The Horned Frogs, after all, cannot win the Mountain West Conference without defeating Utah, and that's what they'll try to do Saturday, Nov. 14, at Fort Worth, Texas. TCU will carry an 11-game winning streak into the 7:30 p.m. EST game, which will be telecast by the CBS College Sports Network.
Coach Gary Patterson's Horned Frogs (9-0 overall, 5-0 Mountain West) are No. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings, trailing fellow unbeatens Florida, Texas and Alabama. To reach BCS title game, the Frogs need teams ahead of them to stumble — preferably more than once.
It's not out of the realm of possibility. No. 1. Florida and No. 3 Alabama have clinched berths to play each other in the SEC championship game Dec. 5 at Atlanta, so one of them will have at least one defeat.
Both teams face potentially tough matchups before that, as Florida must play South Carolina and Florida State, and Alabama still has Mississippi State and Auburn.
No. 2 Texas, meanwhile, has three Big 12 Conference games remaining, including matchups with Kansas and Texas A&M. The Longhorns could face another strong challenge if they advance to the Big 12 title game, and meet Kansas State or Nebraska.
But it's not like TCU has a walk in the park. Utah (8-1, 5-0) is on a six-game winning streak and is 16th in the BCS standings. Coach Kyle Whittingham's Utes also happen to be the last team to defeat the Horned Frogs.
Utah Seeks 4th Straight Win over TCU
The Utes beat the Horned Frogs 13-10 en route to a perfect 2008 season. In fact, Utah has won 22 of its last 23 games — the only setback being a 31-24 decision at Oregon on Sept. 19 of this year.
Utah holds a 5-1 lead in its series vs. TCU, and has won the last three meetings. The Horned Frogs haven't defeated the Utes since scoring a 23-20 triumph in 2005.
But the Frogs will enter the 2009 meeting with the nation's third longest winning streak, which they extended to 11 with a 55-12 demolition of San Diego State last week. Utah is coming off a 45-14 rout of New Mexico — a game in which freshman quarterback Jordan Wynn made his first start.
Horned Frogs Offense Picks Up Pace
TCU ranks sixth in scoring among NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision schools with an average of 37.4 points per game, and the Horned Frogs have been especially explosive over their last four contests.
Since a tight 20-17 victory over Air Force on Oct. 10, TCU has averaged 44.5 points per game and squahsed its opponents by an average of 38.2.
Leading the way is quarterback Andy Dalton, who is fourth in the FBS with a passing efficiency rating of 162.71. Dalton's hit on 63.77 percent of his passes for 1,881 yards and 16 touchdowns. He's been intercepted just three times.
TCU averages 458.56 yards per game, raking eighth in the FBS. More than 242 of those yards come from a multi-pronged running game that includes Joseph Turner (560 yards, 9 TDs), Ed Wesley (461, 3 TDs), Matthew Tucker (403 yards, 4 TDs) and Dalton (341 yards, 2 TDs).
Jeremy Kerley (29 catches. 335 yards, 1 TDs) is the leading receiver, and he's a lethal return man who's brought back two punts for touchdowns.
TCU Defense Continues to Deliver
The Horned Frogs rank third in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense (240.56 yards per game) and fifth in scoring defense (11.22 points).
End Jerry Hughes has powered his way to 10.5 tackles for loss, including nine of TCU's 27 sacks. The All-American is fourth on the team in total tackles with 41. He's joined up front by the likes of Wayne Daniels (37 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks) and Cory Grant (5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks).
Linebacker Daryl Washington leads the Frogs with 70 tackles, including 5.5 for losses. He's also made a pair of sacks and two interceptions. The group also includes linebacker Tank Carder (56 tackles, 8 pass breakups), safety Alex Ibiloye (44 tackles) and safety Tejay Johnson (40 tackles, 2 interceptions).
Wynn Takes Over for Utes
Junior Terrance Cain showed promise as Utah's starting quarterback. But when the Utes sputtered in a conference game vs. Wyoming, Whittingham brought in Wynn to rally the team to a 22-10 victory.
Wynn then got the start vs. New Mexico, and completed 18 of 28 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Wynn made a strong preseason for the starting QB position, and even topped the depth chart during the summer before the more-mobile Cain moved up. Wynn's back at No 1 again, guiding an offense that has averaged 29.1 points and 411.3 points per game.
Brooks Leads Utes in TD Receptions
Wide receiver Jereme Brooks enjoyed career-best day vs. New Mexico, making six catches for 135 yards and two TD. The junior has 36 receptions for 488 yards and a team-high five TD receptions in 2009.
David Reed is the runaway receptions leader with 58 for 819 yards and four TD. Eddie Wide paces the ground attack with 809 yards and eight TDs, averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
The Utes got a boost last week from 6-2, 225-pound freshman Sausan Shakerin, who ran 16 times for 100 yards and a touchdown.
Utes Defense Still Sharp
The Utes haven't shown the shutdown capability of TCU, but their defense has played soundly. Utah is yielding only 16.4 points and 299.3 yards per game.
Defensive back Robert Johnson ranks among the FBS interception leaders with fie, and is also Utah's fourth-leading tackler with 48. Linebacker Mike Wright tops the list with 54, and is followed by linebacker Stevenson Sylvester with 510 and defensive lineman Kao Misi with 50.
Misi has made seven tackles for loss, including 3.5 sacks. He's part of a talented defensive line that also includes Derrick Shelby (40 tackles, 8 tackes for loss, 3 sacks), Sealver Siliga (5.5 tackles for loss) and Christian Cox (5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks)
