ESPN

ARLINGTON -- Playing a nonconference game in the middle of the season wasn't an ideal situation for TCU coach Gary Patterson. Now he's past that and ready to jump back into the Mountain West schedule.

The Horned Frogs (6-2) beat BYU 38-28 Friday night and head back into conference at 3-0 with a trip to Wyoming next Saturday.

"We've got to go to Wyoming, always a tough place because of the weather in November," Patterson said. "They're 4-2, they play at San Diego State [on Saturday] and they haven't lost in conference [1-0], so we've got a tough game next week. Every game we've got from now on is that way."

Winning the MWC is a goal for the Frogs in their final year in the league before moving to the Big 12. Should they get past Wyoming, a showdown with No. 5 Boise State awaits on Nov. 12.

"What we said from the beginning is we wanted to be undefeated if possible going into the Boise game and if can win next week we have an opportunity to do that," Patterson said.

ARLINGTON -- The TCU defense bent some Friday night, but didn't break against BYU's high-powered attack.

The Cougars piled up season highs in points (59) and yards (572) last week. BYU quarterback Riley Nelson had thrown for at least two touchdowns in the previous four games.

The Horned Frogs allowed 354 yards, with only 136 coming in the second half, and forced three turnovers in the 38-28 victory at Cowboys Stadium. Two of the takeaways occurred when BYU was in TCU territory, including an interception by Kenny Cain in the end zone.

"Any turnover is big in any kind of situation," Frogs safety Johnny Fobbs said, "but I know the one where they were driving, Kenny Cain caught the interception and tiptoed in the back of the end zone. It was real big. It was just a relief. It gets the defense off the field and makes our offense stay on longer."

Riley passed for 215 yards and ran for another 84, but accounted for only one touchdown. He was also sacked four times and had all three turnovers -- two picks and a fumble.

"Their quarterback was hard to handle," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "He moved the ball around and really did a good job at times, in scramble situations, but I was really proud of my team."

Fobbs said the defense has come a long way from the 50-48 loss to Baylor to open the season. TCU came into the game having used 12 first-time starters on defense this season.

"Going through the adversity of the year and the ups and downs, and finally getting things together it makes us seem like we're mature defense now," Fobbs said.

TCU safety Jonathan Anderson had 17 tackles -- tied for the third-most in the Patterson era -- and an interception.

ARLINGTON -- Casey Pachall threw for two touchdowns and TCU's defense forced three turnovers as the Horned Frogs survived some anxious moments to outlast BYU 38-28 Friday night at Cowboys Stadium.

TCU (6-2) won its third in a row and reached bowl eligibility for a seventh consecutive season. The Frogs completed their nonconference schedule with a 2-2 record and have beaten the Cougars (6-3) four straight times.

** The Frogs needed only 45 seconds to get their first touchdown and four yards for the second. Pachall hooked up with a wide-open Skye Dawson from 48 yards out on TCU's second play from scrimmage.

The Cougars botched a punt on their first drive, with a low snap setting TCU up inside the 10-yard line. Backup quarterback Matt Brown scored on the first of his two keepers and the Frogs were up 14-0 at the 10:06 mark of the first quarter.

** TCU came into the game mindful of quarterback Riley Nelson's ability to make things happen with his feet. The BYU quarterback proved slippery, especially on designed runs, and a couple of big throws by Nelson helped dig the Cougars out of their early hole.

Nelson's 42-yarder to Ross Apo set up a field goal midway through the first quarter. The Cougars got into the end zone on Michael Alisa's 22-yard reception from Nelson, getting the visitors within 14-10 with two minutes left in the opening period.

** The Horned Frogs were in position to pad their lead at the BYU 47 after safety Jonathon Anderson's spectacular one-handed interception. The Frogs were moving the ball before stalling after a 15-yard penalty for a chop block.

** TCU did get seven on its next possession thanks to another short drive. Greg Burks partially blocked a BYU punt, giving the Frogs the ball on the 37. Running back Ed Wesley's 28-yard sprint to the 2 set up another Brown keeper.

** Another TCU pick -- in the back of the end zone by linebacker Kenny Cain -- thwarted a BYU march in the second quarter. Nelson was under pressure and lofted a prayer, the pass was tipped and Cain tiptoed the back line to come down with it.

** The Frogs went into halftime up 28-10 after Pachall's 33-yard TD pass to Josh Bosh with 36 seconds left in the second period. Pachall had all day to find the sophomore receiver sprinting alone down the right hash.

** Another punting miscue by BYU on its first possession of the third quarter led to another Frogs' touchdown. TCU went 38 yards on four plays, capped by Waymon James' short run.

** The Cougars, trailing 35-13, made things interesting with 67-yard punt return touchdown by JD Falslev with 2:20 left in the third. BYU began the fourth driving in TCU territory, but coughed up the ball on the 29 after fumbling away a lateral pass.

** TCU takes a 6-5 lead in series history with BYU. The Frogs and Cougars have met for seven straight years, the first six in the Mountain West before this nonconference game. There are no plans presently to continue to series.

** The official attendance was 50,094, which was impressive considering the Texas Rangers were in Game 7 of the World Series. Playing at Cowboys Stadium made sense with Amon G. Carter Stadium currently seating about 35,000 due to construction.

FORT WORTH -- Cowboys Stadium is the site for tonight's midseason nonconference showdown between TCU and BYU. Forgive the parties involved if it doesn't feel like an out-of-league affair.

"We consider this like a conference game," Horned Frogs coach Gary Patterson said of the 7 p.m. kickoff on ESPN. "We played BYU for so long."

The two private schools were conference opponents for six years. This year they're not. Perhaps in the future, they could be again.

Such is the revolving door that is realignment.

BYU left the Mountain West for independent status this year. TCU bolts the MWC next year for the Big 12. Tonight, the Horned Frogs and Cougars are playing more so out of necessity than familiarity.

"I'd rather not play a non-conference game in the middle of the season," Patterson said. "This is the only time BYU and ourselves could work it out."

Lineup changes in the MWC, plus Texas Tech pulling out of this year's scheduled trip to Amon G. Carter Stadium, left TCU with slots to fill. BYU was also in a scramble mode after ditching the MWC.

PODCAST
Trey Fallon and Landry Locker of ESPN Dallas discuss TCU's dominant win over New Mexico, preview the back half of the schedule and discuss this weekend's game against BYU. Listen

ESPN and Cowboys Stadium entered the picture, and a marriage was made. Not much courting was needed.

"We've played them since 2005, so I don't think it's any different than playing Colorado State, Wyoming, Utah," Patterson said.

Now, could these two meet again in the Big 12? The Cougars had been at the top of the heap when it comes to potential expansion candidates before the additions of TCU and West Virginia. BYU craves the automatic BCS qualifying status that TCU will enjoy and rival Utah gained in the Pac-12.

Asked if BYU was a Big 12-caliber program, Patterson answered: "I don't know." It makes sense not to offer an opinion, especially since TCU won't be in the Big 12 until next summer.

TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte has taken part in a few Big 12 meetings and said the subject of posible expansion schools hasn't come up with him. Del Conte added he hasn't been asked about BYU.

"We've never been asked anything about any member," he said. "Those conversations are happening above my pay grade."

Del Conte did say he prefers a 10-team league, going back to his days in the Pac-10. The Big 12 expects to be at 10 next season with West Virginia coming onboard.

Patterson said the membership of the Big 12 eventually is going to be a subject of interest.

"It will, but right now it's the games that I have left," he said. "Is the chicken going to be warm in Wyoming as the pregame meal? Is it going to snow? What kind of crowd are we going to have at the BYU game? Are my kids' legs and shoulders going to be back by Friday? Those things are what's important to me know."

Trey Fallon and Landry Locker of ESPN Dallas discuss TCU's dominant win over New Mexico, preview the back half of the schedule and discuss this weekend's game against BYU on ESPN.

 

FORT WORTH -- BYU quarterback Riley Nelson sure has TCU's attention going into Friday night at Cowboys Stadium.

"Their quarterback is capable of pulling the ball down and running on us," TCU defensive end Jon Koontz said. "If he feels pressure, he's a good runner."

PODCAST
Trey Fallon and Landry Locker of ESPN Dallas discuss TCU's dominant win over New Mexico, preview the back half of the schedule and discuss this weekend's game against BYU. Listen

The dual-threat junior has helped turn the Cougars' season around. He's thrown for at least two touchdowns and run for at least 62 yards in the last four games, all BYU wins.

Nelson led BYU (6-2) to its best offensive game of the season last week, accounting for four touchdowns in the 59-3 rout of Idaho State. The Cougars rolled up a season-high 572 yards.

Nelson gives the improving Horned Frogs defense another stiff challenge going into their last nonconference game. Keeping him in the pocket is the key.

"We have to stay gap-assigned, even when we're pass rushing," Koontz said. "If you're containing, you have to keep contain. You can't let him out of the pocket."

While the Cougars are rolling on offense, TCU (5-2) is coming off its best defensive showing in the 69-0 dismantling of New Mexico. The Frogs responded to their bye week by holding the Lobos to just 85 yards -- the lowest for an opponent since 2008.

It was also the third time in the last four games that TCU allowed less than 300 yards. The Frogs' out-of-character struggles earlier this season were a manner of growing pains, Koontz said. TCU coach Gary Patterson has used 10 freshman and 12 new starters on defense so far.

"We knew we had an entirely different group of guys than we had last year," Koontz said. "We lost a lot of guys in the secondary. We're a younger defense. We lost [linebacker Tanner Brock] the first week. It's an evolving defense all year."

Patterson said the Cougars aren't doing anything new schematically on offensive, pointing out the Frogs have played BYU annually since moving to the Mountain West in 2005. But there is one distinction to these independant Cougars.

"The difference is the quarterback can run around and make plays," Patterson said.

Trey Fallon and Landry Locker of ESPN Dallas dish out midseason grades for TCU, discuss if this season has been a disappointment for the Frogs, and layout expectations for the rest of the year.

 

Tuesday, TCU coach Gary Patterson sent out his condolences for former TCU tight end and Mansfield Timberview assistant coach Cody McCarty.

"It's a tough loss in our family," Patterson said. "To see someone at 29-years-old, in the youth of his life, pass away is a hard thing for us. It makes you appreciate every day that you get up. His wife and his kids -- everyone always talks about the ones that you leave have to do all the fighting. Our prayers will be with them."

Patterson said he has been in contact with former players that were teammates and close friends with McCarty since his death.

McCarty died Sunday of unknown causes at Huguley Memorial Medical Center in Burleson, where he lived. He was in his first year as offensive coordinator and coached quarterbacks at Timberview.

He played tight end at TCU from 2000-2004, catching 39 passes for 636 yards during his collegiate career.

Click here for more information on McCarty and his death.

The TCU Horned Frogs had to wait 17 years to gain entrance into the Big 12 conference. Now that they have arrived there will be no waiting to know the Frogs' 2012 football foes.

The schedule, with dates and times to be determined, is set. And, boy, what a difference.

Gone are the days of traveling west in the Mountain West Conference, and the days of heading to the chilly northeast will never be in the Big East Conference.

TCU will play three non-conference games in 2012 -- two at home against Grambling State and Virginia, with the annual rivalry against SMU returning to the east side of the Metroplex. Oklahoma, originally on the non-conference slate as part of series with the Sooners last played in Norman in 2005, is now a conference game.

The rest of the Frogs' conference schedule is: Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Missouri.

