Horned Frogs win big, but at a price
By Danny Gillham
Sports Editor

An announced crowd of 26,612 endured 50-degree weather to watch the Frogs climb into the driver’s seat of the Conference USA Championship race.

On the eve of Halloween, tricks and treats could be found at Amon Carter Stadium, as TCU defeated Southern Miss 37-7 Wednesday night.

The football played tricks on the Golden Eagles, a treat for the Frogs.

Southern Miss quarterback Dustin Almond had numerous overthrows, finishing the game 9-of-27 for 110 yards. His lone moment of real success came on a 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marvin Young in the third quarter, and Young did the majority of the work.

The first treat for TCU came in the second quarter when a punt by Frog senior Joey Biasatti hit Alex Ray in the leg and was recovered by senior Kevin Brown on the yard line. The recovery rejuvenated the drive, eventually turning into a 15-yard touchdown scamper by true freshman Lonta Hobbs to put the Frogs up 10-0.

The team received another treat when Southern Miss running back Derrick Nix left the game late in the second quarter by reaggravating a previous ankle injury. Nix (arguably USM’s best offensive threat) had 48 yards on nine carries when he left the game, and the Golden Eagles were never able to get anything going with replacement back Anthony Harris.

Head coach Gary Patterson said the Frog defense was able to take advantage of USM’s offensive line when Nix left.

“We talked about them being a good run offensive line,” Patterson said. “When they lost Derrick Nix, all of a sudden they didn’t become impressive.”

This was hardly the case for Hobbs and the Frog rushing attack. Hobbs had 123 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns, all single-game highs in his brief career.

Senior quarterback Sean Stilley said he was astonished with Hobbs’ performance.

“It’s amazing to see someone that young come out a high school that small and contribute so much to a program,” Stilley said. “Here he is on national TV against an almost-ranked team, and helped give us a big time win.”

When Almond connected with Young to cut the score to 13-7, it suddenly became a ballgame again, but that feeling didn’t last very long.

TCU answered with a 48-yard field goal by Nick Browne to make the score 16-7. On USM’s first play from scrimmage afterwards, senior safety Jared Smitherman intercepted an Almond pass for a 37-yard touchdown. The Frogs never looked back.

But despite all the treats the Frogs were receiving, a bad and very serious trick happened to them in the third quarter.

While dropping back to pass in the third quarter, quarterback Tye Gunn turned awkwardly on his knee and immediately went down. Although the exact diagnosis of his injury is not known, Patterson said it is almost certain that Gunn will be lost for the season. He was replaced by Stilley, who was 2-of-2 passing in the game.

Despite the fact that the team now sits at the top of the conference at 3-1, Patterson said the team is not getting ahead of themselves.

“We got a lot of football left to play,” he said. “I already told them in the locker room, have fun tonight — but we’re gonna get ready for (Tulane). We’ve worked too hard to overlook anybody and move forward.”

Danny Gillham