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R & R not on Frogs' agenda
By The Associated Press
FORT WORTH — Texas Christian didn't have time to celebrate its 12th straight
win or worry about the BCS debate.
After beating Cincinnati to remain undefeated, the No. 10 Horned Frogs
(10-0, 7-0 C-USA) immediately turned their attention to Thursday night's
game at Southern Mississippi for the Conference USA title.
"If you want to have a chance to win a championship, you have to understand
the boundaries," coach Gary Patterson said after TCU's 43-10 win over the
Bearcats. "We just got done with Saturday, today is Monday. We skipped a
day."
That meant no day of rest for TCU, which along with No. 1 Oklahoma are the
only unbeaten teams in major college football. The Frogs were back at
practice Sunday.
TCU has to win at Southern Miss (7-3, 6-0) to keep alive its dream of
playing in one of the four big-money games that make up the Bowl
Championship Series. If not, the bowl prospects aren't nearly as lucrative.
With a win Thursday night, the Frogs claim the outright C-USA title and have
only winless SMU left to complete the second undefeated season in school
history. The other was 1938, when quarterback Davey O'Brien led TCU to its
only national championship.
Lose and the BCS debate is over.
The Frogs wouldn't even be the front-runner to play in the Liberty Bowl,
which gets the C-USA champion or its choice if two teams are tied. Southern
Miss finishes the season at East Carolina, the last team to beat TCU.
That could leave the Frogs going to the Mobile Alabama Bowl, or even staying
home to play in the Fort Worth Bowl, a first-year game on the TCU campus.
"It's exciting being 10-0. As far as the BCS, we know none of that means
anything if we don't go out and take care of business these next couple of
games," quarterback Brandon Hassell said. "We have more to prove to
ourselves than anybody."
TCU is likely to remain sixth in the new BCS standings Monday. The Frogs
reached No. 6 last week, the highest ranking ever for a team from a non-BCS
conference, and would be guaranteed a spot in one of the top four bowls,
likely the Fiesta Bowl, if they finish there or higher.
"Everybody out there wants to know what being a Cinderella is," Patterson
said. "As a general rule on a day to day basis, what you have to do is
you've got to win on every given Saturday. You just have to be better than
that team, it doesn't matter how you do it. And it's a lesson for all of
us."
After winning five games by three points and another by just a touchdown,
TCU had its biggest win of the season against Cincinnati despite just 298
total yards on offense.
Kenny Boyd returned a blocked punt 6 yards for a touchdown, linebacker
Marvin Patterson pounced on a fumble in the end zone and Nick Browne tied a
school record with five field goals. Three takeaways (two interceptions and
a fumble), three long punt returns and a blocked field goal help set up four
scoring drives of 27 yards or less.
©2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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02.23.07 10:48 AM
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