TCU Horned Frogs @ Wyoming Cowboys Football Recap

TCU 31, Wyoming 20

The TCU Horned Frogs were sloppy, prone to making mistakes at the worst point on the field, and very much uneven in yet another Saturday of exasperation and uneasiness. Yet, for all of their blunders and bloopers in the red zone, the Frogs never lost hold of the one thing they needed in their visit to the loneliest outpost in the Mountain West Conference: a victory.

The expected snowstorm in Laramie, Wyoming, didn’t come until all the scoring was over, but TCU still had to weather five of its own turnovers to outlast the Wyoming Cowboys on Saturday afternoon. The Pokes had surprisingly risen to the top tier in the Mountain West and were playing for second place in the conference, but TCU managed to turn back its upstart opponent, reasserting its place as the main contender to Boise State in the league just before a ballyhooed battle with those very same Broncos this upcoming weekend in Idaho.

Wyoming’s upset bid looked to have legs when the Cowboys took a 20-17 early in the third quarter on a 48-yard field goal from Daniel Sullivan. But the bid took a hit when freshman quarterback Brett Smith was knocked out of the game with a big hit in the third quarter. The Cowboys seemed to be doing everything necessary to claim the win when they took the 20-17 lead, including committing zero turnovers in the game—everything, that is, except play defense. Even forcing five turnovers wasn’t enough to hold back the Horned Frogs, who racked up 617 yards of offense. TCU’s three-headed rushing attack churned through yardage like it was a scrimmage, as Waymon James led the way with 181 rushing yards. Ed Wesley added 120, and Matthew Tucker’s 90 yards left the Frogs 10 rushing yards away from having three 100-yard rushers.

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

When they finally figured out how to keep the ball secure, the Horned Frogs took control of the game. A 10-play, 80-yard drive late in the third quarter ended when Ed Wesley punched in a four-yard touchdown to give TCU 24-20 lead. Minutes later, James ripped off a 74-yard run to put the Frogs in the redzone. Tucker scored two plays later to give TCU the final 31-20 margin with 13 minutes left in the game, just as the forecasted snowstorm arrived. Casey Pachall was 17-24 for 227 yards in the win. Smith was 17-26 for 210 yards and two touchdowns for Wyoming before being knocked out of the game. TCU moved to 7-2 and 4-0 in the Mountain West with the win, and prepares for its anticipated match with Boise State (8-0) next week. Wyoming is now 5-3 and 2-1 in conference, essentially making the TCU-Boise showdown the de facto conference championship game. The Cowboys travel to Air Force (5-4) next week.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer