TCU Horned Frogs vs New Mexico Lobos Football Recap

TCU 69, New Mexico 0

The TCU Horned Frogs - perhaps a year too late - finally threw down the hammer against a weak sister in their conference.

You might recall that in the finale of the 2010 regular season, with the Bowl Championship Series debate in full swing and computer rankings being dissected by a nation full of college football geeks, the TCU Horned Frogs were supposed to hammer the New Mexico Lobos. Indeed, when TCU and New Mexico met on Thanksgiving weekend last season, with TCU sitting at 11-0 and hoping for a spot in the BCS National Championship Game, many pundits felt that the Frogs would unleash an unholy storm on Los Lobos, something like – oh, let’s say a 69-0 win. Yet, a sloppy TCU team didn’t play its best that day, slogging to a 66-17 victory after leading by a paltry 31-17 margin at halftime. TCU didn’t deliver the massive beatdown so many experts had anticipated.

Clearly, TCU waited one year to max out against one of the worst programs in all of college football.

It was a bloodbath this year in Fort Worth, Texas, as TCU and New Mexico faced off in a conference matchup Saturday afternoon. But somehow the final result was still a bit surprising, as the dreadful Lobos were drubbed in every way by TCU en route to a 69-0 beatdown. Last year, this outcome would have made complete sense; this year, with TCU struggling, it didn’t seem quite so logical.

TCU’s balanced offense was at it again, totaling 251 passing yards and 264 rushing. Against the lowly Lobos, however, this yardage resulted in scores whenever and however the Horned Frogs wanted. Nine different Frogs found the endzone out of TCU’s 10 touchdowns. Matthew Tucker’s 48 rushing yards left TCU two yards short of having four rushers with at least 50 rushing yards—with Ed Wesley (74), Waymon James (52), and backup freshman quarterback Matt Brown (52). Brown also went 2-4 passing for 76 yards in reprieve of Casey Pachall. Pachall was an efficient 13-17 for 175 yards and two touchdowns. After amassing a 41-0 halftime lead, TCU poured it on early in the second half, opening with a touchdown drive, then recovering a blocked punt in the endzone just two minutes later.

In contrast to the Frogs’ 515 yards, New Mexico totaled just 85 yards on the day. If there was a bright spot for the Lobos, it was Demarcus Rogers rushing for 51 yards. B.R. Holbrook completed 6 of 7 passes for just 15 yards, while Tarean Austin threw for six yards on two completions. At 5-2, TCU prepares for a Friday night matchup in Cowboys Stadium against BYU (6-2). New Mexico (0-7) will host Air Force (3-4).

> Find a great selection of TCU Horned Frogs apparel & merchandise online as well as the MWC Football Scoreboard!

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer