It's Game Day!
12/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 23, 2003
QUICKLY: The TCU Horned Frogs (11-1, 7-1 Conference USA) face the Boise State Broncos (12-1, 8-0 Western Athletic Conference) in the inaugural PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl on Tuesday, December 23. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.
BOWL STREAK: TCU is making a school-record sixth consecutive bowl appearance. TCU had never appeared in bowl games in even three consecutive seasons prior to the current streak. TCU is one of just 16 Division I programs which has gone to a bowl game in each of the past six seasons. The list includes four teams the SEC (Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee), three teams from the Big 12 (Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas), two from the ACC (Florida State and Georgia Tech), the Big Ten (Michigan and Purdue) and the Big East (Miami and Virginia Tech), one from the Pac-10 (Oregon), and C-USA rival Louisville.
TCU HISTORY: This is the 107th year of intercollegiate football for TCU. The Frogs own an all-time record of 511-494-57. TCU has fielded a team every year since 1896, with the exception of the 1900 campaign. The Frogs have posted wins in 21 of their last 23 games since a 36-29 overtime loss at Cincinnati which opened the 2002 season.
INAUGURAL BOWLS: It's not unusual for TCU to be playing in an inaugural bowl game. In fact, the Fort Worth Bowl will mark the sixth time that the Frogs have opened a bowl. The Frogs are 2-3 all-time when playing in a newly-formed bowl game. TCU played in the one and only Fort Worth Classic in 1921, falling to Centre College, 63-7. TCU defeated Marquette, 16-6, in the first Cotton Bowl, played in 1937. The Frogs were 13-9 losers to Mississippi in the 1948 Delta Bowl. TCU fell to Clemson by a 23-7 score in the 1959 Bluebonnet Bowl. The Frogs were 28-14 winners over East Carolina in the inaugural GMAC Bowl, played in 1999.
RANKED FOES: TCU and Boise State both come into the bowl game ranked among the nation's top 20 teams. The Frogs are ranked 19th in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls, while the Broncos are tabbed 18th in the A.P. and 16th by the Coaches.
A TCU WIN WOULD...: * Match the highest single season win total in school history. They won a school record 12 games in 1935. * Rank the Frogs in the top 25 in the final polls for the second straight year and for the third time in the last four years. * Be their second consecutive over a conference champion in a bowl game. TCU defeated Mountain West Champion Colorado State in the 2002 AXA Liberty Bowl.
SENIOR SALUTE: This game marks the final game for the 2003 senior class at TCU, one of the most successful classes in school history. Over the past four years the Frogs have recorded 37 wins. That ties for the fourth best four-year win total in school history and the best four-year total since the 1936 seniors won 39 times. The 1935 seniors posted a school record 40 wins. The 2003 seniors are: Andy Boerckel, Nick Browne, Corey Connally, Destiny Curlee, Devon Davis, Bruce Galbert, John Glud, Josh Goolsby, Kenny Hayter, Ricky Madison, Jon Morgan, Stanley Moss, Matt Orlovsky, Robert Pollard, Chad Pugh, Tyrone Sanders, Bo Schobel, Brandon Williams and Chris Wingate.
TEN WIN SEASONS: The Frogs have posted their second straight 10-win season and their third in the last four years. They have recorded 10 or more wins in a season seven times in school history: 1935 (12), 1938 (11), 2003 (11), 1932 (10), 1933 (10), 2000 (10) and 2002 (10). To put that in perspective, the Frogs went from 1974-1980 winning just nine times combined!
WINNING STREAKS: The Frogs recently put together a 12-game winning streak, logging wins in the final two games of the 2002 season before running off 10 straight victories to open the 2003 campaign. The winning streak tied for the second longest in school history.
LONGEST TCU WINNING STREAKS:
14 1937-1938
12 2002-2003
12 1999-2000
12 1932-1933
11 1934-1935
10 1928-1929
JUST WIN BABY: Gary Patterson could not be accused of running up the score to secure additional votes in the polls this season as seven of the Frogs' 11 victories were by a touchdown or less, including five by just a three-point margin. They logged three-point wins over Tulane, Arizona, USF, UAB and Louisville and defeated Houston and SMU by a touchdown. The Frogs have nothing to apologize for, as they went from 1972-1984 without winning a single game by three points or fewer. They were 0-9 during that stretch in games decided by a field goal or less. Five of the Frogs' last 11 wins have been decided by three points or less. Prior to this season, they had won just five of the previous 49 games by three points or less. Dating back to last season, nine of the Frogs' last 14 wins have been by a touchdown or less.
