The Matchup - While both teams are coming off victories over UTEP (Utah was idle last Saturday following its 38-34 win at UTEP two weeks ago), their arrivals at this stage of the '96 season have been markedly different. Following their 20-17 loss to Utah State in a season opener, the Utes have reeled off five straight wins. Conversely, TCU won its '96 opener (at Oklahoma), then dropped three in a row before rebounding against UTEP last Saturday. Interestingly, UTEP and Kansas have served as common '96 opponents for TCU and Utah.
SOME BASIC NUMBERS & FACTS ABOUT TCU FOOTBALL '96
Besides celebrating the program's centennial year of football and its
entry into the WAC, other numbers and historical facts worth noting about
Horned Frog Football in 1996:
Last Week for the Frogs
Pulling out of a three-week swoon, TCU put forth a balanced and emotional effort in blanking UTEP, 18-0, in a WAC matchup at Fort Worth last Saturday. The victory enabled the Horned Frogs to erase some of the pangs that had built up after consecutive setbacks to Kansas, New Mexico, and Tulane.
Among the keynote features of the Horned Frogs game with UTEP were:
TCU vs. UTAH
It's a first-ever meeting between the two football programs.
PAT SULLIVAN SAYS - (About the victory vs UTEP) "It was important because we needed to taste some success in order to start believing in ourselves. The effort has been there all along, but against UTEP we also had unity. Defensively, we had some young players step in and make big plays. I'm speaking of Daryl Johnson, Kam Hunt and Marcus Anderson. After we looked at the game tapes, it was pretty clear cut that this was our best overall effort of the season."
(In general) "Our defense is a perfect example of what happens when you play with great intensity. Defense is all about attitude, and we just need to keep playing with a lot of emotion, flying to the football, and having fun. Plus, we need to get some of our players healthy again.
(About Utah) "We played Kansas and UTEP, so we know a lot of what Utah is all about. They are an outstanding football team, and one which presents all kinds of problems in preparing for them."
TCU INJURY SITUATION - The TCU receiving corps seems to continue bearing the brunt of the Horned Frog's injury woes. Listed as "questionable" in early week is the Frog's leading receiver, flanker Jason Tucker, with his strained hamstring, as well as running mate, John Washington, with a pulled tendon on the ring finger of his left hand. Labeled as "doubtful" is starting defensive tackle Michael Janak, who was to undergo an MRI for his right knee sprain.
Frog All-American, Reeder, Heard From Again ... From Midfield
After patiently sitting for two games without being called up to provide
any field goal magic, TCU's Michael Reeder put his brilliant kicking upon
display once again last Saturday. Versus UTEP, TCU's junior followed a 50-
yard miss (wide right) with a school-record 57-yarder, then tacked on
three-point efforts of 51 and 44 yards, becoming the first Horned Frog kicker
ever to have two 50-yard plus successes in the same contest.
"After my pre-game warmups I told Coach (Pat Sullivan) that felt
comfortable up to 45 yards against the wind, and between 55 to 60 with it,"
Reeder remarked following his gold star evening."
Earlier in '96, Reeder had enjoyed the previous longest
field-goal success of his career - a 52-yarder - against
Kansas. All of the Sulphur, Louisiana products field-goal
successes in '96 - 57, 52, 51, 44, 42 and 41 yards - have
been longer than 40 yards. Reeder has pushed his career
PAT skein to 59 straight (59 of 59). The 1995 Lou Groza
National Place Kicker Award recipient now has been true
on 30 or his last 34 field goal attempts.
TRIO OF FIRST TIMERS CONTRIBUTE MIGHTILY -
Junior Daryl Johnson
(defensive end), sophomore Marcus Anderson (nose tackle) and sophomore
Kam Hunt (inside linebacker) all celebrated their first
starts for TCU last Saturday. And they all responded
admirably Hunt finished with six tackles including a
sack and a safety, while Anderson bad five stops
including a sack, plus he was credited with a pass batted down, and
Johnson chalked up four tackle involvements to go along with his two
quarterback pressures.
QB TAYLOR EARNS PASSING GRADE IN FIRST
START -
Celebrated junior college transfer Fred Taylor
was handed the starting reins for the first time (Vs. UTEP)
and he came away with some satisfactory results - most
importantly a Horned Frog win. Taylor finished the
evening with 18 completions (on 26 attempts) for 152 yards
passing, plus he added 29 more - including a four-yard
touchdown - as a runner. "Fred made a few mistakes, but
that is expected. More importantly, he gave us an offensive
lift and made some big things happen," said TCU boss Pat
Sullivan. UTEP Charlie Bailey echoed those sentiments
"The TCU quarterback was a good runner. He is quick and
he avoided our tackles."
DEE-FENSE! -
That portion of TCU football enjoyed a dramatic,
and timely, return versus UTEP.
En route, the Frog defenders enjoyed a handful of
milestones. The 135 yards of total offense they yielded to the Miners represented the lowest total for a
TCU opponent since Taylor was held to 106 yards in
1987. The 85 yards rushing by UTEP stands as the
lowest running output by a Frog foe since the four-
yard day by Houston in 1998, and the 52 yards passing is the lowest day for an opponent since Rice threw
for only 35 yards in 1994. The result? TCU's defensive
staffers, so impressed with their unit's balanced team
effort, nominated the entire Defensive team for WAC
Mountain Division Defender of the Week honors.
MITCHELL MAKING HIS MARK AT TAILBACK -
Basil Mitchell is providing TCU's offense with a needed lift from his
tailback spot. The Horned Frogs' leading rusher with his 290 yards,
the 185-pound sophomore, also stands as the team's No.2 receiver through
five games. Mitchell has caught a dozen passes for
another 132 yards and two touchdowns.
TCU DEEP SNAPPER IS LIKE THAT ENERGIZER BUNNY -
TCU's premier deep snapper
- senior
Ashby Porter - is hovering around that unheard-of
success rate of 99 percent. With his 45 spiraled offerings through five
Horned Frog contests in 1996,
Porter has pushed his career deep snaps to 348. Of
that number, only four of which Porter and TCU
coaches figure failed to merit a passing grade. Thus
No.52 is batting 98.9 percent in his career. Porter also
has managed three tackles and a forced fumble as one
of the most active defenders on TCU's specialty units.
TUCKER A CONSTANT FOR THE FROGS
Six point-two knockdown blocks
per game and a 91.9 percent blocking-grade average through five
games has left TCU center Ryan Tucker in elite company. In fact, the
6-6, 295-pound Tucker, has graded 90 percent on better on his blocking,
grades in all five the Horned Frogs outings of '96. A year ago, Tucker
authored Mocking grades of 90 percent or better in all but one game en
route to his 91.2 average.
CAREER STARTING STREAKS -
Versus Kansas fullback Koi Woods
made his 28th straight starting appearance as a Horned Frog and
John Washington logged his 27th straight start.
MOST OF HERALDED HORNED FROG YEARLING CLASS STILL 'SOAKING' -
While TCU coach Pat Sullivan has repeatedly referred to his 1996 recruiting
class as his "best and most talented, thanks to solid depth throughout
much of the Horned Frogs lineups, most of that group of Frog newcomers
are experiencing the proverbial football axiom of "continuing to soak and
mature." Whereas most seasons double figure numbers of first-year fresh
have logged action, only three of TCU's first-year fresh - wide receiver
Patrick Batteaux (Sugar Land Elkins), free safety Reggie Hunt
(Denison), cornerback Russell Gary (La Marque), and cornerback Terrance Cook (Everman)- have logged
action through the first two weeks of the 1996 season.
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