Crucial Mountain West clash pits Falcons against Horned Frogs

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11/19/2008 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the possibility of earning a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season title, the 15th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs hit the field in Fort Worth this weekend against the Air Force Falcons.

TCU, which needs a BYU win over Utah this weekend in order to be able to vie for the league title, is shooting for another 10-win season, which would be its the third in the last four years. The Frogs enter this week tied with the Cougars for second place in the MWC standings with a record of 6-1 after the team fell to Utah back on November 6th by a final of 13-10 in Salt Lake City. The setback snapped a five-game win streak by TCU, with the only other loss this season coming against second-ranked Oklahoma on the road at the end of September.

As for the Falcons, they too have had a very successful season with eight wins in 11 opportunities already. Like the Horned Frogs, Air Force also had a five- game win streak halted in its last game, a 38-24 defeat at the hands of 16th- ranked BYU. Despite the loss, the academy is still a solid 5-2 in league play and is more than qualified to continue the season after this meeting with the Horned Frogs.

Last year, TCU was tripped up by the Falcons in the team's conference opener in early September by a score of 20-17. However, even with the setback the Frogs are still ahead in the series by a count of 4-2-1.

The Falcons fell behind by 10 points early in the second quarter and never recovered against BYU last week. Tim Jefferson deferred to the running game as it produced 323 yards and three touchdowns on 51 attempts, with the signal- caller converting 12-of-20 passes for 98 yards and an interception in the losing effort. Once again the Falcons had a different leader atop the rushing list as Todd Newell took the honors with his 116 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries.

Jefferson, who has stepped in for Shea Smith at the quarterback position, has completed almost 60 percent of his passes for five touchdowns and just three interceptions. But as well as Jefferson has played this season, the fact remains that this is a one-dimensional offense with a rushing attack that is averaging 279.7 ypg, ranking them fourth in the entire nation this week. Because of the triple-option opponents have had trouble catching Jefferson in the backfield, which means the team's 0.18 sacks allowed per game is the top mark in all of college football.

Like so many teams that have faced the Cougars this season, Air Force could not keep both Harvey Unga and Max Hall under control. The running back gained 88 yards and scored on a pair of runs, while Hall completed 28-of-37 passes for 354 yards and two scores. While the Falcons did manage to sack Hall three times and intercept him once, it wasn't nearly enough to derail the BYU scoring machine for a meaningful amount of time. Although, Chris Thomas tried his best to make it happen by posting a game-high 17 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and a fumble recovery.

Thomas, who is second on the team in total tackles overall with his 81 stops, is one of four players on the defense with at least three sacks in 2008. Atop the list is Jake Paulson who not only leads the academy with 8.5 sacks in 11 games, he also paces the group overall with his 14 TFLs and has a safety to show for his strong push at the point of attack. As a group the Falcons are ranked second in the conference and 20th in the nation this week with 2.64 sacks per game, a number that figures heavily into how and why the squad ranks 22nd in scoring defense with 19.2 ppg allowed.

A candidate for the Bear Bryant Award as the top head coach in college football, Gary Patterson is well aware of what this game means to the program at TCU. "It's a big game for our seniors, this university and my staff. Everybody involved with this team owes them a lot. We need to understand that these guys have won a lot of football games." It has been a team effort in every sense of the word for the Frogs who have been dazzling in the running game this season.

Like the Falcons, TCU has a wealth of players able to take the ball, which is why the numbers are spread across so many of them. Joseph Turner may lead the program with his 444 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, but that's only a part of the team's 2,405 yards and 33 TDs rushing in 2008. Quarterback Andy Dalton has been the field director for much of the campaign and when needed has come up with strong numbers in the passing game as well. Dalton is averaging 191.6 ypg and has nine TDs in order to keep defenses honest.

"For a team that people say runs the triple option, they have thrown for nine touchdowns," coach Patterson said of the Air Force offense. "You've got to be very careful in how you handle them and what you do." The coach is certainly giving the Falcons a load of credit for how they've tried to adapt their offense, but one has to remember that as much as the academy has changed under new leadership, the Horned Frogs are still a squad that have a huge successful defense that can make plays one snap after another.

Take away the Oklahoma game and no opponent has scored more than two touchdowns against this group and seven of them have been held to a touchdown or less. With that in mind, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Horned Frogs are first in the nation in run defense (39.5 ypg), first in total defense (220.0 ypg) and third in scoring defense (11.0 ppg). The unit is first in the country in sacks (3.64) and eighth in TFLs (8.09) per game, thanks in large part to Jerry Hughes who is first in the nation with 14 total sacks and has been named to the Hendricks Award Watch List as a result.