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By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Jeff Ballard had thrown only one pass at TCU before coming off the bench last September and leading an impressive comeback victory over BYU.
This time, Ballard faces the Cougars as an undefeated starting quarterback.
Not a one-game wonder, Ballard has instead started every game since for the No. 17 Horned Frogs (3-0) and gone the equivalent of a full season without a loss. His 11-0 mark doesn't even include the 51-50 victory in Provo.
"When he came into our game last season, not only did he change that game, he changed their season," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I don't believe that they would have had the same season without him as the starting quarterback. He's a confident player that leads with passion and emotion"
TCU went undefeated in its first Mountain West season as part of a 11-1 overall record. After overtime victories over Utah and BYU, the Horned Frogs won their last six conference games with Ballard starting by an average margin of 25 points.
Coming off an open date, the Frogs begin defense of their MWC title and first outright conference championship since 1958 against BYU (2-2) in the first of consecutive Thursday games. Their 13-game winning streak is the longest in Division I-A.
No other TCU quarterback, not even Davey O'Brien or Sammy Baugh, has won as many consecutive games to start their careers as Ballard.
"To be able to do it over multiple games ... That's definitely a lot greater," Ballard said.
O'Brien won the Horned Frogs' only Heisman Trophy in 1938, their undefeated national championship season. That was also part of the school-record 14 straight wins that could be matched Thursday.
When Ballard took over for injured starter Tye Gunn against BYU, the Frogs trailed 34-16 late in the third quarter. Ballard was 8-of-12 passing for 150 yards and two touchdowns, including a 35-yard scoring pass to Aaron Brown with 1:25 left before BYU's tying field goal on the final play of regulation.
TCU won on Cory Rodgers' disputed 3-yard TD run -- he was stripped of the ball in a goal-line pileup. Replays were inconclusive and the score stood. The extra point was the winning margin because BYU botched its PAT after scoring first in overtime.
"We have probably just as much motivation in this game to come out and play hard as BYU does," coach Gary Patterson said. "All we've heard all year, at least out of Utah, was that we won because of one play. We scored 51 points. It just wasn't one touchdown."
The Frogs didn't score a touchdown in their last game Sept. 16, but still won 12-3 over then-No. 24 Texas Tech to avenge a 70-35 loss two years earlier.
Patterson said the extra time off was beneficial to get over the emotional victory against Tech, the Frogs' fourth straight victory over a Big 12 team since the start of last season.
That also allowed bruised-up players like Ballard more recovery time. Plus, senior tailbacks Robert Merrill (back) and Lonta Hobbs (ankle) are finally ready for their 2006 debuts.
BYU had a short week of preparation after a 38-0 victory against overmatched Utah State -- the Cougars' first shutout since 1999, also the last season they beat a Top 25 team.
Starting quarterback John Beck missed Saturday because of a sprained right ankle, which he kept in a protective boot while being shuttled around campus this week in a golf cart. But Mendenhall said Beck would start and that Josh Beck, who is no relation and was 20-of-28 passing for 305 yards against Utah State, would be the backup again.
"I don't think you'll see him at 100 percent," Mendenhall said. "But every device we can use to keep him off (his ankle) in the meantime will have him at a higher percentage than what he would have been without it."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-09-27-06 1534MDT
