One if by air, won if by land
Frogs approach Navy with care

By Danny Horne
sports editor

Traveling to Annapolis, Md., to play a winless United States Naval Academy coming off a 48-7 loss at Boston College, TCU should be brimming with over-confidence.

Not so.

The 16th-ranked Horned Frogs are taking the Middies seriously, senior wide receiver Cedric James said.
“We haven’t taken any lazy steps in practice,” James said. “You hear people say all the time that college football is unpredictable. It would hurt us way too much to take them lightly and have something bad happen.

“That doesn’t mean we don’t go in there with a lot of confidence, but we approach every game the same way.”

Offensively, Navy has managed just 26 points for the season in three games, an average of 8.7 points a game. Defensively, TCU has given up just 27 points in three games, an average of nine points a game.
Head coach Dennis Franchione said the key to getting the best of the Navy offense is to keep them off the field.

David Dunai/CO-PHOTO EDITOR Arkansas State quarterback Cleo Lemon tries to elude junior defensive end Joe Hill last Saturday. The TCU defensive line has accounted for 17.5 sacks through the first three games.

“They like to stay on the field and control the ball,” Franchione said. “We can’t allow them to keep control of the clock. If they sustain a couple of long early drives in the first quarter and we go three-and-out, it’ll be the end of the first quarter and we’ll have run just three plays and accomplished very little. So, our offense will have to be productive.”

Navy senior quarterback Brian Broadwater sat out last week with a fractured larynx, but reports from Navy say he should be ready to play on Saturday.

Franchione said the Midshipmen are a much better football team with Broadwater on the field.

“Broadwater is significantly better than (junior Ed) Malinowski,” Franchione said. “He’s significantly faster and a better passer. Offensively their problems come down to execution and turnovers.”

No matter who plays quarterback for the Middies, something has to stop the Horned Frog offense from scoring, something no team has been able to do thus far.

Franchione said the Navy defense hasn’t been impressive this season.

“Defensively, on paper, Navy isn’t physically imposing,” he said. “They play good team (defense at times). Their (defensive) success is based on 11 guys covering 11 guys.”

Through three games, Navy’s 11 guys have not done a good job of covering the opponent’s 11 guys. Teams have averaged 35 points a game and almost 450 yards a game. Last Saturday, Boston College gained 625 total yards of offense.

James said the TCU offense is capable of putting up those kinds of offensive numbers every week.
“We haven’t played our best game yet,” he said. “If we execute right, we should be able to put up 50 points against anyone.”

Danny Horne
bravestcu3116@mindspring.com

by Chris Ray
skiff staff

Head women’s tennis coach Roland Ingram doesn’t think about what he has lost.

Instead, he looks to the season ahead and the young players he has recruited to make a run at the Western Athletic Conference Championships.

Key losses to the women’s tennis program have resulted in one of the youngest teams Ingram has ever coached. Seven freshmen highlight this roster along with two sophomores and one junior.

Ingram said the youth is an asset to his program rather than a setback.

“These girls wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think they could compete,” Ingram said. “Despite their age and college experience they have shown that they can compete.”

Some of the key losses were the leaders of last years WAC championship team, Lucie Dvorakova and Daria Zoldakova, also known as “The Euro Duo.”

“They led this team and were consistent in their play, especially in doubles action,” Ingram said. “They will be missed but all is not lost. We are looking to make it right back to where we were last year.”

The women’s tennis team hosted its annual fall tournament September 22 and 23 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The tournament went to benefit the National Breast Cancer Association.

The Frogs won all of their first round singles matches. In round two of singles play, they took seven of eight matches. In doubles, TCU won two matches in the opening round and two in the finals round.
In the first round, TCU lost one set out of its 10 matches. Freshmen Katrin Garber, Saber Pierce, Paty Aburto, Karolina Roubickova, Sandhya Kanury and Rebecca Reynolds all picked up straight-set victories while freshman Emily Waters lost one set in her win.

Ingram said he was pleased with how the freshmen came out to play in the opening weekend of the season.
“The freshmen played to the top of their games and I couldn’t be more proud,” Ingram said. “You work and work and here is where it pays off in the season.”

Hillary Morgan/SKIFF STAFF The TCU women’s tennis team opened the 2000-2001 season with seven freshmen, two sophomores and one junior on the roster. The Frogs are playing in the Rice Tournament in Houston this weekend, with play starting today.

In round two, juniors Leoni Weirich and Rosa Perez and Gaber picked up wins in the top three spots for the Frogs. Other wins came from Pierce, Aburto, Kanury and Reynolds. Sophomore Brenna Shackelford accounted for the Frogs’ only loss in round two.

In the finals of singles play at the fall tournament, TCU picked up five wins in eight matches.

“Our play was good for the first match of the year and I like our chances as a team,” Ingram said.

The Frogs showed that despite their young age and lack of senior leadership, they can still compete. Ingram said he wants to make it back to the WAC championship and eventually the NCAA Regional where they finished the season last year.

“I like our chances,” Ingram said. “I think we will surprise a lot of people in the year to come.”

Chris Ray
jcray@student.tcu.edu

by Matt Welnack
skiff staff

Cedric James is all alone on the field.

His eyes are trained on the ball and his hands are ready. The only thing between him and a 70-yard touchdown catch is a lack of concentration.

James, a senior wide receiver, has learned to focus his efforts now. He is a tough, physical receiver who, in the past, has been plagued by injuries and a lack of concentration. But this season, James has put together three solid games and has drawn praise from his coaches.

“Right now, we feel really good about the things that Cedric has done,” wide receivers coach Kenith Pope said. “You expect a lot out of your seniors and up to this point, he has done everything that we have asked of him.”

James said he is pleased with how his season has begun.

“I can say at least this much, I’ve started this season off much better than last year,” he said. “I feel like I can do much more for this team.”

Pope said because James is a senior it has helped him turn a productive off-season into a successful fall season.

“He’s an older player and he’s got something to prove to himself and to his team,” Pope said. “He comes out to the field everyday and works like he is trying to make the team. He’s coming out every day trying to make something positive happen.”

James is coming off a season where he only caught four passes for 51 yards. But he has caught four passes for 56 yards and one touchdown through three games this season with one touchdown. The 6-2, 200-pound receiver has also returned two kickoffs for 48 yards this season.

“I’ve had some confidence problems which have affected my game,” James said. “But this year is all or nothing, and nothing is going to stop me.”

James said he and head coach Dennis Franchione have had one-on-one talks about his focus and what he needs to do to be successful.

Hillary Morgan/SKIFF STAFF Senior wide receiver Cedric James (13) and sophomore wide receiver LaTarence Dunbar (3) work on blocking drills in practice. James has four receptions for 56 yards this season.

“He would tell me that I would put in a lot of work in practice and he wants me to display that in a game,” James said.

In the opening game against Nevada this season, James displayed some of that hard work when he hauled in a tough 33-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Casey Printers.

“After that catch, I felt like nobody could hold me,” James said. “I was ready to make another play.”
Pope was also impressed with James’ acrobatic catch.

“That was really a tough catch in the fact that he had great concentration and great focus,” Pope said. “Here’s a guy going out on the field with a defender hanging on his shoulder pads. He maintained control of the football, which in my opinion was really a tough, tough catch to make.

“He wanted to make the play and he made the play.”

While that was James’ only catch for the day, he made several key blocks for senior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson that allowed him to score.

James said he takes pride in doing the little things for the team.

“My main goal is to be an all-around, big, physical-type receiver,” James said. “Last year we had one of the top running teams in the nation and coaches give receivers some of the credit.

“I get just as excited making a big block for LT as I do making a big catch,” he said.

He said one of his personal goals this season is to be named the team’s offensive Most Valuable Player after a game. But James said he is happy as long as TCU is winning.

“We’re winning, and people on the outside are telling me that I am doing well, so I’m satisfied,” he said. “But I always think there is room for more. I can do more for the team.”

Matt Welnack
m.g.welnack@student.tcu.edu

Despite being 3-0 and having the fifth best defense in the country, head coach Dennis Franchione said he’s not completely satisfied.

“I don’t think we’ve played our best game yet,” he said. “I know we played solid against Arkansas State, but I know we can be better.”

TCU beat ASU 52-3 last Saturday and held the Indians’ offense to 151 yards. Sophomore quarterback Casey Printers threw for 204 yards and three touchdowns. The performance was easily his best of the season.

Still, Franchione said there is always room to improve somewhere.

“There is no area where we can’t be better,” Franchione said. “We missed 14 tackles last weekend. That’s a lot for us. We had six balls touch our hands defensively and only two were caught.”

Wide receiver core no longer in question

When the season opened, TCU was facing questions in its receiving core, but Franchione said those questions have been answered.

“We’re getting to the point where we’ve got a group of receivers where the defense can’t key on just one,” Franchione said.

Sophomore LaTarence Dunbar leads the TCU receivers with five catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Cedric James is off to the best start of his career with four catches for 56 yards and one touchdown.

Surprise production

Junior fullback George Layne has put up the best numbers of his career through the first three games this season. Layne has rushed 12 times this season for 88 yards and two touchdowns. He also has two catches for 55 yards and one touchdown.

Franchione said his role probably won’t change much, though.

“The more consistent he plays, the more chances he might get,” Franchione said.

by Kelly Morris
skiff staff

After finishing its non-conference play with a record of 4-3, the men’s soccer team gets ready to play two games in the 94-year-old Missouri Valley Conference, the oldest athletic conference west of the Mississippi River.

They will face-off against Eastern Illinois today in Charleston, Ill., and Bradley Oct. 1 in Peoria, Ill.
“The Panthers are undefeated and are a very high scoring team,” sophomore midfielder Dustin Sitar said. “Our first goal will be to shut them down defensively.”

Joining the Frogs this year in the MVC are Belmont University, Tulsa and Southern Methodist. Of the 11 teams in the conference, four are nationally ranked.

Because TCU has only played against SMU and Tulsa before the start of this season, the players are uncertain about what awaits them.

“We are unsure going into the MVC conference play,” Sitar said. “This weekend will be very telling because it will give us an idea of how we’re going to do this year in the conference.”

After a rough start to the season, sophomore defender Todd Bates is looking at the first game of MVC play as the true start of his season.

“We treat our non-conference games as preseason,” Bates said. “We’ve had some eye-opening games, but our losses have refocused us. We are playing in a really challenging conference, but we are ready for the task.

“Learning from our non-conference play, we (will go) into our first game of conference (play) on the right page with the right attitude.”

To prepare for their more aggressive and larger opponents, Sitar said the team is turning it up a notch at practice.
“Since we’ve heard that the conference is more physical, we are simulating in practice the type of play we expect to see,” Sitar said. “Because conference games are more intense and there is more on the line, we have been training a lot harder.”

Sophomore midfielder Nick Browne said SMU is one of the team’s top opponents.

“Out of the four teams that are nationally ranked, SMU is especially going to be competitive because of the local rivalry we have with them,” Browne said. “We had our first win in school history against SMU last year, so our main goal this year is for our last game of the season against SMU to still be important.

“If it is, that means we will still be in the run for the playoffs.”

While this year will be the Frogs’ first year in the MVC, it will also be their last. Next year they will relocate to Conference USA.

“In my two years on the team, I have already played in two conferences, the (Western Athletic Conference) last year and the MVC this year,” Sitar said. “Next year I will play in (C-USA). It’s very interesting because you get to see different teams every year.”

Kelly Morris
k.l.morris@student.tcu.edu

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