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By DOUG ALDEN AP Sports Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- TCU went from having the nation's longest winning streak to dropping out of the Top 25.
The defending Mountain West Conference champions are trying to keep the damage from getting even worse when they visit Utah on Thursday.
"I think we've got that all out of our system. We understand we've got to play very well when we go into Salt Lake City," TCU coach Gary Patterson said.
Until a week ago, the Horned Frogs (3-1, 0-1 MWC) had won 13 straight and had the longest winning streak in Division I-A. That ended with a 31-17 loss to Brigham Young last Thursday in Fort Worth.
The Utes (3-2, 1-0) can sympathize. Utah had an 18-game winning streak -- the nation's longest at the time -- before losing to the Horned Frogs 23-20 in overtime in TCU's Mountain West debut.
After going unbeaten in the league a year ago, TCU is 0-1 in the Mountain West and out of the AP poll for the first time this season. A loss to the Utes on Thursday could all but knock the Frogs out of contention to defend their conference title even with six more games to play.
Patterson had the Frogs practice last Friday, which was unusual after a Thursday night game.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham has also been trying to do some self-esteem repair. He has tried to remain upbeat, noting the Utes are still unbeaten in the conference. But it's a hard point to sell considering what happened last week.
After building up Saturday's game against Boise State as a good gauge to see how much Utah had improved since losing the season opener to UCLA, the Utes were beaten soundly, 36-3.
"It don't matter how much you lose by," defensive back Eric Shyne said. "We prepared so hard last week, then to come in and play so flat, that's hard no matter what."
Utah has had a short week to prepare for TCU and maybe less time to remember was better. The Utes had five turnovers and allowed the Broncos to gain 398 yards -- a total that could have been much higher but Boise State didn't have far to go after some turnovers.
The Utes were demoralized Saturday, but Whittingham has tried to keep them focused.
"They have no choice. They have to recover. We had to put it out of our system," the coach said.
Patterson said quarterback Jeff Ballard, who injured his shoulder against BYU, will start Thursday. He rested this week as backup Marcus Jackson worked with the first team.
TCU is 11-1 with Ballard starting.
"Everything is OK," Patterson said. "He hasn't thrown a lot of balls, but he'll play and he'll start. It's like anybody this time (of) year. When you're in big ballgames, you get banged up a little bit."
TCU running back Aaron Brown did not make the trip because of a sore right ankle. Lonta Hobbs, who returned last week after missing a year with a groin injury, is the probable starter Thursday.
Utah had won three straight before the Boise State game, which was the Utes' worst home loss since 1989.
"I think it was a little bit of a shock deal. We kind of went through that a little bit a week ago," Patterson said. "It's a Utah team that's very athletic but had a bad ballgame."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-10-04-06 1419MDT
