TCU Horned Frogs @ Colorado State Rams Football Recap

It's hard to imagine a team winning a game 27-0 and looking bad in the process. It's even harder to imagine a team winning a game 27-0 and taking a big hit in the race for both a BCS bowl game and the national championship. Yet, that's the set of realities staring the TCU Horned Frogs in the face after a sleepy Saturday in the college town of Fort Collins, Colorado.

Yes, TCU did shut out the homestanding Rams to notch a Mountain West win, but quite frankly, it's hard to see any positive developments after this foggy and groggy showing against a very bad opponent in the Rocky Mountain region.

First of all, TCU quarterback Andy Dalton continued to struggle in this game. Dalton, a senior, has regressed from his far more impressive junior season. His 2010 campaign has been a few notches below his 2009 body of work, and this outing against Colorado State affirmed as much. Dalton completed under 50 percent of his 24 passes, hitting just 11 targets for 109 yards. Dalton has eliminated himself from the Heisman Trophy race despite his team's unblemished record. Yet, that's the least of TCU's problems. What matters more about Dalton is that if he can't throw accurately or confidently in big games such as the Nov. 6 showdown at Utah, TCU will get picked off and will - as a result - miss out on a golden chance to at least make the Rose Bowl, which is open to non-AQ teams if the Big Ten or Pac-10 champions play in the BCS National Championship Game.

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Speaking of the national championship, TCU is making it very easy to dismiss the Horned Frogs in the chase for a plane ticket to Glendale, Arizona, on January 10, 2011. TCU's schedule was never really hefty to begin with, so coach Gary Patterson's team needed to max out on the field and deliver style points to the masses. One week prior to this game, TCU struggled on ESPN2 against SMU. Two straight ho-hum wins, without any "wow" factor whatsoever, have already turned out much of the nation. This is just not a team that's ready to make a BCS bowl game, even if other ballclubs stumble in the coming weeks. Boise State is clearly outclassing TCU in the race for a premium bowl bid.

How lackluster was TCU against Colorado State? The Horned Frogs scored only six points - that's right, six - in the entire first half of play. Despite the fact that the Frogs' defense smothered CSU all afternoon, holding the Rams to a mere 161 yards of total offense, TCU couldn't generate any consistent production before halftime. That's actually somewhat embarrassing, and it's no way to make friends with national voters who normally watch power-conference teams in action.

TCU won a ballgame, yes, but the Horned Frogs lost by other measures. This team will have to measure up a little better if it wants to secure the elite-level bowl bid it so desperately covets.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer