By Joel Anderson staff reporter Horned Frog fans began chants of "over-rated" shortly after TCU senior quarterback Patrick Batteaux tossed a spiral to senior receiver Mike Scarborough in the corner of the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown and 16-point advantage midway through the second quarter. Alas, he who laughs last, laughs best. The then No. 15-ranked Arizona Wildcats went into the locker room at halftime mere kittens, but re-emerged as mighty lions, overcoming a 25-7 third quarter deficit to a 35-31 victory over the Horned Frogs. "We wanted to beat them very badly," said junior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson, who finished the game with 170 yards on 28 carries. "We made too many mistakes. Both ballclubs had mistakes. Arizona just got over theirs." For head coach Dennis Franchione, coming close to nationally-ranked opponents but succumbing in the end will no longer earn a cigar. "I don't know if I've found a way to gauge losing," Franchione said disdainfully. "I don't like the taste of it." Instead of celebrating a major upset of a nationally-ranked opponent, the Horned Frogs were left with a series of "what-ifs?" in the wake of their loss to Arizona. What if Wildcat receiver Dennis Northcutt had missed the team bus to Amon Carter Stadium? Northcutt finished with a career-high 257 yards on 10 receptions for three touchdowns, and seemingly found every crease and gap in TCU's coverage. Best example: With just over two minutes left in the game and Arizona down by three points, Wildcats quarterback Keith Smith spots Northcutt amid five TCU defenders. No one is within five yards of the Wildcats' offensive weapon of choice. Smith rifles the ball through coverage to a waiting Northcutt, who sprints into the end zone unmolested for the game-winning touchdown. "I was disappointed with our pass coverage at times," Franchione said. "I thought we got too soft at the end of the game." What if Franchione decided to juice up the Frogs' moribund passing game by inserting hotshot freshman quarterback Casey Printers? Head coach Dennis Franchione is standing firm behind the man that lead him to the last season's promised land - in this case, a Sun Bowl victory over Southern Cal - despite a 50-yard passing performance by Batteaux. "This team believes in Patrick Batteaux," Franchione said. "But Pat didn't hold his spot in the pocket well. He moved himself into trouble, which is kind of what he did in the first game of last year. "Besides, this would have been a difficult game for Casey. We made a conscious effort to not play more first-year kids than necessary in the first game." What if Franchione had elected to go for the fourth-and-one at the TCU 49-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, instead of punting the ball away to Arizona, who scored the game's final touchdown on the ensuing possession? "You would like to think you can make fourth-and-inches," Franchione said. "But the smart play is to punt. It probably wasn't a fan favorite, but the roast on me would have been much bigger if we had went for it and missed." What if Horned Frogs' freshman receiver Terran Williams had come up with the spectacular diving grab at the Arizona 15-yard line that instead fell incomplete with 1:14 to go in the game? "If we made one more catch, we may have been celebrating our victory today," Franchione said. "It was a tough catch, but a catchable catch." What if TCU hadn't done their best impersonation of the renegade Miami Hurricanes' of old, and racked up the second-highest penalty total (16 for 98 yards) in school history? "We hurt ourselves so badly with several penalties tonight," Franchione said. The penalty that probably hurt the most was the third quarter personal foul against senior defensive tackle J.W. Wilson. Not only was the line's eldest member ejected from the game, but the penalty breathed life into the Wildcat offense. One play later, Arizona quarterback Ortege Jenkins found tight end Brandon Manumaleuna in the end zone to pull the Wildcats within five points. Despite the questions and laments following the Horned Frogs' tough loss, Franchione said although he was disappointed, he was pleased with the team's overall performance. "I think we'll bounce back," he said. "We played a good team and played a pretty good game. They're a top 25 team and we played them right to the end."
James Zwilling Skiff staff Following weeks of concentration on their defensive skills, the TCU men's soccer team accomplished their primary goal of limiting their opponents offensive opportunities. The Horned Frogs opened their season Friday with a 0-0 tie versus the University of Wisconsin Badgers, followed by a 0-1 defeat against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday. The Wisconsin Badgers proved to be an offensive threat early on in the matchup taking 16 shots and nine corner kicks in the game. The defense, led by sophomores Josh Rife, Tyler Sommer Davis Bland and junior Mike Martinhowever, managed to hold the Badgers scoreless for the entire 120 minutes of play. Junior goal keeper Ian Keate tallied four saves for the Frogs resulting in a shut out during regulation play. Keate was rewarded for his efforts by earning defensive most valuable player and goal keeper of the tournament. "You play as a team more confidently knowing your goal keeper doesn't allow goals," assistant coach Blake Amos said. "Ian gives us that confindence." Despite holding the Badgers scoreless during regulation, the Frogs entered overtime disappointed. "Heading into overtime, we were mentally frustrated that we weren't able to win in regulation time," Amos said. The team, still adjusting to a young and relatively inexperienced group of players, lacked the leadership of junior forwards Nic Finn and Aaron Greishaber who are yet to reach a 100-percent health rating after both undergoing surgery in the off season. However, freshmen center back Adam Williams adjusted well in his first game with the Frogs. "We were very pleased with Adam's playing ability," Amos said. "He had a really strong tournament." The game ended when a 40-yard free kick by the Horned Frogs sailed over the goal. TCU is going into the second game of the season, confident, having held the Badgers, former Big 10 champions, scoreless in their first game. "We felt okay heading into the game (against UW-Madison) because we thought that Wisconsin was the tougher game," Amos said. "We were able to overcome the first-game jitters in that game, so we felt we could win." Keate made five saves for the team but was unable to stop UW-Milwaukee's Byron Huson from scoring four minutes into overtime play. The coaches said the team will look to improve their confidence by spending some time working on the offense over the