TCU to hook up with No. 7 Texas
9/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2007
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FORT WORTH -- TCU will face its second straight Big 12 opponent Saturday when it travels to Austin to take on Texas for the first time since 1995, the final year of the Southwest Conference. No. 19 TCU and No. 7 Texas will meet each other as ranked teams for the first time since 1984 at 6 p.m. on FSN.
In UT, TCU is facing its highest-ranked opponent since dropping a 21-7 decision at No. 4 Nebraska in the 2001 season opener. That contest also marked the initial game in TCU's first full season with Patterson as head coach.
Dating back to the 2005 campaign, the Horned Frogs will play a Big 12 opponent for the sixth time in their last 27 games. During that stretch, the Frogs are 5-0 while allowing just 8.8 points per contest. Only Oklahoma (eight) has won more consecutive games against Big 12 foes than TCU (five). The Frogs are 9-1 in their last 10 games against teams from BCS-automatic qualifying conferences.
TCU has a nine-game winning streak, fourth-longest in the nation. In the first half of those nine contests, the Frogs have outscored the opposition 206-13.
With Gary Patterson as head coach, TCU is 37-0 when allowing 17 points or less. Overall, the Frogs have won 52 consecutive games when holding their opponent to 17-or-fewer points. The streak began after a 17-7 loss at Northwestern on Sept. 11, 1999.
THE SERIES
One of the more memorable wins in TCU football history was a 6-0 victory over No. 1 Texas in Austin in 1961. The lone score in the game was a second-quarter touchdown pass from quarterback Sonny Gibbs to Buddy Iles. Gibbs handed the ball to halfback Larry Thomas who tossed it back to Gibbs who then found Iles downfield for the score.
TCU and Texas met 81 times over the course of 99 years before the rivalry came to an end after the 1995 campaign. The Longhorns hold a 60-20-1 advantage. The first meeting was an 18-10 Texas win in Austin in 1897.
Texas has won the last three games with TCU and 27 of the past 28 meetings. The Frogs' lone win in that stretch was a 23-14 victory in Fort Worth in 1992.
Since winning 24-17 in 1967, TCU has dropped its last 14 contests in Austin.
A LOOK BACK
The last game between TCU and Texas, played on Nov. 18, 1995, saw the Longhorns hold on for a 27-19 victory before a crowd of 63,342 in Austin. TCU was at the Texas 26 with 24 seconds left before suffering a sack that resulted in a lost fumble.
The Frogs were victimized by four turnovers. Leading 20-19, Texas sealed the game on a Shon Mitchell 2-yard run with 2:08 left in the contest.
Andre Davis keyed the TCU offense with 141 yards rushing on 35 carries while adding eight receptions for 51 yards. Michael Reeder tied a TCU single-game record with four field goals, including a 23-yard effort with 11:51 remaining to pull the Frogs within 20-19. John Washington had a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown for TCU.
