Frog D about six inches shy of first place

It has to be the closest three teams have ever come to a tie for best total defense in a season; Florida tops the list at 233.08 yards allowed per game, on average. TCU is second, allowing about six inches more than the Gators. Alabama is third, allowing a full two feet and eight inches more than TCU, on average. For the record, Slohio State and Texas each allow about 30 yards more than the three leaders.

Flabama still has to play itself in the SEC title game, perhaps breaking the logjam at the top.
[update: Florida got routed by Alabama, giving up 490 yards in the title game, and now averages 252.8 yards per game this season. Alabama gave up 335 yards, and now averages 241.7 yards per game. Texas now averages just over 251, good for about third place, behind #1 TCU and #2 Alabama. TCU has a decent shot at a second consecutive #1 finish in total defense.]

TCU 51, New Mexico 10

While it's true the game wasn't over before it started, TCU demolished New Mexico, apparently without trying too hard. The Lobos recovered two Horned Frog fumbles, and forced the purple and white to punt seven times. But in the end, it was still a coronation for the conference champs, and an emphatic one at that. TCU out-ran New Mexico 4.5 ypc to 0.3; out-passed UNM 9.5 ypc to 3.6; and threw no interceptions to UNM's four- two of those for TDs.









Dalton and the offense alternated between spectacular and uninspiring. In one first-half five-and-a-half minute stretch, Joe Turner ran for a TD, and Dalton threw TD passes to Bart Johnson and (twice) to Antoine Hicks. The Frogs let up on the gas after that, scoring only 7 more offensive points.



















TCU's run defense showed its might early and often, holding the Lobos to only ten yards on the ground. Kelly Griffin nearly intercepted Donovan Porterie (see photo), and Jerry Hughes tallied his 11th sack of the season (technically 11.5th). Daryl Washington and Tank Carder combined for 21 tackles, five of them for losses, and interception and a pass break-up. Washington and Raphael Priest each had pick-sixes on consecutive UNM drives in the fourth quarter.

photos: Keith Robinson

An open letter to non-cartel coach voters: put TCU #1

Dear non-BCS coach-voters in the USAToday Coaches' Poll:

Few observers in the sport see more clearly than you do how the BCS cartel handicaps your teams, and all of the D-1A non-cartel teams (the so-called "non-AQ" teams). But more than seeing the damage, you all have a unique opportunity to weaken the damaging divide between the BCS cartel's haves and have-nots. You have a vote in the polls-- a say in how college football's best pie gets divided among its teams and conferences.

Why cast your first place vote this week for a member of the cartel that plays a weaker schedule than TCU? Why cast your first place vote this week for a team less balanced than TCU, which is the only team in the NCAA featuring a top-5 offense and defense? (Florida comes closest next: it has a top-5 defense, but its offense is only 15th nationally!) Why cast your first place vote for a team that cries to momma about how unfair it is to be scrutinized by the press and other coaches, while TCU puts up, shuts up, and kicks butt week in and week out?

Your first place vote for TCU would not be an indefensible protest; some of the most prescient commentators on the sport have made powerful cases for TCU already. Here're Matt Hinton's and BCSGuru's, for example. Wyoming's players-- the only athletes in D-1A who've played both TCU and Texas-- say TCU is the better team. Utah's coach called this year's TCU team the best he's ever seen-- and he's seen some great ones.

In short, isn't it time to put the burden of proof on the cartel members for once? Why not cast your first place vote for TCU, and demand the BCS cartel show why an all-time great non-cartel team doesn't deserve to outrank opponents from within the cartel that are less balanced, play weaker schedules, and whine about it?

--Purple Wimple

November 25, 2009

Not just another day in Frog heaven

When TCU takes the field Saturday, it will be well favored to beat New Mexico; to finish the regular season 12-0, giving this year's seniors the most wins of any class of Horned Frogs in history; to clinch a berth to its biggest bowl game since the '50s; and to take an honored place among the great teams of the 1930s that achieved this singular distinction: unbeaten in the regular season. All of that is grand, and worthy of much fanfare; but the Wimple offers another perspective on TCU's remarkable 2009 campaign.

When the Southwest Conference broke up in 1994, leaving TCU and three other weaklings to rot, its abandonment of the Horned Frogs was particularly poignant. Oldtimers well remembered when TCU was the giant among Texas schools during the Depression; not-so-old timers could recall TCU's decade-long duel in the '50s with UT for conference supremacy. But for a generation after TCU surrendered that war, letting two-squad play, limitless scholarships for state schools under the GI Bill, and rampant cheating in paying for recruits, all pass it by, the Horned Frogs were a bland and brand-less squad, losers on the gridiron. Its boosters succumbed to the "way it was" in the early '80s, paying their way to the conference championship in '84, before the hammer fell.

Several years ago, the Wimple recounted all of this in greater detail; this tale of decline reaches bottom with the "walking death penalty" given TCU in '85, and its conference's demise a decade later. Then came the revival-- labeled an "experiment" in that larger telling. Could a rule-abiding, privately-funded non-cartel football team thrive in Division 1-A ? Early returns were hopeful, but the program seemed unable to put the cap on its upswings. Dizzying flirtations with BCS bids ended unfruitfully in 2000 and 2003 with late-season road losses scaring off the cartel suitor-agents. An early-season loss in '05 kept them away until it was too late; another late-season road loss was excuse enough in '08, despite laxer eligibility rules that kept TCU technically (but not practically) in play through selection Sunday. The Wimple's history concluded:

The experiment seemed to have reached its logical limits: a team outside the BCS cartel and resources, committed to recruiting and graduating honest student athletes, could win most games, but not regularly, and not under pressure.

Indeed, TCU appeared good enough to flirt with the big-money bowls, high poll ranking, and NFL-bound talent. But fate never seemed to bless the Frogs' attempts to assemble all of the ingredients. But a TCU victory Saturday will render that sentence incomplete without the following caveat: until 2009. What the Frogs may accomplish in five days is no less than a reversal of almost 50 years' curse. TCU may rise above irrelevance on Saturday; above its nomad journey through the outcasts of Division 1-A; above a couple generations' acceptance as a has-been, a history lesson, a glint only in grandfathers' eyes. TCU again vies with Texas for supremacy in the Lone Star State, and in the nation.

What changed?

Dr. Saturday gives a hint:

"TCU ... is good at everything -- literally everything. The Frogs currently rank in the top 10 nationally in pretty much every conceivable facet of the game: Scoring Offense (No. 5), Total Offense (5), Scoring Defense (6), Total Defense (4), Rushing Offense (5), Pass Efficiency Offense (9), Rushing Defense (6), Passing Defense (3), Pass Efficiency Defense (5), First Downs Gained (7), First Downs Allowed (1), Third Down Defense, Kickoff Returns (1), Sacks Allowed (6), [and] Time of Possession (10)."

There's no doubt the '09 Frogs have added potent offense and special teams play to their portfolio, which has including nationally leading defense frequently since Gary Patterson's arrival in 1998. But the addition of (and better use of) top-talent on offense appears to have been the missing piece. With its new mojo holding the ball, TCU went to Clemson, Air Force, and BYU, and beat all three. In its last six games TCU has averaged over 523 yards per game, 300 of those on the ground. And all of this without a single 1,000-yard rusher or receiver!

Several changes among the coordinators may have prompted the outburst on the field. Rusty Burns has taught the receivers how to upgrade their blocking and route running. First-year playcallers Justin Fuente and Jarrett Anderson have opened the playbook a little. But the Frogs have amassed a frightful cast of weapons for these coaches to deploy in any formation. The talent upgrade that has been underway since about 2005 has begun to show up between the hashmarks. Every indication points to a further rise in the Frogs' on-field prowess.

Given a win Saturday, it will be time to re-cast the narrative of football in purple and white. Beating New Mexico will complete the Revival, and more than merely a new chapter in the history of TCU football: it will commence a new book entirely. That tome's title?

Juggernaut.

TCU 45, Wyoming 10

It took a few minutes to get the machine going, but once started, the TCU offensive and defensive squads were relentless. Despite turning it over three times, the Horned Frogs rolled up almost 500 yards, 23 first downs, and 45 points in three quarters, while holding the Cowboys to 130 yards (98 of them on a touchdown fumble return), three first downs (all on one drive), and ten points.

Dalton was decent, completing only 52% of his passes, including one TD and one interception, but running 12 times for for 89 yards and four first downs. Matthew Tucker rushed for 133 yards, including 48 for a TD in the third quarter. One play after Wyoming ran a weird fumble back for six, Greg McCoy returned the favor, racing all the way down the sideline for an answering six.

The first team defense was sensational, holding all but one of Wyoming drives to three-and-out, or less, with Daryl Washington tallying eleven tackles. The second team defense let Wyoming drive into the redzone, but gave up no points.

With the win, the Frogs captured at least a share of the conference title, and reached 11-0 on the season for the first time in 71 years. A win next week against New Mexico would make the '09 seniors the winningest class in TCU history, and be the first time TCU ever won 12 games in the regular season.

Here're highlights:


In other news, New Mexico won its first game of the season today, and comes to Fort Worth for the Frogs' rubber match with BCS autobid eligibility. In short, TCU's road to the BCS looks something like this:















Only routine obstacles stand between the Frogs and their first prime-time bowl since the '50s.

25 years ago...

... SMU and TCU both went to bowl games in the same season: TCU to the Independence Bowl, and SMU to the Aloha Bowl. Prior to '84, both teams bowled in the same season just twice. In 1948, both teams played January first bowls: TCU in the first Delta Bowl and SMU in the Cotton. The first time TCU and SMU bowled in the same year was after the famous 1935 Game of the Century, when SMU beat Sam Baugh and TCU, winning a bid to the Rose Bowl, and TCU settled for a Sugar Bowl berth.

When'll be the fourth time these stars align? 2009 (including early 2010, if the Frogs win out). SMU joined TCU in bowl eligibility with its come from behind win over UTEP Saturday.

TCU 55, Utah 28

All week the Wimple has been at a loss to find a way sum up the game's significance. ESPN deigned to visit the campus; a conference game sold out; the Frogs' BCS ranking was the highest among the non-cartel teams ever; these (and a dozen more) facts pointed at the issue, but somehow fall short of describing it fully.

Perhaps a number will do the trick: 50,307. That's how many tickets TCU sold for this game.

That's over fifty thousand, should your common sense be arguing with you right now. And it's probably somewhere shy of actual attendance, considering how jammed the students (and alums still flashing student IDs at the gate) were on the east side.

No Southwest Conference game ever drew so many; no horde of tea-sippers from Austin, no mob of Arkansas hillbillies or uppity Mustangs, not even any grand gathering of Frog faithful in the good old days ever numbered so many as Saturday's throng, purple-clad almost to a one. The jubilation was well under way when the Wimples (including one fly-in from Alberta, Canada) squeezed in with the students about 90 minutes before kickoff. By the time the clock began counting down 60 minutes to gametime, there were easily more than 25,000 already in place. Many actual games have been seen by fewer fans than this week's warmups, even since the revival.

Coach P said his feet were off the ground by kickoff, it was so loud. The crowd was relatively football savvy, too. Clearly the team was enthused by all of it-- TCU blocked its first punt of the season, and generally was a step ahead of the Utes all night long. Utah tested the Frog secondary early and often, and could connect only a few times, though two consecutive completions midway through the second quarter totaled 90 yards and 6 points. Jordan Wynn was excellent, but totally overmatched. He'll lead a different animal in 2010.

Dalton was good, passing over (and quickly!) an endless litany of blitzes; he put the ball in the wrong place several times, but avoided costly errors, and punished the Utes early and often with good passes, decisions, and running. The Frogs won the battle in the trenches soundly. Turner, Wesley, Tucker, and Dalton combined for 40 carries, 315 yards, 3 running TDs, 0 sacks or QB hurries. Wesley and Tucker will cause many a nightmare for opposing defense coordinators; they were sensational Saturday. (now add to the mix Andre Dean, Waymon James, and maybe Dwight Smith... and weep for the good days ahead!)

In the air, the Frogs had slightly less yards than the Utes; but aside from the two-play 90-yard drive in the second, the Utes were generally one dimensional at best, and often no-dimensional. TCU's defense was simply hellacious, and the coaches didn't let up. Hughes was unrelenting, tallying eight tackles (2.5 of them for losses, and three on one drive), 1.5 sacks and three QB hurries. Tank Carder (who was all grins afterwards) got nine tackles, one for a loss, one INT, one PBU, and one QB hurry. Washington and Griffin was monstrous as well. When the Frogs finally put in their second team D, the Utes were done trying. They ran up the middle, for zero or less yards, giving back the ball, and letting the Frogs take a knee to end the pain.

