For More Than Just a Skillet
Share of WAC
title depends on Frogs’ victory
By Chad Carey
staff reporter
Over the last 82 years, the TCU Horned Frogs have battled the Southern Methodist Mustangs through several important football games. This year should be no exception.
TCU puts its No. 13 national ranking on the line, and tries to claim a share of its second straight Western Athletic Conference Championship. The annual battle for the Iron Skillet will take place for the first time at the new Gerald J. Ford Stadium at SMU.
Heading into the yearly battle between the two schools, TCU head football coach Dennis Franchione said the Frogs must remember what happened to the Mustangs in 1997. That year the Mustangs came to Amon Carter Stadium with a bowl appearance on the line. TCU went into the game winless and upset the Mustangs 21-18 to win their first game of the season, and ended the Mustangs’ bowl chances.
“I don’t think that I will have to spend a lot of time telling our players what can go wrong,” Franchione said. “1997 proved that you don’t pay attention to a lot of things. Things go out the window when these two teams meet.”
Offensively the Frogs are coming off perhaps their best game of the season. The Horned Frogs 47-point outburst against Texas El-Paso last week was their second highest point total of the 2000 season.
Senior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 305 yards on 33 carries and scored three touchdowns, and sophomore quarterback Casey Printers threw for 216 yards, his highest total of the year.
Despite the Horned Frogs’ success last week, Franchione said the game against the Mustangs could become a defensive struggle.
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Hillary Morgan/ASSISTANT PHOTO
EDITOR
TCU senior middle linebacker Terrance Maiden puts pressure on Texas-El Paso quarterback Rocky Perez in the Frogs’ 47-14 win over the Miners Saturday at Amon Carter Stadium. The TCU defense held Perez and the rest of the UTEP offense to 287 yards, more than 100 yards below their season average. |
“We’ve always had to work on offense to get our points against them,” Franchione said. “They have good team speed on defense, and the last two games we’ve played against them have ended up being real defensive struggles.”
Tomlinson, the nation’s leading rusher at 198.4 yards a game, will enter Friday’s contest just 16 yards short of the 2,000 yard mark. His season total of 1,984 yards is the ninth-highest total for a single season in NCAA football history.
Defensively, the Frogs will try to shut down the sophomore tandem of running back Kris Briggs and wide receiver Johnnie Freeman. On the season, Briggs has rushed for 804 yards and made 37 receptions for 305 yards. Freeman has seven touchdown catches, all of which have come from at least 19 yards out.
“Briggs is a good back,” Franchione said. “I think they’re playing their best football of the season. Some of their younger players (from a year ago and the beginning of the season) are now older and playing better.”
While SMU has no postseason hopes beyond this game, senior linebacker Shannon Brazzell said the Frogs still must be ready to play Friday.
“We’re going to expect some trickery from them on offense,” Brazzell said. “We expect them to go away from their game plan. This is a big game, this is for the WAC championship. I can’t wait to see all the TCU fans in their stadium on Friday.”
A TCU victory leads into rematch Dec. 20 against another Conference USA opponent in GMAC Mobile Alabama Bowl. The Horned Frogs accepted a bid to the bowl on Nov. 11, after their victory over Fresno State. Southern Mississippi accepted the other bid to the Mobile Bowl Tuesday setting up a match up between the nation’s No. 1 and No. 5-ranked defenses.
Chad Carey
chadcarey@mindspring.com