Here's a comparison of TCU's 2011 schedule in the MWC, its would-be 2012 schedule in the Big East and its newest schedule in the Big 12 (conference games denoted with an asterisk):

2011 MWC schedule
vs. Baylor
at Air Force*
vs. Louisiana-Monroe
vs. Portland State
vs. SMU
at San Diego State*
vs. New Mexico*
vs. BYU (at Cowboys Stadium)
at Wyoming*
at Boise State*
vs. Colorado State*
vs. UNLV*

2012 Big East schedule
vs. Grambling State
vs. Virginia
vs. Oklahoma
at SMU
Cincinnati*
Connecticut*
Louisville*
Pittsburgh*
Rutgers*
South Florida*
Syracuse*
West Virginia*

2012 Big 12 schedule
vs. Grambling State
vs. Virginia
at SMU
Baylor*
Iowa State*
Kansas*
Kansas State*
Missouri*
Oklahoma*
Oklahoma State*
Texas*
Texas Tech*

TCU trustees are scheduled to meet Monday, and they are expected to accept the Big 12's invitation to join the conference, according to sources. Click here for the updated story.

The TCU Horned Frogs might be a young group that, as coach Gary Patterson suggested last week, hasn't properly felt the pain that a loss should inflict -- or at least Patterson doesn't believe they have revealed that pain properly -- but they sure know how to rebound from a loss.

For a second time this season, TCU (4-2, 2-0) avoided a losing skid. Late Saturday night they jumped out to a 17-0 lead on an offensively dangerous San Diego State Aztecs team and came away with a 27-14 road win.

Earlier in the week, the Frogs got the good news that they've got an invite to become the 10th team in the Big 12. They have a chance to leave the Mountain West Conference with a record win streak that could stand for some time. TCU won its 19th consecutive MWC game to break a tie with now-independent BYU, which won 18 in a row from 2006-08.

The one team that would seem capable of such a long streak is the league's newest member, the Boise State Broncos.

TCU will have something to say that about on its way down the mountain to the Big 12. The Frogs and Broncos (5-0, 0-0) are on a collision course to determine the conference champion on Nov. 12 at Boise. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Fort Worth, but when TCU accepted an invitation last November to join the Big East Conference, MWC officials swiped it away and moved the game to the blue turf.

Between now and then, TCU will finally enjoy a bye week coming up followed by three games it will be be favored to win: at home against New Mexico (Oct. 22), against BYU at Cowboys Stadium (Oct. 28) and at Wyoming (Nov. 5).

Boise, formerly of the WAC, will play its first MWC game Saturday at Colorado State, followed by a home game against Air Force (Oct. 22), and then at UNLV (Nov. 5). Air Force was considered to be the toughest hurdle in setting up a Frogs-Broncos showdown, but TCU already dispatched the Falcons with relative ease in Colorado Springs.

For two teams that have forged a rivalry through multiple tightly contested bowl matchups over the last several seasons, this first and last conference game should be more of the same.

TCU coach Gary Patterson is sticking behind his embattled defense, no matter what.

Perhaps in an attempt to shift the focus away from another sub-par performance, Patterson ripped SMU for the way it behaved after its win last week, along with C-USA officiating during his weekly news conference and his appearance on the Mountain West coaches' call.

When asked specifically about the youth on his defense during the call Tuesday, Patterson said, "To be honest with you, the group I was most unhappy with was the officials. ... They changed the complexion of the whole football game with about five or six calls. I understand why I left Conference USA. SMU did a great job, they won. But I can tell you this, they had a lot of help."

Patterson cited an interception from Jason Verrett on the first drive that was called off because of a pass interference penalty. SMU ended up scoring on the drive. He also has various other examples of calls that went against his team in a 40-33 overtime loss.

But the fact remains that TCU is having major problems on defense, specifically against the pass. TCU has given up 40-plus points twice already this season -- unheard of for a Patterson-coached team. In both losses, the Horned Frogs have fallen into deep holes, only to rally and then have their defense let them down in the end.

A defense that finished No. 1 in the nation for three straight years now ranks No. 90. One big reason for the struggles are new players in the secondary. But another has been the loss of Tanner Brock, a veteran linebacker out for the season with a foot injury.

"It was a big loss for us," Patterson said. "The strength of the defense coming back was four out of our six front guys, Tank [Carder] is starting to play better, but losing [Brock] you lost a lot of experience."

The Horned Frogs play at San Diego State on Saturday. Though they have never lost to the Aztecs, San Diego State put quite a scare into them last season, fighting back from a 40-21 fourth-quarter deficit only to come up short 40-35. They held an early 14-0 lead in that game before allowing TCU to score 34 unanswered points.

The big difference this year is the Aztecs do not have a proven set of receivers. Of the eight players who have caught passes this season, three are receivers. They have relied on Ronnie Hillman to catch passes out of the backfield, and their tight ends as well. Colin Lockett and Dylan Denso have emerged as the top two wideouts, but there is not much consistency in that group and no real deep threat.

Hillman, one of the top rushers in the nation, had only 54 yards last season against TCU. Given the way some teams have been able to pass on TCU, this could be an opportunity for the Aztecs to open up the deep passing game.

But Patterson insists his group is getting better.

"It's not going the way we want to. The most amazing thing is we've been able to fight back, with a little bit of luck we could be 5-0 but we're not. You have to understand you have to be ready to play. We've got to get ready."

Big 12 football didn’t take a step back with this conference-realignment Texas two-step.

The potential addition of TCU on the heels of Texas A&M’s departure could actually be argued as an upgrade.

A&M’s in-state rivalries will be missed. That’s especially true if Texas doesn’t get off its wobbly high horse and agree to continue the Thanksgiving tradition. It also strongly applies to the A&M-Tech series, although the Aggies are too stubborn to admit that the Red Raiders are good enough to qualify as a rival despite winning 10 of 15 Big 12 meetings between the programs.

But the quality of football in the conference won’t suffer with this switch of former Southwest Conference schools. And that, more than any other factor, drives the interest that gets eyeballs glued to TVs.

Oh, the Aggies have more money, a much stronger tradition and a larger, more passionate (to pick a complimentary word) fan base. That’s all fine and dandy, but the Horned Frogs have built a better football program with Gary Patterson in charge in the past decade.

It’s not fair to simply compare the records of A&M and TCU during that span. A&M was being bullied by Big 12 powers, while TCU faced inferior competition in Conference USA and the Mountain West. So let’s just boil it down to the bowl games.

TCU is 6-3 in bowl games since 2001, including wins over No. 9 Boise State and No. 5 Wisconsin. A&M is 1-5 in bowls in the past decade.

Yes, the Aggies’ lone bowl win in that span came over TCU. That was way back in 2001, Patterson’s rookie season as a head coach. A whole lot has changed since then.

So much has changed just in the past month. The Aggies have celebrated their escape to the SEC, making their disappointing season that started with the highest expectations in ages for A&M easier to stomach. The long-awaited invitation to the Big 12 gives the Horned Frogs reason to be happy during a rebuilding season on the heels of back-to-back BCS bowls.

Expect TCU to bounce back strong. Its recruiting efforts just got a major boost now that the Horned Frogs don’t have to travel halfway across the country to sit at the big boys’ table.

At the bare minimum, TCU will be a suitable replacement for the Aggies as a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 program.

TCU chancellor Victor Boschini addressed the Big 12's board of directors recommendation Thursday to include the Horned Frogs as the league's first expansion candidate:

"These discussions with the Big 12 have huge implications for TCU. It will allow us to return to old rivalries, something our fans and others have been advocating for many years. As always, we must consider what’s best for TCU and our student-athletes in this ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics. We look forward to continuing these discussions with the Big 12."

Give the SMU marketing folks credit for creativity. It's no secret the school is searching for ways to attract fans to Ford Stadium so they've turned SMU's 40-33 victory over TCU into a clever ticket campaign.

They've launched the "$40.33 Iron Skillet Special." That's the price you'll pay to see SMU's final four games of the season against Central Florida (Oct. 1), Tulane (Nov. 5), Navy (Nov. 12) and Rice (Nov. 26).

To check out the plan, click here. Or call 214-768-4263.