Horned Frog Football News

BASIC NUMBERS & FACTS ABOUT TCU FOOTBALL '96

• Saturday will mark TCU's first ever appearance in an ESPN2 televised grid contest. Charley Steiner and Rodney Gilmore will be providing the commentary.
• Forty-four years ago, vs. Kansas in. Lawrence, the Horned Frogs and Jayhawks played in the first-ever, nationally-televised collegiate football game. It was an NBC-televised event viewed by 9 million homes.
• With its 1-0 beginning, TCU is pointing to a winning season in '96, which would ensure the first three straight seasons of winning for the program since 1957-58-59.
• Pat Sullivan, former Heisman Trophy Winner, is in his fifth campaign as TCU's head coach. Sullivan. enters the Kansas contest with a career coaching mark of 20-25-1.

TCU - KU GRID HISTORY -
The two programs have battled in football 26 times beginning with their first meeting in 1942 (a 41-6 TCU victory).
50 Years Ago · The two schools battle to scoreless tie in Lawrence.
40 Years Ago · TCU prevails, 32-0, in Lawrence.
34 Years Ago · A goal-line stand by the Frogs thwarts the Gale Sayers-led Jayhawks to preserve a 6-3 win in Lawrence.
14 Years Ago · The series is momentarily revived after a 18-year break with KU winning, 30-19, in Lawrence. A YearAgo · On ESPN, the Jayhawks romped, 38-20 in Lawrence.

PAT SULLIVAN SAYS - "We didn't have a perfect game vs. Oklahoma by any means but it certainly was a gratifying win and an encouraging performance. Mainly, I was happy to see these players able to reward themselves for all the tremendous work they have done in getting prepared for the season. I thought we made very few mistakes for a season opener.
"It will take a similar type of effort by our football team this week, too. Kansas has proven that it is a quality football team, one that has earned respect on the national level. "

TCU IN HOME OPENERS - Over the years TCU has carved out a 36-12-5 mark in its home openers. The Frogs have fashioned a 2-1-1 mark under Pat Sullivan in their yearly home debuts.

TCU INJURY SITUATION - The tender ankle of starting nose tackle Bernard Oldham appears to be the most-serious injury concern for the Frogs stemming from the OU game. Oldham joins standout wide receiver John Washington (hamstring), who logged only two plays in the '96 opener. Linebacker Scott Taft (strained knee-left), and backup receiver Tavarus Moore (strained knee - right) as those listed as questionable for the KU game during early week evaluations.

LAST WEEK - TCU pieced together an iinpressively balanced performance in its '96 season opener, utilizing solid defensive play, a strong kicking game as well as a mistake-free offensive outing in disposing of Oklahoma, 20-7, in Norman.

Especially encouraging was the collegiate debut of redshirt freshman quarterback Jeff Dover, who in earning the ABC-TV Player of the Game honor, threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns, along with the TCU debut of transfer Matt Harper at defensive end - a half dozen tackles including a QB sack, a pass interception and two passes batted down. The defeat resulted in Oklahoma's first season- opening setback since 1982.

DREAM COMES TRUE FOR HARPER ... SORTA
Hours before the TCU - Oklahoma game Horned Frog defensive end Matt Harper explained to a handful of gathered Frog teammates that he had dreamed of a pass interception versus the Sooners, only to have fumbled away the pigskin during the ensuing runback. It provided a nervous chuckle in the pre-game moment. Truth is, after teammate Gaylon Hyder batted the pass into the air, the 6-6, 260-pound Harper did notch a fourth-quarter pass interception vs. the Sooners, but he didn't lose the football. Instead, he was tackled after a 13-yard return, carefully cradling the football in both arms during the entire flight. "There was no way I was going to let them (OU) strip the ball from me; not after my dream," said a beaming Harper afterwards. "it (the dream) was running through my mind the whole time.

FROG FIRSTS ...
Several Horned Frog players enjoyed career firsts during the TCU-Oklahoma game.
first collegiate action - WR Torie Simmons, WR Patrick Batteaux, OG Doug Loeser, OG Clifton Clemons, TE Mike Brown, TE Kyle Williams, QB Jeff Dover, TB John Williams, DE Matt Harper, SS Reggie Hunt, CB Terrance Cook, FS Barry Browning and P Royce Huffman.
first starts - TB Basil Mitchell, QB Jeff Dover, TE Travis Wilson, ST Creg Davis, QT Jon Donahue, DE Chance McCarty, DE Matt Harper, MLB Scott Taft, OLB Jay Davern, FS Barry Browning.
first receptions - Tavarus Moore, Travis Wilson, Patrick Batteaux and Basil Mitchell.
first ballcarries - John Williams, Jeff Dover and Lance Williams.

