TCU was the overwhelming favorite to win the Mountain West Conference championship heading into the 2007 football season, but after seven games the Horned Frogs are just trying to stay out of the conference cellar.
TCU began the season as the 19th ranked team in the country as it returned a host of starters and one of the best defenses in the country.
But after opening the season with a win against Baylor University, the Horned Frogs hit a snag in their second game against Texas. TCU played well enough to possibly pull off an upset, but continually shot themselves in the foot by committing four turnovers.
Still, nobody was shocked. After all, a loss to a national powerhouse such as Texas isn’t exactly a season killer. The Horned Frogs still had the rest of the season to right their ship and win a conference title. It hasn’t gone exactly like that.
Through seven games this season, the Horned Frogs are 4-3, including two conference losses to the likes of Wyoming and Air Force.
“I am very surprised,” Utah receiver coach Aaron Roderick said. “I think they are a much better team than their record shows.”
Roderick was not the only member of the Utes’ taken aback by TCU’s conference record. Quarterback Brian Johnson is equally surprised by Utah and TCU’s conference woes this season.
“I am about as surprised as us losing two as well,” Johnson said. “We know exactly what they are going through, and I am sure they know exactly what we are going through.”
The Horned Frogs started their path to recovery last week by coming from behind and knocking off Stanford on the road. That same Stanford team upset top-ranked Southern California a week prior to that. As big a win as that might have been, this week’s match-up against Utah is even more important.
“You are not going to win the league with three losses,” TCU head coach Gary Patterson said.
Three league losses are exactly what the Horned Frogs will have if they do not beat Utah this Thursday. To do that, the Horned Frogs will rely heavily upon their speedy defense.
“Their speed and athleticism is the key to their defense,” Johnson said. “Those guys do a nice job of flying to the football and making plays.”
Although the Horned Frogs are not the top ranked defense in the conference, they have played like it at times this season. TCU is currently ranked at the top of the conference in tackles for loss, ranking ahead of Utah. Leading the charge is senior pass-rusher Chase Ortiz and safeties Steven Coleman and Stephen Hodge.
Ortiz leads the Mountain West Conference with 10.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. In the defensive backfield, Coleman has displayed a knack for knowing where the ball is going, intercepting three passes and breaking up another five.
Offensively, TCU is led by freshman quarterback Andy Dalton and junior tailback Aaron Brown. The team has relied heavily upon their running game under head coach Gary Patterson and Brown fits into his coach’s plan well. The junior has rushed for close to 400 yards on the ground despite missing two games because of injury. Sophomore tailback Joseph Turner also contributes, giving Patterson a more bullish runner.
The Horned Frogs might have entered the 2007 season with a lot of publicity, but all of the preseason talk has gone out the window, and they are now fighting for their conference lives.
Their journey back to the top of the conference starts tonight. Since joining the conference, the Horned Frogs are 1-1 against Utah with an overtime win in Fort Worth in 2005 and a loss in Salt Lake City last year.
“Right now, our opinion is to keep ourselves in the race, get to 2-2 in the league and 5-3 overall heading into our (by week),” Patterson said. “The key is to keep getting better as a football team.”
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