After defeating a ranked University of Utah team in front of a sellout crowd at Amon Carter Stadium, the Frog football team heads back out on the road for their final away game of the 2009 season.
The Frogs face off against a 5-5 University of Wyoming team Saturday in Laramie.
TCU head coach Gary Patterson told media Tuesday that the Frogs began preparing for the Wyoming Cowboys immediately following the Utah win.
“Right after the game Saturday, even with how exciting the Utah win was, we started talking about Wyoming,” Patterson said. “The last time we went up there (Laramie), we got beat. We have to be ready to play.”
The Frogs hold a 3-2 lead over the Cowboys in a series dating back to the 1998 campaign when both teams were part of the Western Athletic Conference.
Last season, the Frogs beat the Cowboys in Fort Worth with a final score of 54-7. However, at the last meeting in Laramie, the Cowboys defeated the Frogs 24-21.
So far in 2009, the Cowboys are 3-3 in the Mountain West Conference, while TCU remains undefeated.
The Frogs are Wyoming’s fourth ranked opponent in their 2009 campaign. They are 0-3 against ranked opponents this season.
Looking for the sixth win of the season, a victory against TCU would make the Cowboys bowl eligible.
“We have a tall task at hand this week, playing a team that has a chance to be bowl eligible,” Patterson said. “We just need to keep minding our own business. Playing our last game on the road, I think we will be better off just keeping our nose to the ground.”
Last week, the Cowboys defeated the San Diego State University Aztecs. Led by head coach Dave Christensen, the Cowboys, down 27-6 at one point in the game, came back to win the contest 30-27.
Patterson said Christensen is a good head coach, noting that he helped the Cowboys advance this season.
“He’s done a good job of recruiting,” Patterson said. “You become a head coach to make a team better, and he is on the right track.”
Patterson also commented on the strength of Wyoming’s freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, who leads the Cowboys in total offense with 260 rushing yards and 1,532 passing yards. Samuels was named as one of the Mountain West Conference Offensive Players of the Week last week, alongside Air Force Academy’s sophomore running back Asher Clark.
On the Horned Frog offense, junior quarterback Andy Dalton leads in total offense with 389 rushing yards and 2,088 passing yards.
Senior tailback Joseph Turner leads in rushing yards with a net of 622 for nine touchdowns.
Junior defensive tackle Cory Grant said the Horned Frog’s primary focus is the Cowboys and finishing out the season strong.
“We’ve been here before. We will have to try to find a way to win,” Patterson said in agreement with Grant. “I see no reason why we would be any different about this game than we have been up to this point. They have done an unbelievable job this season of going on the road, keeping their focus and doing the things they needed to do to take ball games.”
The Frogs and the Cowboys face off at noon Saturday in Laramie’s War Memorial Stadium. The game will be broadcast in The Mtn Network.
