TCU Has Chance to Climb Mountain

FORT WORTH – If you are waiting for TCU coach Gary Patterson to start lobbying for his team's inclusion into the BCS and possibly the national championship game, you will be kept waiting.

Patterson (above) can see far too many traps to get caught up in what the nation is talking about and that's that the fourth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs could very well be the first of the non-BCS schools to punch a ticket to the BCS' grandest stage.

It's a nice thought, but with 14th-ranked Utah on the horizon in a mega Mountain West Conference game Saturday night, Patterson isn't even willing to give the BCS possibilities a thought. He's strongly suggesting his players don't, either.
"Right now we are trying to only worry about things we can control," said Patterson, whose team heads into action this weekend as one of six undefeated squads at 9-0 and 5-0 in the MWC. "All of us are a fan at heart. Like I tell my kids, if you want to sit at home and drink the BCS Kool-Aid and the national championship Kool-Aid, go ahead. But we've still got three games left, three tough games."

But that isn't stopping the rest of the nation from getting excited about the possibilities that could rock the BCS to its elitist core. Sure we've seen non-BCS teams like Utah and Boise State make it to a BCS bowl and even win against the big boys.

"I think TCU has one of the best defenses that I've gone against in my coaching career."
- UNLV coach Mike Sanford But the Horned Frogs could break through to the once unthinkable BCS national title game at the Rose Bowl this season. All they have to do is remain undefeated and hope that two of the three teams ahead of them – Florida, Alabama and Texas – lose once.

Either Florida or Alabama will certainly lose once prior to the bowl season as they head on a collision course in the SEC Championship game. The Longhorns are far from invincible, but they are likely to make it into the bowl season unscathed with not much left to challenge them in the Big 12, making it unlikely that TCU will reach uncharted territory.

Still, those who love to cheer the underdog can dream.

Patterson, however, is staying in reality and in the moment, which happens to be preparing for a Utah team that's more than a little dangerous. After that the Horned Frogs visit Wyoming before returning home to face New Mexico in the regular-season finale.

"Right now it's easy to focus on what we've got to do right now," Patterson said.

And nothing is more immediate than a Utah team that's been a flat out thorn in the side of the Frogs since their Western Athletic Conference days in the mid 1990s. The Utes (8-1, 5-0) have continued to be a menace to TCU, owning a 5-1 all-time series record and a 1-2 edge in Fort Worth that qualifies them as the lone MWC team Patterson has a losing record against.

In a matchup of similar proportions last season, Utah scored a touchdown with 47 seconds left to knock off TCU 13-10, and went on to win the MWC crown. This season both teams enter 5-0 in league play and with MWC implications all over the place, though that's just a secondary prize to the rest of the nation.

Still, the signs are screaming this is a big game. The ESPN GameDay crew is in town. There will be a rare sellout at Amon G. Carter Stadium. And Nike has picked TCU to outfit in its new ultra thin combat uniforms for the CBS broadcast game.

"We understand that every ball game we have played against Utah has been very close," said Patterson, whose team has the third-longest winning streak in the nation right now with 11 straight victories dating back to last season. "They have never played us here when we have had this kind of crowd, so it'll be interesting. It's like I told my kids, it doesn't matter about uniforms or crowd size, you've got to go play. A lot of people across the country play in front of 85,000-90,000 people every week and get beat. If history repeats itself, we will play at a very high level, because we have done that when we have had a big crowd here."

But don't be confused, this game will be decided between the lines between two teams with quality offenses and outstanding defense. The Horned Frogs, led by All-American senior defensive end Jerry Hughes (right), have the most dominant defense in the MWC this season and one of the best in the nation.

Just ask teams like the ACC's Virginia and the SEC's Clemson, who were both stifled in front of their home crowds by TCU this season. UNLV coach Mike Sanford has come up against both TCU and Utah this season and doesn't hesitate on which is best.

"I think TCU has one of the best defenses that I've gone against in my coaching career," he said. "I think Utah has the next-best defense in the conference.

"But I think TCU is the best defense in the conference and one of the best I've ever gone against in my career."

The winner of Saturday night's game will undoubtedly have the leg up in the MWC race. Should the Frogs win, they will be even closer to solidifying a coveted BCS bowl berth, even if it's not the big one. Should they lose then the non-BCS mantle is passed to Boise State, which is also one of six undefeated teams in the nation heading into Friday night.

But right now, the Frogs would just as soon keep the buzz around them.

"To me, it's just fun," TCU junior safety Tejay Johnson said of being in the BCS mix a couple weeks ago. "The best part about this is for all the coaches, because you work so hard all year. It's fun to be in a situation at the end of the year where all of your games count. Not counting to keep your job, but counting towards something that is a lot of fun for your kids, fans and community."

Patterson, who shut his players down from the media this week, also recognizes the excitement that's around the program and knows what it can mean to a community that is still feeling jilted when the Southwest Conference broke up and left TCU behind.

"I'm excited for our fans. I'm excited they have something to talk about," he said. "Nationally, we have gained a lot of attention. My job is to make sure the fans don't get their hearts broken. We need to finish up and do the things we need to do. There's a lot of excitement here. There's a lot of people excited about where we're at, what we're doing and how we're doing it."