Frogs ground warriors
TCU stays undefeated with victory

By Matt Stiver
skiff staff

Before he stepped on the field Saturday, senior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson said he knew his number would be called often.

“(Head Coach Dennis Franchione) told us, ‘Offense, we got the bye week next week, but this week it’s gotta be you,’” Tomlinson said. “So we took it upon ourselves. It was a blue-collar day.”

The Frogs moved to No. 11 in The ESPN/USA Today coaches’ polls and they are the No. 12 team in The Associated Press poll. TCU rushed 71 times for 393 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-21 drubbing that kept Hawaii winless. Tomlinson, who set a new TCU single-game record for carries with 49, rushed for 294 yards, the most in the nation this season in Division I-A, and four touchdowns.

David Dunai/ CO-PHOTO EDITOR Senior guard Jeff Millican and sophomore guard Jamal Powell celebrate a touchdown by senior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson. He ran for four touchdowns for the day and has 12 for the season.

Early in the first quarter, it appeared Hawaii’s run-and-shoot offense would be too much for the Frogs. The Warriors fooled TCU on the first play from scrimmage.

With TCU blitzing, Hawaii called a flea-flicker that appeared to catch the Frogs off-guard. After sophomore Jason Goss chased Hawaii’s Channon Harris down 58 yards later, Hawaii had a first down on the TCU 22-yard line. If true freshman quarterback Timmy Chang had not underthrown Harris, who had to stop at midfield to make the catch, Harris would have raced untouched into the end zone.

On Hawaii’s next play, Chang again found Harris for a quick 22-yard touchdown.

TCU responded with a 59-yard drive to tie the score. With Franchione’s words ringing in his ears, Tomlinson carried the ball eight times for all 59 yards and a one-yard touchdown.

The Frogs took the lead for good on a field goal by senior place kicker Chris Kaylakie with 12:12 to play in the second quarter.

The TCU defense took the first half to find its footing, having to switch focus from an option-rushing team (Navy) the week before to a run-and-shoot passing attack in Hawaii.

The Warriors passed for 187 yards in the first half, but only managed 79 in the second. Franchione said Hawaii added new offensive wrinkles into its game plan, which initially surprised the Frogs.

“Once we saw them, (defensive coordinator Gary) Patterson made some adjustments,” Franchione said. “We got settled in and played our style of football.”

While the TCU passing game recovered in the second half, the rushing defense did not fare as well.
The Warriors rushed for 118 yards on 16 carries (an average of 7.3 yards a carry). They gained 73 of those yards in the second half.

Franchione said after halftime that TCU shifted its attention to stopping Chang and Hawaii’s passing game.
“I think it got to the point where we didn’t care (about their running game) anymore and just started rushing the passer,” Franchione said. “That’s a little uncharacteristic of us.”

In addition to breaking his own record for carries, Tomlinson became TCU’s all-time leader in scoring (264), yards from scrimmage (5,136) and became the first TCU player to rush for 4,000 yards in a career.

He currently holds eight TCU records, including career rushing leader (4,079), rushing yards in a season (1,850) and career rushing touchdowns (45).

Tomlinson said he has not thought about the significance of all his rushing records.

“It hasn’t all set in yet,” Tomlinson said. “I’ll probably appreciate them and realize how special they all are once I have time to sit down and think about what it all means.”

Matt Stiver
mrstiver@student.tcu.edu.

By Chad Carey
staff reporter

Going into Saturday’s game against winless Hawaii, it seemed that TCU senior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson was due for a big game.

Just one week before in Annapolis, Md., Tomlinson had rushed for 121 yards on 33 carries against Navy — not exactly the Heisman Trophy-type numbers that Frog fans had been familiar with.

But in the cold and drizzle of Saturday, that all changed as Tomlinson had his best statistical game of the season and the Horned Frogs rolled to a 41-21 victory.

Tomlinson carried the ball a school-record 49 times for 294 yards and four touchdowns. His 294 yards are the most by a Division 1-A college running back this year.

“I think our (offensive) line came out with a physical presence today,” Tomlinson said. “They really got after those guys.”

Despite the fact that Hawaii scored two first-quarter touchdowns, the Horned Frogs never really lost control of the game. By halftime, Tomlinson had already rushed for 196 yards and three touchdowns and TCU led 24-14.

Head coach Dennis Franchione said he wasn’t worried about overworking his star tailback.

“He had 31 carries in the first half, and I said ‘boy, I’m running my horse,’” Franchione said. “I didn’t want to get him to tired, but he can handle it. He’s used to doing those kind of things.

“I think he gets better the more he touches it. He wants the ball, and I like seeing him run with it.”
Tomlinson said he didn’t feel how many times he was carrying the ball until the game was finished.

“When the game was over, I thought I had to be close to 50 carries,” Tomlinson said. “I asked how many (rushes I had), and they said 49. I thought, ‘man, I’m going to be sore in the morning.’”

With his 294-yard performance, Tomlinson has now rushed for 974 yards this season and passed Andre Davis, becoming TCU’s career all-purpose yardage leader with 5,136 yards.

TCU began the second half where they left off in the first. The Frogs went on an 11-play, 88-yard drive, that lasted five minutes. It was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by junior fullback George Layne. The drive was the Horned Frogs’ longest of the season.

After giving up 14 points in the first quarter, the TCU defense stiffened, allowing the Warriors to reach the end zone just once more.

Hawaii freshman quarterback Timmy Chang completed 18 of 44 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Although the Chang struggled to complete passes, Hawaii finished with 384 total yards and 21 points, the most TCU’s defense has surrendered all season.

“We didn’t play our best game today,” Franchione said. “But we’re 5-0 for the first time since 1942 and we’re proud of that.”

The Horned Frogs (5-0 overall, 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference) moved to No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll and No. 12 in The Associated Press poll this week, and they have a week off before they travel to Tulsa to face the Golden Hurricane on Oct. 21.

“We’re a little banged up right now,” Franchione said. “We need the open week to get healthy.”

The Frogs’ current 10-game winning streak is their longest since the 1937-38 season. TCU also possesses the nation’s second-longest winning streak, trailing only Nebraska.

Chad Carey
chadcarey@mindspring.com.

By Colleen Casey
skiff staff

Head volleyball coach Sandy Troudt said the Volley Frogs are currently where she thought they would be in their season. She said she felt a sense of accomplishment because the TCU volleyball team could walk away from its losses and be proud of gaining experience.

After their first Western Athletic Conference loss to Nevada last Thursday, the Frogs also lost their four-game winning streak against WAC opponents.

Troudt said she believed Nevada was the best WAC team the Frogs had faced this season, despite the Wolf Pack’s 6-9 overall record.

Any efforts the Volley Frogs made during the Nevada games were matched by the Wolf Pack, as the Frogs couldn’t recover until the third game. The Frogs took game three 16-14, after a 15-8 loss in game one and a 15-13 loss in game two.

A tight 17-15 victory in the fourth game sealed the deal for a 3-1 Nevada victory.

With the win, Nevada jumped ahead of TCU in the WAC standings and is currently ranked fourth. TCU is fifth after another loss, a 3-0 sweep to second-ranked Hawaii.

The loss to Hawaii evened the Frogs’ conference record to 2-2 and the Rainbow Wahine still maintained their undefeated record, moving to 14-0, including four wins in the WAC.

The Frogs were slow in the first game, and never led again after a 3-1 beginning. The Wahine won the first game, 15-5.

In game two, Hawaii started with a 9-1 lead. However, the Frogs were able to take advantage of the Wahine’s hitting errors, and took five points before Hawaii would score three more points, and eventually win the game 15-8.

Hawaii held TCU to a .000 hitting percentage during the first and second games, while they posted a .257. The Frogs were able to bump this percentage up to .125 during the third game.

The Wahine dominated the third game by taking a quick 10-point lead. Hawaii won the third and decisive game 15-6.

The match only took one hour and 24 minutes, demonstrating the determination of a powerful Hawaiian game.

“Any time you play teams that are that well-trained, you’re bound to learn something,” freshman setter/center back Tori Barlow said. “Personally, I’m glad that I learned how to read blocks better (from the Hawaii match).”

Despite the two losses, Troudt said there were highlighted performances from senior outside hitter Amy Atamanczuk, junior outside hitter Marci King and junior setter Lindsay Hayes.

All three of these players were able to record double-doubles on the Nevada match. Atamanczuk and King now both have nine. Hayes, now with four double-doubles, had 49 assists and 16 digs on the night.

Junior middle blocker Jennifer Sebastian said she believed the team would succeed as long as they gave their best effort.

“Just like the rest of the season has been,” Sebastian said. “If we lay it all out, I don’t care if we win or lose.”

This optimism is something Troudt said she wants to remain in the team’s mind during the remainder of the season.

Colleen Casey
c.m.casey@student.tcu.edu.

By Danny Horne
sports editor

With seven games remaining in the men’s soccer team’s first and only season in the Missouri Valley Conference, one thing has been determined. At 6-5 overall, the Frogs’ season has been fraught with peaks and valleys.

Assistant coach Blake Amos said it’s been frustrating at times to watch the team struggle against teams they shouldn’t struggle with.

“It’s almost like I don’t ever know what team is going to show up from game to game,” Amos said.

David Dunai/CO-PHOTO EDITOR Senior defender Mike Martin leads the Horned Frog attack in a game against Southern Methodist last season. TCU is 6-5 this season, and 2-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Frogs are on the road this weekend at Western Kentucky and Evansville.

Games against teams like Tulsa are frustrating because it wasn’t so much Tulsa being good as much as it was us not being good.”

TCU split two home games last weekend. The Frogs lost to Tulsa 2-1 and shutout then No. 11 Southwest Missouri State, 1-0.

In TCU’s upcoming games, Amos said he will try to find a way to keep the team’s intensity level equal to that of the shutout win over Southwest Missouri.

“It looks like we’ll have to invent some rankings for the teams on this week’s schedule,” he said. “We’ve already talked about lessons learned, and we’ve talked about inconsistencies. Now, we have to go out there and play better on a more consistent basis.”

The win against Southwest Missouri on Sunday was the second time in three games that TCU beat a team that was, at the time, ranked among the top 25 teams in the country. Before the loss to Tulsa, the Frogs defeated then No. 25 Bradley, 2-1.

Amos said games against teams in the top 25 that happen to be in the MVC are interesting because he said his team doesn’t take a particular route in preparation.

“We don’t know anything about most of the teams in this conference,” he said. “We don’t know anything about teams like Bradley and Southwest Missouri State. We don’t know anything about most of the MVC for that matter, so I can’t really explain why we tend to play so well against those ranked opponents.”

TCU is playing just one season in the MVC before making the move to Conference USA next season. Amos said TCU’s one-year stay in the MVC makes it extra-difficult to focus.

“We know we could face any one of these (MVC) teams again,” Amos said. “It will be good to have a home next year. This season, we didn’t have to actually invest time into really getting to know the opponents.

“Next season, when we move to C-USA, our approach will change because we have it as a home.”

TCU is on the road Friday and Sunday against Western Kentucky and Evansville before returning home to play Belmont a week from Friday.

Danny Horne
bravestcu3116@mindspring.com.

Women lose 2-0 to SMU
Soccer team goes to 6-7-1 for season

By Kelly Morris
skiff staff

Head women’s soccer coach David Rubinson said his team continues to be its own worst enemy by not making the most of its offensive opportunities after Sunday’s 2-0 loss to No. 16 Southern Methodist in Dallas.

“We created many wonderful chances to score,” Rubinson said. “But we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot because we are giving good teams gifts. We need to continue to do what we do best by owning the ball and defending with passion.

Erin Munger/STAFF REPORTER Sophomore forward Nicole Carmen goes up for a header in the Horned Frogs 3-0 win against Texas-El Paso on Oct. 1. TCU is coming off a 2-0 loss to Southern Methodist Sunday and plays against San Jose State on Friday at the Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium.

“We seldom give ourselves a chance because we can’t afford to make any mistakes. To take the pressure off ourselves, we need to score goals.”

The Frogs have scored 16 goals this season, while their opponents have scored 27. In the last seven games, the team has only scored four goals.

There have been five games this season in which TCU was outscored 17-0.

To finish the season strong, sophomore defender Brenda DeRose said she knows the team must capitalize on its chances.

“We have to create more shots and really work on finishing those shots,” DeRose said. “We are keeping our hopes up, but it is really frustrating because we know we have the ability, we just can’t get the results.”

With the loss, the Frogs fell to 6-7-1 for the season and 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. They are 4-1 at home and 2-5-1 away. SMU improved to 10-3 overall and remains undefeated in the WAC at 3-0.
Sophomore forward Sherry Dick said she was not surprised by SMU’s performance.

“Although they have great speed, SMU did nothing we had never seen before,” Dick said. “SMU scored its goals on our defensive mistakes.”

Of the five games remaining on their schedule, four of them are conference games. With their minds set on the WAC Championships, Dick said she wants to make the most of their final few games.

“We have to win the rest of our games,” Dick said. “There is nothing we can’t do, so we want to prove to ourselves that we can compete.”

Rubinson said he’s surprised his team hasn’t played to its potential at this point in the season.

“We have more quality players than we have ever had before,” Rubinson said. “I know this team is as good as the top teams in the WAC, but I don’t know if the players know they are that good.

“With its ability and depth, this team is better than what most players on this team think.”

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

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