And then the floodgates opened, for the first time since 1997, but for the totally opposite reason. The fans poured onto the field, and celebrated the victory (ostensibly with the team, but mostly with each other) and chanted "B-C-S" and sang the alma mater as rowdily as humanly possible.








here's ESPN's Saturday preview, filmed from the commons at TCU:



and highlights, via the mtn.:


and the YouTube highlights, from SuperFrog:

Frogs' new Nike duds

TCU is among a handful of schools participating this weekend in a campaign by Nike, promoting supposedly innovative uniform technology.

The Wimple likes the blood-spurt red stripes on the helmet, in homage to the horned frog's famed defense against predators.

FWST reports the players are excited about wearing the gnarly new getup. If it stokes TCU's intensity on gameday, the Wimple approves.

Knock 'em dead, Froggies.

#4 Frogs get ESPN Gameday

TCU 55, SDSU 12

Gary Patterson couldn't have been more wrong. With almost-convincing earnestness, the old ball coach said of playing SDSU, "We are going to have to fight, claw, scratch and get everything we can to try and come back with one more point."

Fight, claw, scratch, and get everything they could the Frogs did; and for their efforts, they got not just one, but 43 more points. To nitpick, SDSU converted five third downs (the same number as TCU); and Brandon Sullivan had a pretty good day against the Frogs' defense, netting 75 yards on 17 carries.

But in the beginning, middle, and end, it was all TCU, all the time. The Frogs got points to finish nine of 13 drives, and never allowed SDSU into the red zone. Dalton's favorite target du jour was Ryan Christian (pictured), who caught three passes, two for TDs. Young, Hicks, and Kerley also caught multiple passes each. LBs Daryl Washington, Tank Carder, and Tanner Brock combined for 19 tackles (14 solo).

Ahead of them, Iowa lost at home to Northwestern, and Cincinnati barely beat Connecticut in a shootout in Cincy. Oregon, the strength of Boise's schedule, lost; Clemson, BYU, Utah, and Air Force, the strength of TCU's schedule, all won. Clemson's win over Florida State likely puts the Tigers comfortably into the polls and the ACC championship game.

Now comes the highlight game of the season: the rematch grudgematch with Utah, who's sporting a very new quarterback and significantly downgraded run defense. The Wimple does not expect this game to hinge on Ross Evans's prowess at field goal kicking.

Gameday Preview: SDSU

The Frogs head to the west coast in a trip eerily similar to the ill-fated San Jose State trip in 2000, when the Frogs' long winning streak and BCS-hype came crashing to a halt in a rainy upset. The Aztecs of San Diego State hope history repeats itself today, and they have some weapons to deploy to that end.

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Lindley has been hot recently, averaging a 168.8 QB rating in the last three games. DeMarco Samson has stepped into injured WR Vincent Brown's shoes, averaging 9 catches for 130 yards in the same span.

But the Frogs are on a roll, and have not experienced a dropoff in performance on the road this season. Dalton has rated in the 170s each of his last three games; the Frogs' attack is vastly more balanced than the Aztecs'. While SDSU has made strides this season (its defense is now middling average, instead of ghastly bad) and will continue to make them next year, TCU's strides are behind them, and now the Frogs lead the pack. Look for TCU to extend its '09 winning streak to 10 games, setting up a big-time showdown next week in Fort Worth with the Utes.

TCU 37, SDSU 9

Rebutting libel: an open offer to Scott Nix

Scott Nix libeled me on KillerFrogs yesterday, in Post #10 here. To protect the Purple Wimple's good name, I will summarize Nix's false statements here, (read them in full at the link above) and paste an email exchange he and I had in December 2008 as evidence of my civility, and his lack thereof.

Yesterday Nix claimed I lied in public (presumeably on KF.C) about him, and that I sent him disrespectful personal messages. I have never done either of those things, and in saying I had, Nix himself is the liar.

I therefore offer to reprint in this post any un-altered PMs that Nix received from me, should he wish to paste them into a comment below. Because I have never been irate or rude to Mr. Nix, I do not believe that he can respond in good faith to my offer. However, it stands in perpetuity. Through an acquaintence, Nix will receive this offer personally.

The email exchange:

On Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 5:55 PM, [Purple Wimple] wrote:
Mr. Scott Nix, and whoever ***********@aol.com is:
Let's go through this line by line, because it's patently rediculous.
You say, "I am very tired of your smack. You are an obvious trouble maker with little else to do." Scott, if you're so tired of my smack, why did you email me and yell at me some more? Who's the one with little else to do?

You say, "You go on PM & lie about me...insinuating I'm shallow & a name caller." Scott, you have called me names. That makes you a name caller. Furthermore, you have called me names because I tried to use the word "Rivals" in a post. If that's not shallow, what is?

You say, "If the name "hack" offends you....tough." It is not the name hack which offends me. Dragging this little tiff into personal space and time by emailing me after banning me from you site does.

You say, "I offered to meet with you (in the past) to discuss the situation & you were not man enough to do so." I don't give a damn about however much of a man you think I am. A Christian man is concerned about three people's conception of his manhood: God's, his wife's, and his kids'. Show a little Christian forbearance here, and lay off the appeals to manhood. They're beneath us both.

You say, "I am a fair person." It would be fair of you to use my personal email that I gave to KillerFrogs (before you were involved, might I add) only for KillerFrogs business. But after you have cut me off of KF.C, you no longer have fair ownership of that private information. You are unfairly continuing this fight outside of KF.C.

You say, "Unfortunately you feel entitled." Entitled to what? To KF.C? Have I complained to you or to anyone about being cut off from KF.C? I did not email you, you emailed me!

You say, "Your opinion of me means nothing..." Then why in the Sam Hill did you email me? Why do you have a fan forum at all if its participants' opinions mean nothing to you? Maybe you should start a blog and disallow comments instead.

You say, "but for you to go on PM & try & smear me with lies is ridiculous." Point to one lie on PM from me. Show me the lie. Cut&Paste, man. There ain't one; I am not a liar.

You say, "Sorry this is not High School for you." I don't have any idea that what's supposed to mean. High school was long ago, and is far from me. I hope you can say the same.

You say further, "Unless you decide to totally change your act, I am asking you to not return to KFC." Scott, you're not asking anything of me. You banned me; you didn't ask permission to do so, you just did it. That's your decision.

You say, "If you come back...& there is one more sign of trouble from you....you will be banned permanently." Trouble from me? Pray tell, just what is troublesome about me? Be honest; am I causing trouble? Not a bit of it. I have asked on occasion for a clarification about this or that policy, and have gotten tirades and abuse from you at every turn. I have alluded to the existence of competition for KF.C, and gotten abuse from you. I have pointed out, subtley and with humor, when you suddenly became a fan of J/J and the service they provide. And for it you ban me. Now you email me at a personal address to which you do not have legitimate access, and continue the abuse and invective at me. Who's the troublemaker here?

You say, "I know people who know you at TCU & are surprised by your antics." I don't believe you. But if you wish to convince me, name some names. Who do you know at TCU that I do, and is surprised at my antics?

You say, "I would hope better from you." Allow me to return the sentiment.

You say, "It is only because of posters like you.....who try & stir up trouble between PM & KFC......that there are any problems." What trouble between PM and KFC have I stirred up, except that you take such delight in yelling at me, after banning me? I wasn't around for the KSU-CGP mess; I wasn't around for the Feisty-MatthewTucker rematch. I don't re-up with a new handle every week and spew garbage, which you pointedly allow others to do. It is true that I make reference to PM on KF.C, and vice versa. But other than you, who's offended?

Using the PM service on KF.C to lecture me about how I offend you is OK. BUt to use my personal email to do so is not. Please do not repeat the performance.

[Purple Wimple]

ESPN analyist favors TCU over UT

TCU attendance, Part II

In reply to the Wimple's analysis of attendance among the BCS's top 25, re-ranked by percentage of enrollment, come two counterarguments. The first: hypocrisy. If TCU wants to be treated like a Big Boy in college football, it had better fill its stadium like... like the Big Boys do.

Rebuttal: Hypocrisy? What is hypocritical about TCU saying, (loudly, one wishes), 'We out-draw Boise, Cincy, and in relation to the size of our school, every other successful program in the BCS except Notre Lame. We're not just doing the best we can, we're at the top of the heap!' Rather than hypocrisy, that would pour truth into the debate, which (as lamented regularly) would be novel indeed.

The second counterargument: if TCU wants to compare favorable with big programs, it can't rely on its small size as an excuse for low attendance.

Rebuttal: TCU isn't (or shouldn't be) arguing that it carries the same media sway, TV ratings, or fanbase as the big programs. What TCU is arguing is that the debate ought to be about the quality of the product on the field. TCU presents the best case argument that college football ought to be about... (hold on to your hats!) college football, not about TV ad revenue, rich contributors, and big fan bases bringing loads of money to a bowl city for a weekend.

But, alas; we all know that the actual games are just a footnote in the maelstrom that is college football in its macroeconomic fullness. So while ESPN lusts after Ohio State, no matter how dismal the Buckeyes actually play, fans of the game-- of the blocking and tackling happening between the whistles-- will continue to scour channel lineups for Versus, or the radio dial for KTCU. The Rose Bowl ain't letting in a genuinely good-- but small-- school this year.

C'est la vie. How's that #1 defense, Frogs? What? It's your fourth in the last decade? Who knew?

A word on TCU's (shockingly strong) attendance

The NCAA publishes attendance stats that (surprise!) flatter the big cartel schools, at the expense of the non-cartel schools. How? By ordering the stats by how well a schools sells out its stadium.

But Division 1 college football is not played in small stadiums-- even if the host school is quite small. The perfect case in point is: TCU, with an enrollment under 9,000 (a stat that invariably surprises fans unfamiliar with the Horned Frogs). So the Wimple offers here a better way to rank attendance figures: by percentage of enrollment. This ordering of attendance stats gives a much better view of those schools that have fan support outside of their boistrous (and bored) student populations.

The Wimple trusts CBSsports.com's listing of each school's enrollment, and uses the NCAA's own per-game average attendance. Taking the current BCS top 25, here are the top attendance/enrollment schools in the nation:

1. Notre Dame's average game attendance is 708% of its enrollment.
2. TCU: 392%.
3. Alabama: 319%.
4. Miami: 317%.
5. Oklahoma: 313%.
6. Oregon: 310%.
7. LSU: 295%.
8. Georgia Tech: 295%.
9. Penn State: 261%.
10. USC: 253%.
11. Iowa: 243%.
12. Virgina Tech: 237%.
13. Boone Pickens: 232%.
14. Ohio State: 208%.
15. Texas: 204%.
16. Wisconsin: 193%.
17. Pittsburgh: 187%.
18. Cal enrolls: 184%.
19. Florida: 182%.
20. Boise State: 172%.
21. Utah: 156%.
22. Arizona: 140%.
23. South Florida: 117%.
24. Cincinnati: 90%.
25. Houston: 72%.

TCU 41, UNLV 0

On the day TCU's offense racked up its highest totals in a couple years (578 yards-- the most since the beatdown of SDSU in '06), the defense again out-shone it. These guys smothered UNLV, holding them to 160 yards (40 of those came on a QB sneak-- the longest running play TCU has allowed all season). Without that long play, the Frogs allowed the Rebels only 2.7 ypc. The pass defense was even better: 1.8 ypa, for only 42 yards.

D.J.Yendrey, a true freshman, started in Cory Grant's place on the d-line. Yendrey is only the second true freshman ever to start at DT for Gary Patterson; he played next to the other ever to do so, Kelly Griffin, who started all 13 games in 2007.

Dalton and the boys on offense were efficient, but slow starting. After the obligatory first quarter fumble, they ran for over 8 ypc. and a touchdown, and hauled in 4 TD passes-- including one from Marcus Jackson to Billy Pizor; it was Pizor's first catch as a Horned Frog.

The effort was good enough to boost the Frogs to #4 in the coaches' poll, and to hold down the 6th spot in the BCS ranking. TCU remains the highest non-cartel team in the poll, by a slightly larger margin than last week (which is to say, now the Frogs have a dull-razor sharp lead over Boise, instead of a sharp-razor-sharp lead!).

Ahead comes the next conference roady; the parallels with the fateful 2000 trip to San Jose State are legion and menacing. Here's to ousting those demons.

highlights: