The TCU football team renews its rivalry with SMU tomorrow at 6 p.m. in Dallas.
Here are 24 things to think about 24 hours before kickoff:
1) How big was the Mustangs’ 40-33 win over the Frogs last year? Consider: If TCU beat SMU last year, instead of losing 40-33 in overtime, the Frogs likely would’ve gone to a BCS bowl. The loss dropped them to 3-2 and out of both major polls. By the end of the year, TCU had inched back up to No. 18 in the BCS standings, two spots shy of becoming BCS-bowl eligible. Take the SMU loss out of the equation, and a top-16 would’ve been all but guaranteed.
2) Speaking of the SMU loss, the Frogs haven’t lost since. Their 11-game winning streak is the longest in the nation.
3) From the Brandon Carter Highlight Reel Section:
4) Unsurprisingly, Carter’s one-handed touchdown catch was named the No. 1 play on SportsCenter late Saturday night.
5) Patterson hinted Tuesday that he’s unsure whether or not the Frogs’ annual meeting with the Mustang will continue beyond 2016, when the current contract between the two programs expires. I don’t see it happening. At this point, SMU doesn’t offer much for TCU, especially with the Frogs in the Big 12. It’s a trap game. TCU has little to gain from beating the Mustangs, and a whole lot to lose.
6) Matthew Tucker struggled for 57 yards on 15 carries Saturday against Virginia. It might have just been a fluky game, but the TCU running game looked borderline non-existent with Waymon James out.
7) Stat watch: Casey Pachall (209.9) still has a comfortable lead over West Virginia’s Geno Smith (191.2) for the best quarterback efficiency rating in the country. Smith leads the nation in completion percentage (81.4), while Pachall (76.1) is fourth. Texas’ David Ash (76.4) is third while Texas Tech’s Seth Doege (74.3) is fifth.
8) Get ready for the inaugural Gilbert Bowl. SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert’s younger brother, Griffin, is a freshman tight end for the Frogs.
9) Two words regarding the rows upon rows of empty seats Saturday: No excuses. It was hot. I get that. But it’s also hot in Baton Rouge and Gainesville and Austin in September. If anything, last week proved that moving to the Big 12 isn’t a magic potion, cure-all for TCU’s attendance problems. You can’t just flip the switch from small-time to big-time over night. Saturday was entirely small-time.
10) That said, the student section was solid again, especially for an early game. Free breakfast always helps.
11) Safety Sam Carter on Tuesday gave the TCU a defense a ‘D’ through three games after cornerback Jason Verrett gave the Frogs a ‘B’ the week before. Guess giving up a touchdown will do that.
12) Chris Hackett will start at safety Saturday night over Jonathan Anderson, which was not an entirely surprising move. Patterson hasn’t been happy with Anderson’s play, and Hackett, a redshirt freshman, played some quality minutes against Virginia, including laying a touchdown-preventing hit on UVA receiver Darius Jennings at the goal line.
13) Call it a good problem to have, but Patterson compared receiver Josh Boyce to Pachall in that both guys “like to play in the big games,” he said. I say that’s a problem, because before the season Patterson talked about getting Pachall ready for every game, not just the big ones (i.e. Boise State last year). The topic regarding Boyce was brought up Tuesday when Patterson was asked about Boyce breaking the school receiving touchdown record against Virginia.
14) Thought the Frogs’ new anthracite jerseys looked darker Saturday than when they were released earlier in the year. From the press box, and even closer to the field, they looked almost identical to their black jerseys.
15) The TCU offense started slow back-to-back weeks. We’ll see if the later kickoff on Saturday will prevent that.
16) The TCU hockey team has already beaten SMU–twice. The Frogs notched a 9-4 win over the Mustangs last Friday.
17) The Frogs lost their best linebacker (Tanner Brock) and essentially his replacement (Deryck Gildon) this offseason. But that hasn’t stopped the unit from producing back-to-back Big 12 Defensive Players of the Week. Kenny Cain, who had two interceptions and a fumble recovery last week, earned the honor on Monday. Joel Hasley earned the honor after the Kansas game.
18) Saturday’s forecast: High of 73 degrees with a 70-percent chance of rain. First bad weather forecast for the Frogs this year.
19) I wonder if June Jones has gotten any help from Patterson the past 12 months?
20) If you’re confused about that last one, here’s a refresher from Patterson’s press conference the Tuesday after the Frogs’ loss to SMU last year.
21) Granted, Patterson somewhat retracted Tuesday those comments he made toward Jones and SMU. But Patterson didn’t back down from what he said about the officiating. He’s still waiting on that apology from Conference-USA.
22) West Virginia might be close, but right now Kansas State is the best in the Big 12. Unlike TCU’s win in Norman, and the Sooners’ other two losses at home under Bob Stoops, the Wildcats’ win last week wasn’t an upset. Oklahoma wasn’t caught off-guard — it was just beaten, both on the scoreboard and physically. Collin Klein, and, really, the entire KSU offense, are the antithesis to the rest of the league’s high-flying, spread offenses. And that might be why they’re the Big 12 favorite (in my mind) at this point.
23) Big 12 schedule watch: Baylor at West Virginia — 11 a.m. Texas Tech at Iowa State — 6 p.m. Texas at Oklahoma State — 6:30 p.m.
24) Number to note: 1993. That's the last time SMU beat TCU back-to-back years. Mustangs have a chance to do it again Saturday night.
