No. 4 TCU Looks To Cap Perfect Regular Season
11/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 23, 2009
Game #12
No. 4 TCU (11-0, 7-0) vs. New Mexico (1-10, 1-6)
Fort Worth, Texas -- Amon G. Carter Stadium (44,358)
Saturday, Nov. 28 -- Noon
Television: The Mtn. -- [Ari Wolfe (PBP), Blaine Fowler (color), Amanda Mazey (sideline), Cash Sirois (sideline)]
Radio: TCU/ISP Sports Network -- 103.3 ESPN, 88.7 KTCU, 1070 AM KNTH (Houston), GoFrogs.com (Yahoo) [Brian Estridge (PBP), John Denton (color), Sean Stilley (sideline)]
ABOUT THE GAME
*Having already clinched a share of the Mountain West Conference championship, No. 4 TCU will look to claim the outright title when it hosts New Mexico.
*TCU has its first conference title since 2005, its debut season in the MWC. The Horned Frogs have at least a share in 15 conference championships in their history.
*A win would give TCU the first 12-0 record in program history and just its second 12-win season. The 1935 national championship team was 12-1 after a 3-2 victory over LSU in the Sugar Bowl. No TCU team has ever won 12 games in a regular season.
*The Horned Frogs are 11-0 for the second time in their history and the first time since their 1938 national championship team finished with that mark.
*TCU has won 11 games for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. It's the first time since 2003 the Horned Frogs have won 11 games in the regular season.
*TCU has won 13 in a row for the nation's third-longest current winning streak (Florida 21, Texas 15). The Frogs are one of six undefeated teams in the nation.
*The Frogs have their longest winning streak since a 13-game run over the final 10 contests in 2005 and the opening three games in 2006. TCU won a school record 14 in a row over the final three games in 1937 and the 11-0 campaign in 1938.
*TCU has a 13-game home winning streak and is 55-6 in 61 home dates since 1999.
*Only one of TCU's seven Mountain West Conference victories this season have been by less than 27 points.
BEATING THE RANKED
*TCU is 3-0 against teams (BYU, Clemson, Utah) currently ranked in the top 25 with a combined victory margin of 107-45. Two of the three wins were on the road.
*The Frogs are the only team in the nation to have three wins over teams currently ranked in the top 20 of the USA Today coaches' poll.
THE SENIOR CLASS
*Thirteen TCU seniors are playing their final home game: wide receiver Ryan Christian, deep snapper Clint Gresham, defensive end Jerry Hughes, safety Corderra Hunter, quarterback Marcus Jackson, offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse, cornerback Rafael Priest, offensive tackle Nic Richmond, cornerback Nick Sanders, tailback Chris Smith, tailback Joseph Turner, linebacker Daryl Washington and offensive guard Ryan Wyatt.
*The 2009 seniors have posted a 41-9 record, leaving them one victory shy of becoming the winningest class in TCU history.
*This year's seniors are 3-0 in bowl games, 7-2 against teams from BCS automatic-qualifying conferences, 21-2 at Amon G. Carter Stadium and 24-7 in MWC games.
*The 2009 seniors have totaled six all-conference selections, seven MWC Player of the Week awards and a consensus All-American (Hughes).
*Three seniors (Priest, Richmond, Smith) have already graduated with Sanders slated to complete his degree next month. The other nine seniors will graduate in May.
LOBO TIES
*TCU head coach Gary Patterson was New Mexico's defensive coordinator in the 1996-97 campaigns.
*TCU co-offensive coordinator Jarrett Anderson played two seasons (1992-93) on the defensive line for the Lobos and is a 1993 New Mexico graduate. He was a Lobos' graduate assistant in 1994.
*TCU safeties coach Chad Glasgow was a graduate assistant at New Mexico in 1996.
SERIES NOTES
*After opening last season (Aug. 30) against each other in Albuquerque, TCU and New Mexico are now closing the 2009 regular-season campaign.
*Since beginning Mountain West Conference play in 2005, TCU has won all four meetings with New Mexico to take a 7-3 lead in a series that dates to 1991.
*The Frogs are 4-1 versus the Lobos in Fort Worth and 3-2 in Albuquerque.
*TCU has not allowed a touchdown to New Mexico in the last two meetings, winning by a combined score of 63-3.
*New Mexico's last two victories over TCU came when Gary Patterson was the Lobos' defensive coordinator - 27-7 in 1996 and 40-10 in 1997.
