TCU +3.5 (bought)(3 units)
******************
First real test
Frogs' BCS degree candidacy on the line
By Damien Pierce
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
AP
GUNN
Results, schedule
The TCU football syllabus has left a mystery.
Through four minor assignments and some extra credit in the desert, the No. 18 Horned Frogs have handled a not-so-daunting schedule with a perfect 5-0 performance.
But while the passing grades have piled up, there hasn't been a true indication of whether this is a team of valedictorians or merely dreamers. There have been quizzes, but no exams.
Until now.
For the first time this season, the Horned Frogs and their fans will find out whether the school's Bowl Championship Series dreams are more than class gossip. TCU travels to South Florida tonight for a Conference USA contest in front of an ESPN2 national television audience.
The Bulls (3-1, 2-0 C-USA) aren't the undersized athletes of the military academies, and they aren't marred in turmoil like Arizona. USF has Division I-A's second longest home winning streak, 21 games, and has already upended one previously unbeaten school, Louisville.
South Florida is even a one-point favorite.
Call this a midterm exam.
"We've done pretty well so far, but this is the biggest test we've had yet," TCU offensive tackle Anthony Alabi said. "The nonconference part of our schedule is over, and this game is a chance to declare ourselves as a really good football team. They're going to be rowdy and they're going to bring it to us, but we've got a chance to show how good we can be this season."
Forget the previous five games, they were merely tutoring.
The Horned Frogs, who entered the preseason amid talk of finishing the season undefeated, have been offered their first true opportunity to prove they can be the little school that crashes the BCS party.
TCU is one of two unbeaten non-BCS schools. No. 16 Northern Illinois (5-0) is the other and has already made a strong case for itself with victories against Alabama, Iowa State and Maryland. The Huskies have quickly become the underdog favorite of the college football world. But now TCU is being given a chance to make its own case.
"This game is a chance to make a statement," said TCU quarterback Tye Gunn, who will start for the first time in more than a month. "They're a really good football team. But I think we have a chance to show the resolve and determination we have. I don't think we've shown that yet."
While TCU has been notorious for starting games slowly, the Frogs have eventually overwhelmed their opponents with depth or suffocated the opposing offense long enough to prevail.
It will be hard for such an approach to work against South Florida.
USF, which joined C-USA this season, has scored 62 percent of its points in the first half and likely won't wait for the Frogs to get warmed up. The Bulls run a no-huddle passing offense that will test TCU's secondary, and USF has a speedy defense that flies to the football.
"We've got to come out fired up, and I think we will," running back Robert Merrill said. "I think we've been pumped up for every game, but you can tell this one is a little bigger. We know this is the kind of game you have to win if you want to win a conference title and do some of the other things we want to accomplish."
The Horned Frogs haven't been wasting any class time with this exam approaching.
As soon as TCU reached the locker room after knocking off Army on Saturday, TCU coach Gary Patterson focused his postgame speech on the Bulls.
"We knew when we looked down the schedule that this was going to be a big game because they are so athletic," Patterson said. "It's not the end of the season one way or another, but we're not going down there just to play well. We're going there to win, and I think we'll find out a few things about our team."
******************
First real test
Frogs' BCS degree candidacy on the line
By Damien Pierce
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
AP
GUNN
Results, schedule
The TCU football syllabus has left a mystery.
Through four minor assignments and some extra credit in the desert, the No. 18 Horned Frogs have handled a not-so-daunting schedule with a perfect 5-0 performance.
But while the passing grades have piled up, there hasn't been a true indication of whether this is a team of valedictorians or merely dreamers. There have been quizzes, but no exams.
Until now.
For the first time this season, the Horned Frogs and their fans will find out whether the school's Bowl Championship Series dreams are more than class gossip. TCU travels to South Florida tonight for a Conference USA contest in front of an ESPN2 national television audience.
The Bulls (3-1, 2-0 C-USA) aren't the undersized athletes of the military academies, and they aren't marred in turmoil like Arizona. USF has Division I-A's second longest home winning streak, 21 games, and has already upended one previously unbeaten school, Louisville.
South Florida is even a one-point favorite.
Call this a midterm exam.
"We've done pretty well so far, but this is the biggest test we've had yet," TCU offensive tackle Anthony Alabi said. "The nonconference part of our schedule is over, and this game is a chance to declare ourselves as a really good football team. They're going to be rowdy and they're going to bring it to us, but we've got a chance to show how good we can be this season."
Forget the previous five games, they were merely tutoring.
The Horned Frogs, who entered the preseason amid talk of finishing the season undefeated, have been offered their first true opportunity to prove they can be the little school that crashes the BCS party.
TCU is one of two unbeaten non-BCS schools. No. 16 Northern Illinois (5-0) is the other and has already made a strong case for itself with victories against Alabama, Iowa State and Maryland. The Huskies have quickly become the underdog favorite of the college football world. But now TCU is being given a chance to make its own case.
"This game is a chance to make a statement," said TCU quarterback Tye Gunn, who will start for the first time in more than a month. "They're a really good football team. But I think we have a chance to show the resolve and determination we have. I don't think we've shown that yet."
While TCU has been notorious for starting games slowly, the Frogs have eventually overwhelmed their opponents with depth or suffocated the opposing offense long enough to prevail.
It will be hard for such an approach to work against South Florida.
USF, which joined C-USA this season, has scored 62 percent of its points in the first half and likely won't wait for the Frogs to get warmed up. The Bulls run a no-huddle passing offense that will test TCU's secondary, and USF has a speedy defense that flies to the football.
"We've got to come out fired up, and I think we will," running back Robert Merrill said. "I think we've been pumped up for every game, but you can tell this one is a little bigger. We know this is the kind of game you have to win if you want to win a conference title and do some of the other things we want to accomplish."
The Horned Frogs haven't been wasting any class time with this exam approaching.
As soon as TCU reached the locker room after knocking off Army on Saturday, TCU coach Gary Patterson focused his postgame speech on the Bulls.
"We knew when we looked down the schedule that this was going to be a big game because they are so athletic," Patterson said. "It's not the end of the season one way or another, but we're not going down there just to play well. We're going there to win, and I think we'll find out a few things about our team."
