Horned Frogs dance closer
MCT Campus
Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: Sports
The past several weeks, as he was bombarded with questions about TCU's chances of becoming a Bowl Championship Series bowl buster, coach Gary Patterson has responded with a comparison to Cinderella.
"We're just trying to get to the ball," he quipped.
With the Horned Frogs' stunning 55-28 stampede over Utah in the rearview mirror, getting to the BCS ball is no longer a fairy tale dream.
Although the Frogs remained fourth in The Associated Press poll, the "USA Today" coaches' poll and the BCS standings Sunday, they did pick up points in all three rankings and received a first-place vote in the Harris poll.
What does that mean? Not much. But if the Frogs can finish with victories at Wyoming (1 p.m. Saturday) and home against winless New Mexico (Nov. 28) they will finish the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1938, the last time they were national champions.
"We have a chance to be special," Patterson said Sunday after a record-breaking crowd of 50,307 fans saw his Frogs defeat the Utes, who dropped from No. 16 to No. 23 in the AP poll. "It's hard to be perfect. They have a chance to be 12-0. Very few people have a chance to be a perfect 12-0 in a season in their lifetime. Some people have never been on a team or coached a team that was undefeated."
That will be the goal these final two weeks.
The Cowboys (5-5, 3-3 Mountain West Conference) scored 24 fourth-quarter points in a 30-27 comeback win at San Diego State on Saturday. It was a valiant recovery after being embarrassed by BYU 52-0 last week in Laramie.
"Two years ago, we went up there and we got beat because we didn't show up," said Patterson of the Frogs' 24-21 loss at Wyoming in '07.
Patterson was not happy that his defense gave up 28 points Saturday-the most this season (Texas State scored 21 Sept. 19), and more points than the Frogs had given up in their last four games combined. However, he was still pleased with the overall result and how quickly his team started.
"We're just trying to get to the ball," he quipped.
With the Horned Frogs' stunning 55-28 stampede over Utah in the rearview mirror, getting to the BCS ball is no longer a fairy tale dream.
Although the Frogs remained fourth in The Associated Press poll, the "USA Today" coaches' poll and the BCS standings Sunday, they did pick up points in all three rankings and received a first-place vote in the Harris poll.
What does that mean? Not much. But if the Frogs can finish with victories at Wyoming (1 p.m. Saturday) and home against winless New Mexico (Nov. 28) they will finish the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1938, the last time they were national champions.
"We have a chance to be special," Patterson said Sunday after a record-breaking crowd of 50,307 fans saw his Frogs defeat the Utes, who dropped from No. 16 to No. 23 in the AP poll. "It's hard to be perfect. They have a chance to be 12-0. Very few people have a chance to be a perfect 12-0 in a season in their lifetime. Some people have never been on a team or coached a team that was undefeated."
That will be the goal these final two weeks.
The Cowboys (5-5, 3-3 Mountain West Conference) scored 24 fourth-quarter points in a 30-27 comeback win at San Diego State on Saturday. It was a valiant recovery after being embarrassed by BYU 52-0 last week in Laramie.
"Two years ago, we went up there and we got beat because we didn't show up," said Patterson of the Frogs' 24-21 loss at Wyoming in '07.
Patterson was not happy that his defense gave up 28 points Saturday-the most this season (Texas State scored 21 Sept. 19), and more points than the Frogs had given up in their last four games combined. However, he was still pleased with the overall result and how quickly his team started.
Article last update: 11/17/09 at 6:50 PM CST
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