next few weeks. "The first key to the season is to not allow goals," Amos said. "That is what we have been working on, and I think it showed. The next step is to increase goal scoring." The Horned Frogs will face off against St. Mary's (Texas) at 4 p.m. today at the TCU Soccer Complex in their first home game of the season. C-USA might break up 'The Three' TCU, SMU and Rice may part company with conference By Matt Stiver staff reporter TCU, SMU and Rice spent decades as bunkmates in the old Southwest Conference. Each won a SWC championship. Each won a Cotton Bowl.And even when the SWC broke up, "The Three" pointed their ships in the same direction. When the Western Athletic Conference decided to expand after the 1995 football season, TCU, SMU and Rice were selected (along with a few other schools) to join. Even when eight schools defected from the WAC last year, TCU, SMU and Rice stayed put. This package proved very attractive to other conferences. WAC commissioner Karl Benson said he felt this when the WAC was looking to expand. "Their history and traditions in the SWC [were important]," Benson said. "Their names and histories are prominent. They also play in metropolitan areas." Like a package deal, "The Three" went seemingly bound together for decades more. But as Bob Dylan once wrote, times they are a changin'. With rumors flying about TCU and SMU joining Conference USA, the triumvirate of TCU, SMU and Rice may be finished. Chancellor Michael Ferrari said the school has had informal conversations and will continue to have more formal discussions. SMU confirmed discussions as well. Rice has been, well, rather silent about the whole thing. Provost William Koehler said he does not know why TCU and SMU have been mentioned, but not Rice. "Why TCU and SMU's names have come up and not some other institution, heck, I just don't know," Koehler said. "I don't have any ideas." Athletic Director Eric Hyman said he is unaware of where Rice currently stands. "I don't know the thinking behind Conference USA as far as Rice is concerned," Hyman said. "We are involved in the discussions as far as TCU is concerned. We haven't brought up other institutions." Conference USA has come along and might attempt to sever the connection between "The Three." Benson said he thinks he knows why. "I think the connection (between "The Three") is more the connector between TCU and SMU," Benson said. "By being linked from the same metropolitan area and media center, the chances of the two schools delivering the Dallas/Fort Worth market is greater than Rice delivering the Houston market. Despite smaller enrollments and a smaller alumni base, when packaged, (TCU and SMU) have a better chance than Rice in Houston." This may be the end of the road for TCU, SMU and Rice. The three amigos, the great triumvirate, might take separate paths but the tradition once shared both in the SWC and WAC will not be forgotten. Volley Frogs lose four games, gain experience
By Paul Freelend Skiff Staff With games against such NCAA powerhouses as Northern Iowa, San Jose State and Hawai'i on their schedule, the TCU volleyball team has not joined the "too much, too soon" philosophy. The Volley Frogs faced four Division I opponents at the Oregon State Volleyball Showcase and lost all four matches. They did, however, bring back positive experiences from their tournament in the Great Northwest. "This weekend, I would say, we played the best volleyball in the history of our program," head coach Sandy Troudt said. "I hate losing and the team does, too, but they understand what we have to do in order to get better."
"Not having Jill kind of bothered us at the start," Troudt said. "We started to mount a comeback but without Jill's leadership it just fell short." Northern Iowa and TCU traded points throughout the second game but the Panthers took that game 14-16 and swept the final game 0-15. "We had a young team on the floor and couldn't handle Northern Iowa coming out of the break and going for the throat," Troudt said. Sophomore outside hitter Marci King led the Volley Frogs' attack with 11 kills while freshman outside hitter Steph Watson ended the game with 10 kills. TCU's second match was Friday versus the host school Oregon State Beavers. The Volley Frogs played three close games but fell 12-15, 13-15, 13-15. "The key thing about the Oregon State match was that all three games were good with the last two played point for point," Troudt said. The Volley Frogs played the Portland State Vikings Saturday in the third game of the tournament. TCU dropped the first two games 8-15 and 12-15, but won the next two games 15-6 and 15-11. "Basically the spark for games three and four were coach inspired," Troudt said. "The players were frustrated too, though, and they turned the rest of the game around." The Vikings won the fifth game 15-12. "Portland State lost both games on Friday as well but they just came out hot at the start of the match, and we just couldn't handle them," Troudt said. Sophomore setter Lindsay Hayes headed the Volley Frogs' attack with 57 set assists. Sophomore middle blocker Allison Lynch had 18 kills while King added 13, Pape added 12 and sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Sebastian added 11 kills. TCU's final match of the afternoon was against the Missouri Tigers. "Missouri is physical but they're young, just like us," Troudt said. "We definitely should've played a lot better." The Tigers took the first two games 12-15 and 4-15 before the Volley Frogs rallied and won game three. Missouri won the fourth game, 9-15. Watson led the way with a career-high 22 kills and Lynch provided 15 kills for TCU. "Our strength is in our younger kids, and we'll ride the rollercoaster because of it," Troudt said. Despite emerging from the tournament with a 1-4 record, Troudt feels that the experience gained from the weekend will outweigh the negatives. "They just picked us apart, and that will help us when the WAC season rolls around," Troudt said. In order for TCU to start winning the close games, Troudt said that they need to overcome their inexperience. "Winning close games is just a matter of learning how to finish," Troudt said. The Volley Frogs will open play at the Rickel Center Wednesday night, against the Baylor Bears, who enter 5-0. "We are very pumped to be playing at home against Baylor," Troudt said. "They deserve to be 5-0. It's going to be a fun match and, hey, there's no place like home." |
The Volley Frogs opened the tournament against defending
Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA Tournament participant Northern Iowa.
Just prior to the team's warm-up, senior outside hitter Jill Pape was pulled
from the lineup due to soreness in her right knee.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |