NCAA YTD: 40-37 (-5.40*)
Southern Miss(-2') for 1*
I can?t figure out what TCU has going for them to overcome all they have stacked against them in this one.
GL
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
DALLAS- FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM (11/20/03):
Whoa, Nellie, we've get a barn-burner here tonight.
It's a clich??d game with clich??s on the line. But, seriously, this one really is for all the marbles.
It's for little schools like Hickory that couldn't get here, and it's the reason guys give 110 percent. It's why you play the game, and why you've gotta leave everything on the field. There is, after all, no tomorrow.
It's showtime or ... well, you get the idea.
But, in all seriousness, it just so happens that, through all the coachspeak and game-day clich??s, the No. 10 Horned Frogs really are playing a game with absolutely everything on the line. Oops, did it again.
The little private school that could is on the cusp of its first perfect season since 1938, and the only thing that stands between the Frogs and creating a serious Bowl Championship Series headache is Southern Miss. The road to the BCS goes through Hattiesburg.
Sure, hapless SMU remains, but that game hardly matches the intrigue tonight's clash offers. There's a budding rivalry, no love lost between the two teams and simply too much at stake.
Besides a possible BCS invitation and run at perfection, the Horned Frogs (10-0, 7-0 Conference USA) are playing for their first outright conference title since 1958. And this is a money game. With a victory, they can lock up a Liberty Bowl invitation and remain in consideration for a $14 million payday, maybe for playing in the Fiesta Bowl. Now, that would be the whole enchilada.
But if they lose, they get almost nothing. Southern Miss (7-3, 6-0) wins the conference title, and the BCS thrill is gone. TCU would either get the Fort Worth Bowl or GMAC Bowl and pats on the back for quite a run. It would be a loss that they can't really put behind them. If they let this one slip away or come up a little short or get caught on an off-night ... that would be a bitter pill to swallow.
With all apologies to every coach that has uttered a clich??, it all comes down to this.
"It's our last chance to prove we belong in the BCS picture and that we're a good football team," TCU quarterback Brandon Hassell said. "We've had a great season to this point, but we'd be dissappointed if we didn't finish it. This is a huge game for us."
It is, from TCU's standpoint, the granddaddy of them all, and the Frogs hope to leave Hattiesburg smelling like roses.
OK, so it was only two weeks ago when the Horned Frogs knocked off Louisville 31-28 thanks to the width of a cross bar. But this one is even bigger. Seriously.
The program hasn't had an undefeated season since winning a national championship in 1938 and hadn't had many noteworthy moments until Dennis Franchione's arrival in 1998.
It's a chance, dare we say, to do something special.
"I'd put the Southern Miss game on the same ranking as the Sun Bowl my first year," said TCU coach Gary Patterson, who was a defensive coordinator when TCU defeated Southern California 28-19 in the 1998 Sun Bowl. "That was the game that put us on the map."
Only, this one could land the Frogs on a much larger map.
For starters, the Horned Frogs are chasing BCS history. A non-BCS school has never crashed the exclusive party, and the Horned Frogs are closer than any has come before.
They just need to impress someone -- to make a statement, send a message, let the whole BCS world know they're for real.
After TCU slid two spots in the BCS standings to eighth Monday, BCS analysts concluded the only way the Horned Frogs can return to the top six and earn an automatic bid is to be bumped up in the polls.
TCU hasn't exactly scrambled up the rankings this season and didn't budge after Saturday's 43-10 win over Cincinnati.
So, basically, the Frogs have one game left to change a few minds.
"I feel like this is our last chance to prove how good we are since everyone will be watching," TCU defensive end Robert Pollard said. "Hopefully, a few people out there will see what we can do."
Of course, that's really the catch in this whole clich??d game. To get their proof, the Horned Frogs have to win the big one.
And this won't be a cakewalk. Southern Miss is the toughest opponent on their 2003 schedule, and it doesn't help that the Golden Eagles are playing at home. Since 1991, Southern Miss is 48-11 at M.M. Roberts Stadium, which leaves the Frogs between "The Rock" and a hard place.
Not helping matters much is the fact that TCU knocked off Southern Miss 37-7 last season, a loss that left a sour taste in the Golden Eagles' mouths.
It's safe to say Southern Miss would like nothing more than to take the wind out of TCU's sails.
And guess what else? That's right, throw out the records because these teams are going to go at it.
"It's a rivalry," Patterson said. "I don't think it's full of hatred because there's a lot of respect. But they want to beat us just like we want to beat them."
After all, it's all or nothing this time of year.
To the victor go the spoils.
It could be a dream come true.
And, well, you've heard it all before.
Southern Miss(-2') for 1*
I can?t figure out what TCU has going for them to overcome all they have stacked against them in this one.
GL
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
DALLAS- FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM (11/20/03):
Whoa, Nellie, we've get a barn-burner here tonight.
It's a clich??d game with clich??s on the line. But, seriously, this one really is for all the marbles.
It's for little schools like Hickory that couldn't get here, and it's the reason guys give 110 percent. It's why you play the game, and why you've gotta leave everything on the field. There is, after all, no tomorrow.
It's showtime or ... well, you get the idea.
But, in all seriousness, it just so happens that, through all the coachspeak and game-day clich??s, the No. 10 Horned Frogs really are playing a game with absolutely everything on the line. Oops, did it again.
The little private school that could is on the cusp of its first perfect season since 1938, and the only thing that stands between the Frogs and creating a serious Bowl Championship Series headache is Southern Miss. The road to the BCS goes through Hattiesburg.
Sure, hapless SMU remains, but that game hardly matches the intrigue tonight's clash offers. There's a budding rivalry, no love lost between the two teams and simply too much at stake.
Besides a possible BCS invitation and run at perfection, the Horned Frogs (10-0, 7-0 Conference USA) are playing for their first outright conference title since 1958. And this is a money game. With a victory, they can lock up a Liberty Bowl invitation and remain in consideration for a $14 million payday, maybe for playing in the Fiesta Bowl. Now, that would be the whole enchilada.
But if they lose, they get almost nothing. Southern Miss (7-3, 6-0) wins the conference title, and the BCS thrill is gone. TCU would either get the Fort Worth Bowl or GMAC Bowl and pats on the back for quite a run. It would be a loss that they can't really put behind them. If they let this one slip away or come up a little short or get caught on an off-night ... that would be a bitter pill to swallow.
With all apologies to every coach that has uttered a clich??, it all comes down to this.
"It's our last chance to prove we belong in the BCS picture and that we're a good football team," TCU quarterback Brandon Hassell said. "We've had a great season to this point, but we'd be dissappointed if we didn't finish it. This is a huge game for us."
It is, from TCU's standpoint, the granddaddy of them all, and the Frogs hope to leave Hattiesburg smelling like roses.
OK, so it was only two weeks ago when the Horned Frogs knocked off Louisville 31-28 thanks to the width of a cross bar. But this one is even bigger. Seriously.
The program hasn't had an undefeated season since winning a national championship in 1938 and hadn't had many noteworthy moments until Dennis Franchione's arrival in 1998.
It's a chance, dare we say, to do something special.
"I'd put the Southern Miss game on the same ranking as the Sun Bowl my first year," said TCU coach Gary Patterson, who was a defensive coordinator when TCU defeated Southern California 28-19 in the 1998 Sun Bowl. "That was the game that put us on the map."
Only, this one could land the Frogs on a much larger map.
For starters, the Horned Frogs are chasing BCS history. A non-BCS school has never crashed the exclusive party, and the Horned Frogs are closer than any has come before.
They just need to impress someone -- to make a statement, send a message, let the whole BCS world know they're for real.
After TCU slid two spots in the BCS standings to eighth Monday, BCS analysts concluded the only way the Horned Frogs can return to the top six and earn an automatic bid is to be bumped up in the polls.
TCU hasn't exactly scrambled up the rankings this season and didn't budge after Saturday's 43-10 win over Cincinnati.
So, basically, the Frogs have one game left to change a few minds.
"I feel like this is our last chance to prove how good we are since everyone will be watching," TCU defensive end Robert Pollard said. "Hopefully, a few people out there will see what we can do."
Of course, that's really the catch in this whole clich??d game. To get their proof, the Horned Frogs have to win the big one.
And this won't be a cakewalk. Southern Miss is the toughest opponent on their 2003 schedule, and it doesn't help that the Golden Eagles are playing at home. Since 1991, Southern Miss is 48-11 at M.M. Roberts Stadium, which leaves the Frogs between "The Rock" and a hard place.
Not helping matters much is the fact that TCU knocked off Southern Miss 37-7 last season, a loss that left a sour taste in the Golden Eagles' mouths.
It's safe to say Southern Miss would like nothing more than to take the wind out of TCU's sails.
And guess what else? That's right, throw out the records because these teams are going to go at it.
"It's a rivalry," Patterson said. "I don't think it's full of hatred because there's a lot of respect. But they want to beat us just like we want to beat them."
After all, it's all or nothing this time of year.
To the victor go the spoils.
It could be a dream come true.
And, well, you've heard it all before.