1995 HORNED FROG - JAYHAWK MEETING - In Lawrence, while building a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter the Jayhawks struck early; and they struck often. They also parlayed a 17-point lick during a seven-minute of the fourth quarter en route to the 38-20 non-conference victory. Especially impressive for Kansas was the 1-2 running punch of June Henley (13-for-160) and L.T. Levine (13-for-134) who accounted for two rushing touchdowns apiece. Though able to avoid a costly turnover, TCU's attack instead was stymied repeatedly by pass drops and untimely penalties. The top performer on this otherwise gloomy night for the Frogs was sophomore wide receiver Jason Tucker who caught 13 passes for 160 yards.

TAFT, HARPER AND STATEN HEAD UP SHARP TCU DEFENSIVE EFFORT - In limiting Oklahoma to only 247 yards of offense and one touchdown (in the fourth quarter) statistically speaking it was trio of juniors - defensive end Matt Harper, strong safety Chris Staten and middle linebacker Scott Taft - who provided the brunt of the big plays for TCU's defense. Harper finished with half a dozen tackles, an interception, a quarterback sack, a tackle for a loss, two passes batted down and a big hit, while Staten contributed 13 tackles and a big hit and Taft applied nine stops including a tackle for a loss.

CAREER STARTING STREAKS - Versus Oklahoma fullback Koi Woods made his 24th straight starting appearance as a Horned Frog and John Washington logged his 23rd straight start (Geoff Stephens enjoyed his 17th).

FROG SPECIAL TEAM SUPERLATIVES - Redshirt freshman Royce Huffman punted for 44.9 average, junior all-American Michael Reeder was successful on field goals of 42 and 41 yards and consistently boomed kickoffs through the endzone, and deep snapping standout Ashby Porter even got into the act when he forced a fumble following a punt. It was another excellent outing for members of TCU's specialty teams. Reeder, the 1995 Lou Groza National Place Kicker Award recipient, now has been true on 26 of his last 28 field goal attempts and has batted 54-of-54 on career PATs

PANCAKE MAN - A ten-day layoff while nursing a strained knee apparently had little effect on standout center Ryan Tucker. Tucker, who posted blocking grades of 90 percent or better in all but one outing a year ago en route to a 91.2 average in'95, was back to true form in his '96 season debut. The 6-6, 295-pound Tucker graded 92 percent in the Frogs' win over Oklahoma but perhaps more impressive were his "knockdown" blocks. "Tuck had a lot of them (k.d. blocks)," said TCU offensive coordinator Pete Hoener. "Let's see - eight ... nine ... ten ... eleven. Eleven knockdowns.

NEXT UP - Both TCU and Kansas will enjoy open dates (September 21) following their tussle on Saturday. TCU resumes at New Mexico (the Frogs' WAC inaugural) on September 28 while Kansas returns at Utah on that date.

WEEKLY TELEVISION FOOTBALL SHOW FOR TCU -
The 1996 TCU Football Television Show, featuring Horned Frog head coach Pat Sullivan, will debut Wednesday, September 11. The program, available throughout the Southwest on the Prime Sports Productions (locally channel 1), airs on Wednesday afternoons at 5:00 p.m. Central Time.

THIRTEEN STATIONS TO JOIN FLAGSHIP KCLE ON THE HORNED FROG NETWORK
Thirteen stations will join flagship station KCLE (1120 am) of Cleburne on the Horned Frog Football Network this fall:
KVLF (1240 am) of Alpine
KPUR (1440 am) of Amarillo
KFON (1490 am) of Austin
KCLE ( 92.1 fm) of Cleburne
KDFX (1190 am) of Dallas
KAHZ (1360 am) of Fort Worth
KTCU (88.7 fm) of Fort Worth
KTXQ (950 am) of Lubbock
KRIL (1410 am) of Odessa
KBOP (103.7 fm) of Pleasonton/San Antonio
KBOP (1380 am) of Pleasonton/San Antonio
KTBB (600 am) of Tyler
KBBW (1010 am) of Waco