Horned Frog practice focuses on Iowa State
12/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 10, 2005
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The Mountain West Conference champion and 14th-ranked TCU football team held a 90-minute practice Saturday with its focus turning to Iowa State, the Dec. 31 opponent in the EV1.net Houston Bowl.TCU will be taking on its second Big 12 opponent of the season. The Horned Frogs opened the campaign with a 17-10 win at Oklahoma.
Iowa State was the first opponent that Frog coach Gary Patterson faced in his TCU tenure. The Frogs and Cyclones last met in the 1998 season opener for both teams with Patterson in his first year as the TCU defensive coordinator. The Frogs used a 17-point fourth quarter to rally for a 31-21 victory.
TCU holds a 2-0 series lead over Iowa State. The lone other contest between the teams was a 27-10 Frog victory in the 1995 season opener in Fort Worth.
"There are a lot of similarities between our offense and theirs," Patterson said. "There's a lot of carryover. To me, Iowa State is a 10-1 team (the Cyclones are 7-4 with three of their losses coming in overtime). We've got a lot of work to do."
The Frogs will practice at 3:45 p.m. Sunday before breaking for final exams. TCU will then return to the field Friday.
"We're just trying to get back into playing shape," Patterson said. "We did a two-minute drill at the end and we'll do it again tomorrow. It's kind of like a conditioning drill.
"When you get back on the field, the defense is usually ahead and the offense has to catch up. Right up to game time, we'll be doing some good-on-good to make sure we get that kind of work."
Ticket information for the EV1.net Houston Bowl is available on the Horned Frogs' web site (www.gofrogs.com) or by calling (817) 257-FROG.
