYU's busted BCS hopes; Watson summary; radio interview; Watson's bewildered at halftime; Watson's morning-after thoughts; Hall takes the blame; TCU's D lives up to its billing; Kerley's direct snaps bewildered BYU; Kragthorpe: TCU beats BYU black, blue, and purple; Rivals write-up (subscription required); FWST focus on Dalton; FWST summary; FWST focus on Kerley direct snaps; Harmon's take; DMN focus on Hughes; Spit Blood's take (not for the sensitive); FWST notes; Sporting News's Five Things; BYU feels humble; Scout explores the consequences of this game.

TCU v. BYU pregame buzz

It's finally here-- the biggest game of the year, unless TCU wins, in which case the Utah game will morph into a bigger matchup.

Dare we predict the outcome? Not unconditionally. Rather, the Wimple predicts BYU will win of TCU can't figure out how to stop the Cougars from converting 3rd-and-long plays to its their tight ends. If the Horned Frogs do that, they'll keep BYU's offense off the field-- like they've done to almost every opponent they've seen this year-- and end another NCAA-leading winning streak in Fort Worth.

Pre-game press: spotlight on Daryl Washington; BYU gets film after UNM game; ACS is where winnings streaks come to die; Mendenhall on BYU's D; CGP on BYU's D; focus on the Frogs' D; Cougs good, but imperfect; FWST Wednesday notes; Max Hall is Danny White's nephew; AP says MWC has only 2 teams in contention for a BCS bowl-- BYU and Utah; CGP's weekly presser; BYU's O meets its match in TCU's D; SpitBlood's 10 things to consider; CGP says TCU must play better to beat BYU; ESPN on TCU's D; BYU's a stiff test for TCU; MWC champ and BCS spots go through ACS; turnovers are key; LeBreton: times have changed since SWC days; Frogs ready to win on a Thursday night; beating TCU would validate Hall's record; Deseret News gameday report; Rivals' pre-game report (subscription req'd);

TCU 13, CSU 7

It was cold, messy, wet, and ugly, but the Frogs will take it. Marcus Jackson led the Frogs to a second straight win over a conference foe, beating Colorado State. The defense shone bright, holding the Rams to eleven yards on the ground, and 199 total. The offense, however, was dismal. The Frogs had better return to earlier form by Thursday's show down with BYU-- or the show will be all Cougar.

Pre-game press: CSU runs well; Dalton might play; CSU preps for both TCU QBs; spotlight on Gartrell Johnson; CSU hopes to sell out; splotlight on Stephen Hodge, Dalton's status uncertain; spotlight on CSU's D.C.; CSU calls TCU the benchmark; two CSU injured players return; CSU hopes to topple TCU;
Post-game press: CSU misses upset; CSU comes up short; FWST lead; FWST notes; FWST knick knacks. DMN story; CSU coach throws clipboard after a missed pass interference; Daryl Washington and Anson Kelton pick up MWC weekly honors. Spit Blood's breakdown.

TCU 41, San Diego State 7

TCU renewed its winning ways after last week's loss to OU, beating SDSU for the fourth time in conference play. Marcus Jackson started his second career game, and after an unproductive 20 minutes, lead the remaining 40 with remarkable success. Jackson led five touchdown drives and contributed 131 rushing yards-- the team high-- in the effort.

Dalton did not play, due to a knee injury last week. His status for next week is questionable-- Coach Patterson said Dalton could have played today.

Colorado State appears ready to give the Frogs much stiffer competition than they have in the past.

Press: CGP's comments Sunday; Dalton's status; FWST review; FWST analysis; spotlight on Frogs' D; LeBreton on MJ; DMN; San Diego Union-Tribune; Spit Blood's analysis (queasy alert).

MWC Lookaround

Conference play begins in earnest this week in the Mountain West. What do we know about the conference's nine teams? How do we expect the conference to stack up? Who will surprise its fans pleasurably? And who will stink? Here, we will analyze each conference team based on its resume; on the likelihood of it either winning the conference championship, or going to a bowl, or failing to do either; we'll also look ahead to next season.

Resumes
Utah has assembled the best resume of any team in the MWC to date-- its wins over Michigan, Air Force, and UNLV have to be considered quality wins, even though Michigan has only one win this season. A win tonight over Oregon State would put the Utes' resume head and shoulders above any other MWC team's marks.

The UNLV Rebels' win over highly ranked Arizona State, with wins on either side of it as well, is unexpectedly catchy. BYU has beaten four very weak foes, but done so in style, pitching two shutouts. TCU's only loss was to #2 (now #1) Oklahoma, and the Horned Frogs boast a win against an over-.500 Pac-10 team. Air Force and Colorado State both upset Houston. Wyoming, New Mexico, and San Diego State have weak resumes-- the only quality win among them is the Lobos shellacking of Arizona. SDSU lost to 2A Cal-Poly, again.

Summary: by resume, I'd rank the MWC (1) Utah, (2) Air Force, (3) TCU, (4) UNLV, (5) BYU, (6) Colorado State, (7) New Mexico, (8) Wyoming, and (9) San Diego State.

Contending for the Top
The conference pecking order will take a giant leap into focus on October 16, when BYU plays TCU in Fort Worth. The Cougars are expected to be 6-0 coming to Texas, and ranked in the top 5. The Horned Frogs should be 6-1, and may be ranked. Because this is the Cougars' first strong test, I don't know what to expect. The Horned Frogs' defense looked weak on and off against the pass in Norman-- but very strong against the run. If the Frogs tighten up against an aerial attack, BYU's winning streak against TCU will not continue into this season.

The winner of the BYU-TCU tilt will have the inside track to the conference title. Utah plays both teams at home, in November. I believe a two- or three-way tie for the title is very likely this season.

Contending for a bowl
This year the Mountain West may break last year's record of five bowl teams, and put six of its teams into bowls. If BYU, TCU, or Utah can earn a BCS berth, I expect the conference to put a team into the Las Vegas, Poinsettia, Armed Forces, New Mexico bowls-- each a conference tie-in. I expect that a MWC team will snag an open slot in one of the new bowls premiering this season, or in the Humanitarian Bowl.

If BYU, TCU, and Utah make the one-two-three teams in the conference, in one order or another, Air Force, UNLV, and Colorado State are the four-five-six, and the order remains unclear here too. All three were stronger out of conference than I expected. All three likely will lose to BYU, TCU, and Utah (AFA and UNLV already have lost to the Utes). To get to six wins-- bowl eligibility-- UNLV and Air Force need three; Colorado State needs four. How successfully these three teams perform against the bottom dwellers in the conference likely will dictate whether or not they reach the post-season.

Rebuilding
Somebody has to be at the bottom, and this season New Mexico, Wyoming, and San Diego State staff the cellar in the conference. San Diego State and Wyoming each appear least likely to rise from the depths. New Mexico has shown signs of life-- but Donovan Porterie's absence due to injury will take its toll in conference losses again and again. SDSU hasn't developed a rushing attack to free its young and very talented passing attack; Wyoming has the opposite problem. The Cowboys don't have a passing attack to free its seasoned and potentally-gangbuster rushing attack. I expect to see the Cowboys and the Aztecs vie for last place, and the Lobos to be only a win or two ahead. Look for a new coach in Laramie next season.

Next Season?
The biggest turnaround waiting to happen-- next season's UNLV-- likely will be San Diego State. They're very young, but have finally begun acting like a winning D-1 program. The injury bug has bitten them with unusual vigor this year, but Ryan Lindley will lead a much improved passing game next season, and will have considerably more help from his defense. Air Force, TCU, and Colorado State return most of their offenses. BYU and Utah shed offensive starters in droves-- Utah probably more painfully than their rivals in Provo. Wyoming, New Mexico, and UNLV will be searching for their first-team runningbacks.