Thursday NCAA: TCU (9-1, 6-0 Mountain West) at Utah (9-0, 5-0)
Arguably the most important game of the college football weekend outside of Oklahoma State-Texas Tech (OK, maybe LSU-Alabama, too) takes place Thursday night in Salt Lake City when No. 10 Utah and No. 11 TCU meet in a BCS bowl elimination game.
Despite Utah being higher ranked in the polls and in the BCS standings (eighth to TCU’s 12th), the Utes are 2-point home underdogs on WagerWeb.com – mainly because voters remember the beatdown that TCU put on top-10 BYU a few weeks ago.
TCU can clinch at least a share of its first Mountain West title since 2005 with a victory, one that almost assuredly clinch a BCS bowl berth barring an upset loss to Air Force in two weeks. Utah, meanwhile, still has two games remaining, including a dangerous matchup against rival BYU.
The Frogs lost 35-10 to Oklahoma this season but haven’t been challenged otherwise. They have won their past five games since by an average of 28.4 points. TCU allows allowing 10.8 points a game, No. 3 in the country, and its defense ranks second nationally, giving up 214.5 yards. It also has the best run defense, allowing only 38.9 yards, and most sacks in the nation with 38.
Oh, and here’s what you would definitely call a trend: TCU has won 65 consecutive games when holding opponents to 17 points or less.
Frogs QB Andy Dalton also has come on, passing for nine touchdowns and no interceptions in the last three games. As a redshirt freshman, Dalton threw four interceptions in TCU’s 27-20 loss to Utah last year.
The Utes, who have won nine straight at home, are No. 20 in the nation in scoring, averaging 36.1 per game, and No. 30 in rushing, averaging 154.0 yards a game, having rushed for 520 total yards in the past two games.
Dual-threat QB Brian Johnson has thrown for 1,820 yards and 14 TDs, and the Utes have a good two-pronged running attack in Darrell Mack (101 carries, 465 yards) and Matt Asiata (102 carries, 531 yards).
Their defense is also among the nation’s best, ranking No. 7 in the country by surrendering only 266.2 yards per game.
Utah leads the all-time series with TCU, 4-1, and hasn’t lost at home in two games vs. the Frogs. The Utes also are 4-0 all-time in games in which both they and their foe were ranked in the top 25.
TCU coach Gary Patterson said his team is already “giddy” about Thursday’s game, which means there’s no extra motivation or pep talks needed.
“We know they have good athletes and they’re going to be real physical,” Patterson said. “We’re just going to try to match them.”
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