Frogs move to 9-0 after SDSU rout

Ryan Christian caught three passes, two for touchdowns, for 103 yards in TCU's 55-12 romp at San Diego State on Saturday. The win sets up the 'Showdown in Cowtown' next Saturday against Utah.

By David May/KillerFrogs.com Staff Writer

To borrow from an airline’s advertising campaign – it’s on.

The No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs throttled the San Diego State Aztecs, 55-12, Saturday, to set up what Frogs’ head coach Gary Patterson called the ‘Showdown in Cowtown” next Saturday night with the Utah Utes.

The Frogs, winners of 11 in a row for the nation’s third-longest streak, are likely to be at least No. 5 in the BCS when the new rankings are released Sunday after the Iowa Hawkeyes lost to Northwestern.

TCU once again started quickly on offense and used a balanced attack to leave no doubt early about their intentions to put the outmanned Aztecs away early and erase any concerns Frogs fans might have had of a potential trap game leading up to the highly-anticipated game against Utah at Amon Carter Stadium.

The ever-cautious Patterson seems ready to now focus all attention on the Utes.

“We haven’t had success the past couple of years against Utah, so this is a big game for us, just like the rest of them,” said Patterson. “Fortunately for us, we get to play at home and we have a lot of people that will be at the ball game. We’re going to give it our best shot.”

The Frogs are 9-0 for the sixth time in school history and the first time since 2003, when it won its first 10 games of the season. The Frogs improved to 60-1 under Patterson when holding the opponent to 17 points or less.

Boasting the nation’s top-ranked defense, TCU has allowed just two touchdowns in its last four games. The Frogs have outscored their last four opponents, 178-25.

While TCU is best known across the college football landscape for its defense, the Frogs are getting it done on offense as well. After racking up a season-high 578 yards in last week's 41-0 win over UNLV, TCU totaled 551 yards against the Aztecs.

Quarterback Andy Dalton ran for two touchdowns and threw for two others – both to Ryan Christian - before watching most of the fourth quarter from the sidelines as Patterson again was able to freely substitute. Dalton connected on 14 of his 20 passes for 239 yards and no interceptions. His longest pass was a 44-yard scoring strike to Christian in the second quarter to put TCU up 28-3.

TCU ran for 312 yards on 53 attempts, an average of nearly 6 yards per rush. It marked the first time since 2000 TCU has rushed for more than 300 yards in consecutive games. Matthew Tucker had 79 yards on nine carries with a touchdown, while Ed Wesley had 77 yards on 12 totes while scoring the game’s first touchdown from 5 yards out.  Joseph Turner (13-65 yards) also scored.

Including his two touchdown receptions, Christian caught three passes for 103 yards to lead all receivers.

TCU’s defense, meanwhile, held SDSU to just 93 yards rushing and 187 yards passing for 279 total yards. Aztec sophomore quarterback Ryan Lindley was 16 of 34 for 164 yards passing with two interceptions and a touchdown pass of 30 yards to DeMarc Sampson in the third quarter with the game far out of SDSU’s reach.

“San Diego State is great, they play hard,” Patterson said. “We had trouble with them in the first half. We made some plays to get up and get going, but they’re going to be someone to be reckoned with in the future in this conference. Right now, we’re on a roll, especially offensively, and we were able to make some plays. Our guys are moving around and they’re healthy and we have a junior quarterback who’s played three years and he made some plays today.”

First-year SDSU head coach Brady Hoke simply tipped his cap to the Frogs.

"That was a long day,” he said. “I haven't been in one of those in a long time. They're a good football team. We got beat in every phase - coaching, playing, all phases. We've got a lot of growth that we have to do and a maturity as a team that we've got to keep moving forward. You've got to give them a lot of credit. At the same time, I know there are a lot of things that we didn't do well as a team that we've got to do better if we want to win next week.

Lindley said the Aztecs, now 4-5 overall and still with a chance to make a bowl game, said TCU is good, but said SDSU didn’t play as well as it is capable.

"We just didn't put our best foot forward, obviously,” he said. “Give them credit, they're a good team. They've got some athletes, they've got some playmakers, but we just didn't play our game. We started slow and we need to fix that offensively. We just need to get it rolling.

SDSU linebacker Jerry Milling had little doubt about the loss and the strength of TCU’s running game.

"They beat us,” Milling stated. “I was seeing a team that physically, emotionally - they beat us. That's what it came down to; they just beat us period, in all aspects."

The Utes have next, a game TCU has been looking forward since moments after Utah spoiled TCU’s BCS dreams in a 13-10 win in Salt Lake City last year. Utah went on to beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and earned a top 5 ranking to end the season.

Oh yeah. It’s on.