TCU football looks to move closer to MWC title
10/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 29, 2005
SAN DIEGO, Calif -- The TCU football team, ranked 20th by both the Associated Press and USA Today, is on the road for the final time in the 2005 regular season when it faces San Diego State tonight at 7 (Central) in Qualcomm Stadium.The Horned Frogs (7-1, 5-0), eligible for their seventh bowl trip in the last eight seasons, will have played six of their opening nine games on the road.
TCU is looking for its first outright conference championship since it won the Southwest Conference in 1958.
Since 1958, all five league titles for the Frogs have been shared. TCU was co-champions of the Southwest Conference in 1959 and 1994, while also sharing a pair of Western Athletic Conference titles (1999, 2000) and a Conference USA championship (2002).
This will be the first football game between TCU and San Diego State. Even though both schools were members of the Western Athletic Conference together for three seasons (1996-98), they never met on the gridiron.
TCU coach Gary Patterson has faced San Diego State twice in his coaching career and has a 1-1 record versus the Aztecs.
As New Mexico's defensive coordinator in 1996, Patterson was on the short end of a 48-42 decision to San Diego State in Albuquerque. The Lobos, under Patterson, got revenge the following year (1997) with a 36-21 victory at Qualcomm Stadium.
TCU was predicted to finish sixth in its inaugual season of MWC play. At 49-19 (.721), TCU has the 14th-best record in Division I-A over the last six seasons.
TCU is 7-1 or better after eight games for the fourth time in the last six seasons. In each of the three previous occasions, the Frogs went on to win at least 10 games (10-2, 2000; 10-2, 2002; 11-2, 2003).
TCU punter Brian Cortney is a San Diego native who attended St. Augustine High School and Mesa Community College. After graduating from St. Augustine in 2002, Cortney enrolled at UNLV and was redshirted. He then spent the 2003 and 2004 campaigns at Mesa before transferring to TCU in January 2005.
Starting defensive end Chase Ortiz, who tops TCU with eight tackles for a loss and four sacks, is a cousin of San Diego Padre pitcher Woody Williams.
TCU is playing in California for the first time since a 27-24 loss at San Jose State on Nov. 4, 2000.
In last week's 48-10 win at Air Force, TCU had a season-high 546 yards of offense. The Frogs played all 64 players who made the trip and did not commit a turnover for the second time this season. The 10 points allowed equaled a season-low (Oklahoma) for the TCU defense.
TCU tops the nation in turnover margin at 2.12 (+17). Florida (1.86, +13) is the only other team above 1.43 or +10 in turnover margin.
The Horned Frogs have forced a Division I-A best 28 turnovers. Florida (21) is the only other team with more than 20 takeaways. TCU's 17 interceptions lead the nation while its 11 fumble recoveries trail only Texas Tech (12) and Louisville (12).
TCU is a +20 in its seven wins and a -3 in its lone loss. In their last four games, the Frogs have forced 18 turnovers while committing just four (+14). The TCU defense had seven takeaways against Wyoming and six versus New Mexico.
TCU's nation-leading 17 interceptions this season have been recorded by nine different players. The Frogs had just nine interceptions in the entire 2004 campaign. Nine different Frogs have recovered a fumble this year while eight different players have combined for TCU's 12 forced fumbles. Fourteen TCU players have taken part in a sack.
In the equivalency of less than 4 1/2 games at quarterback this season, Jeff Ballard has accounted for 16 touchdowns. Ballard has passed for nine scores while his seven rushing touchdowns are tied with Robert Merrill for the team lead. Ballard has passed for two touchdowns in four of the last five games.
Over the last two games, Ballard has completed 42-of-57 passes (73.7 percent) for 521 yards with four touchdowns and just one interception. During those two contests, Ballard has also rushed for three touchdowns on his 15 carries for 87 yards. He ranks second in the Mountain West Conference in pass efficiency rating (150.5).
The TCU defense is allowing a Mountain West Conference-low 3.1 yards per carry this season. In the last two contests against non-option teams, TCU held its opponents to 91.5 yards per game rushing and 2.8 per carry.
