TCU: Enough style points?
FORT WORTH, Texas — Now that the hometown fans are finally taking notice of No. 4 Texas Christian, maybe the rest of the nation will also realize that the BCS-hopeful Horned Frogs are for real.
Utah certainly can’t disagree.
In likely its last significant hurdle to an undefeated regular season, TCU scored three touchdowns in a two-minute span early in the second quarter and beat No. 16 Utah 55-28 Saturday night.
“If the nation didn’t think that this was enough style points, then I don’t know what is,” coach Gary Patterson said. “We’re just going to go about our business.”
The Horned Frogs (10-0, 6-0 Mountain West) stretched their winning streak to 12 games since a last-minute loss last November at Utah (8-2, 5-1), which had won 22 of 23. TCU also has won 13 in a row at home since losing when the Utes last visited two years ago.
With a record crowd of 50,307 — a sellout at 79-year-old Amon Carter Stadium without the benefit of an instate opponent — and representatives from the Orange, Rose and Fiesta bowls watching from the athletic director’s suite, the Frogs put on quite a show. Fans stormed the field when it was over.
Matthew Tucker had the first and last touchdowns — on runs of 41 and 9 yards — for TCU, with five teammates getting into the end zone in between. The 55 points were the most allowed by Utah since 1996, a lopsided game that even caught the Frogs by surprise.
“Not in my wildest dream,” defensive end Jerry Hughes said. “I figured it was going to be a dogfight.”
Even without guaranteed access to the Bowl Championship Series, the Frogs have changed the question about if they can be a BCS buster. Now it’s can they be the first outsider to play for the national title?