Mountain West Connection: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Around SBN: SEC Basketball at the Half

TCU Shuts Out UNLV 41-0 for Best Start since 2003

Photo

More photos » Andrew Shurtleff - AP


 

TCU did not experience any let down a week after pummeling BYU and moving up to six in the BCS standings. No surprise that the Horned Frog rushing game took off with 392 yards which was 200 yards over their per game average.  The running game was not dominated by any single player the leader was freshman Ed Wesley who had 86 yards on seven carries, and then there were six other backs who had 25 or more yards. 

UNLV wow, were they bad their leading rusher was back up QB Mark Clausen who finished with 67 yards which included a 40 yard run.  Offensively UNLV was inept -- and that is nice -- they managed 173 total yards and top WR Ryan Wolfe had his worst game of the season with five catches for 25 yards.

UNLV head coach Mike Sanford on the TCU defense:

"This is by-far the best defense we’ve faced all season. We were obviously not productive on offense, and we’ve got to be able to score points and move the ball. We didn’t convert on third downs, and you have got to be able to go that."

Star-divide

Not productive is being kind, the offense was just plain bad.  Third down converison was just one of the many problems as they were 3/14 on third down attempts, seven first downs, 1.8 yards per pass attempt, 4.7 per completion, should I continue.

This is the last time I am mentioning this, but TCU's offense is for real and they are not just scoring points because of defense returns, or field position from defensive stops.  This game Andy Dalton passed for a modest 188 and three scores, but the rushing attack was just under 392. Their offense averaged 8.3 yards per play which is over two yards then their normal average and over one yard then the national leader per game in that category.

This was TCU's first shut out since a 37-0 win over New Mexico on November 3, 2007 and It was TCU's sixth shutout victory at home since 2003, essentially one a year.  A surprising stat was that TCU did not record a sack in this game which is only the second time this year that happened; the other was the Clemson game.

TCU looks to still be in the drivers seat for a BCS bowl berth with the win.  Boise State did win 45-7 over San Jose State, but that win could bring Boise closer since the Jeff Sagarin ratings have San Jose State's strength of schedule at seven.

All, TCU can do is take it one game at a time, and with a quality game against Utah left on the schedule they should be fine if they keep winning.

0 recs  |  Comment 1 comment  |  Add comment |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

tcu is peaking at the right time just like texas

they will go 12-0 and i expect boise state and maybe oregon to jump them tomorrow. when they play and beat utah the utes might be as high as 12 in bcs standings and i think tcu will end up 4th or 5th when the final bcs standings come out. i still think oregon could lose they have oregon state, stanford and ? in pac -ten.

by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 31, 2009 9:17 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs


User Tools

Welcome to the Mountain West Connection we are dedicated to all things MWC. For Convenience follow us @ MWCConnection via twitter.
Start posting on Mountain West Connection »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

6061-1_1__small
UNLV's Post Season Chances
6061-1_1__small
Mid-Conference Season Evaluations - UNLV
6061-1_1__small
Mid-Conference Season Evaluations - BYU
6061-1_1__small
Mid-Conference Season Evaluations - New Mexico
6061-1_1__small
Mid-Conference Season Evaluations - SDSU
Death-clutch-brock-lesnar-ufc100-tshirt_small
I was reading something on espn college football section.
Small
Aztecs Recap following loss to #13 BYU (Story & Video)
6061-1_1__small
Would the Big 12 invite BYU if the Big 10 Expanded?
6061-1_1__small
MWC Hoops
Death-clutch-brock-lesnar-ufc100-tshirt_small
gary patterson is actually one of the coaches usc is looking at.

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >


Managers

Jer_small Jeremy Mauss

Authors

Cam_animal_small bhsmarine

Aztec_small Sam (sdsuaztec4)

S6300955_small Michael Rueckert

Sylvester_beast_small BrysonCutla

Enp_road_small The Road

Dave_small Fooch

Official Partner of CBS Sports