TCU Horned Frogs vs UNLV Rebels Football Recap

TCU 56, UNLV 9

Sometimes, the simplest statements are still hard to fully grasp. Sometimes, the most powerful truths and facts are the ones that take the longest time to sink into the corners and crevices of the human mind. Yet, after another perfect season in the Mountain West Conference, there’s only so much that can be said about the Texas Christian football team. The plain truth is the only compliment this program really needs at this point, precisely because the plain truth says all that needs to be said about coach Gary Patterson’s juggernaut.

Here’s the straight story, delivered simply and without embellishment: Over the past three seasons of conference competition, the TCU Horned Frogs have not lost a single game.

That’s right. While many competitors have tried to knock the Frogs off their perch in the Mountain West, none have succeeded over the past three seasons. Not even once. The last time TCU dropped a football game in conference play was in November of 2008 against the Utah Utes. Ever since then, it’s been a purple world in this non-automatic-qualifying conference.

TCU capped off its third-straight Mountain West Conference championship Saturday afternoon by defeating UNLV 56-9 in front of a sparse Fort Worth crowd. The Horned Frogs used a strong second quarter to bury the Rebels and win the title.

TCU turned in an uninspired first quarter against a woeful UNLV squad and led just 7-3 after the first frame. But some news from east of them in Texas got the Frogs fired up. Waymon James and Matthew Tucker scored touchdown runs, Greg McCoy returned a kickoff 99 yards, and Kris Gardner housed a 16-yard interception return as TCU scored 28 points in seven minutes for a 35-6 halftime lead. At halftime, coach Gary Patterson said the outburst was fueled because the team heard what happened at Houston—that the 12-0 Cougars had fallen to Southern Miss in the Conference USA Championship Game, opening up some hope that TCU could still sneak into a BCS game as the top-non-AQ conference champ.

Freshman Taylor Barnhill got his first start at quarterback for UNLV, going 4-12 for 48 yards and one interception as the Rebels continue to try to rebuild under Bobby Hauck. UNLV finishes the season at 2-10, and is 4-20 in the first two years of the Hauck era.

TCU’s win ends its regular season at 10-2, marking the eighth time in the 11 seasons under Gary Patterson the Frogs have won 10 or more games. TCU leaves the Mountain West for the Big 12 next year after racking up a 30-1 conference record over the last four seasons. TCU’s win was not enough to propel it into the top 16 and into a BCS bowl. The Horned Frogs will face WAC champion Louisiana Tech (8-4) in the Poinsettia Bowl, which kicks off in San Diego on December 21.

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

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer