Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer
The TCU Horned Frogs might be the most exciting and boring team in the Mountain West Conference, all at once.
As newcomers to the far-flung league last year, the Horned Frogs -- who are from neither the mountains nor, really, the West -- raced unbeaten through their eight-game MWC schedule and finished 11-1, good for a final ranking of 11th.
So the natural inclination would be to get all puffed up and predict another great run, right?
Not even close. Although the Horned Frogs appear capable to trampling through the league again, they can't help but stumble over every cliche known to athletes. They'll take 'em one game at a time. If they don't come to play every week, they'll have a hard time winning. There are a lot of great teams in the league.
Blame the blandness on, well, looking too far down the road.
Two years ago, they were coming off an 11-2 season, talked too much about their BCS chances, then tumbled to 5-6 in their last season in Conference USA.
Last year, they upset Oklahoma in the opener only to lose the next week to lowly SMU.
Even though they finished with a 10-game winning streak, they, uh, appear to be willing to let their playing do the talking.
"I decided, no more," coach Gary Patterson said. "You learn your lessons."
Even if that leaves them vanilla-coated.
"We're excited about playing one game at a time," Patterson actually said at the league's media day.
The Horned Frogs are loaded with not only cliches, but returning starters -- 10 on offense, seven on defense and four specialists. The defense led the nation in turnover margin (plus-21), interceptions (26) and takeaways (30).
Among the offensive starters back are quarterback Jeff Ballard, who went 8-0 as the starter after replacing injured Tye Gunn against BYU and helping rally TCU to a 51-50 overtime win.
Even if they won't say it publicly, the Horned Frogs do indeed have a chance of becoming the second MWC team in three seasons to reach the BCS, following the lead of Alex Smith and the Utah Utes in 2004.
Although the BCS did not change its automatic qualifiers -- meaning the MWC champion isn't one of them -- it did add a fifth bowl game and lowered the qualifications for teams outside the Big Six conferences to gain entry into the big-dollar games. An MWC team would need to be 12th or better in the final BCS standings to guarantee itself a spot this season.
The Horned Frogs finished 14th last season.
"I think we have the coach, the players, I think we have, I guess, a chance," Ballard said in tiptoeing around the BCS issue. "But it comes down to winning ballgames and taking each one at a time. But in our minds, the conference championship, of course, is the first thing."
And avoiding pratfalls like the SMU game.
A capsule look at the teams in predicted order of finish:
TCU -- The Horned Frogs welcome back their top two rushers, Robert Merrill (911 yards, 10 TDs) and Aaron Brown (758, 6 TDs), the MWC Freshman of the Year. ... TCU's 10-game winning streak is second nationally to Texas (20). ... The Horned Frogs open at Baylor and host Texas Tech in their third game, giving them three Big 12 opponents in a stretch of four games. They beat Iowa State 27-24 in the Houston Bowl.
UTAH -- Eric Weddle, the reigning MWC Defensive Player of the Year, might be the league's most versatile player. He plays SS when the Utes are in the 4-3, and CB when they're in the nickel. He's also the Utes' punt returner, holds for field goals, is the safety on the kickoff coverage team and played a bit at quarterback in the Emerald Bowl, where he was the defensive player of the game.
BYU -- QB John Beck (3,709 yards, 27 TDs) has started 26 games, and only Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer started more at BYU entering his senior season. ... The Cougars were 6-6, their first non-losing season since 2001, and made their first bowl appearance since that season.
COLORADO STATE -- The Rams are coming off a 51-30 loss to Navy in the inaugural Poinsettia Bowl. ... The Rams' game with in-state rival Colorado returns to Invesco Field, home of the NFL's Broncos.
SAN DIEGO STATE -- The Aztecs finally took the big leap and hired a "name" coach, bringing in Chuck Long, the former offensive coordinator at Oklahoma and the runner-up to Bo Jackson for the 1985 Heisman Trophy. It'll be up to Long to get the Aztecs to a bowl game for the first time since 1998. Long is focusing on recruiting from a local talent pool that has produced four Heisman Trophy winners since 1981. "We certainly got some guys in last year's class because we were a new staff and they were excited about us, but you still have a contingent out there that says, 'Hey, we want to see it on the field, too. Prove it to us."
NEW MEXICO -- Lobos coach Rocky Long hired his former boss at UCLA, Bob Toledo, as assistant head coach-offensive coordinator. Long was defensive coordinator under Toledo at UCLA from 1996-97. ... New Mexico must replace RB DonTrell Moore (1,298 yards, 14 TDs). The candidates are Martelius Epps, Paul Baker and Rodney Ferguson.
AIR FORCE -- The Falcons are coming off back-to-back losing seasons (4-7 and 5-6) for the first time since 1980-81. ... Known mostly as a dominating wishbone team, the Falcons showed more balance in 2005 than ever before, rushing and passing for more than 200 yards each in five games.
WYOMING -- The euphoria of their 2004 Las Vegas Bowl win over UCLA didn't last as long as the Cowboys had hoped. After starting 4-1 last year, the Pokes lost their last six games. ... Although the Cowboys have a veteran offensive line, they're inexperienced at quarterback, where four players are in the running to replace Corey Bramlet.
UNLV -- The Runnin' Rebels didn't make any progress in the record book under new coach Mike Sanford, finishing last for the second straight year. They were 2-9 overall and 1-7 in league, with the conference win coming against San Diego State.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-08-07-06 1942MDT
