Horned Frogs fall flat

FORT WORTH, Texas — Too often this season, TCU has made things too hard.

The theme continued for the tired and overly tested Horned Frogs in a 27-20 loss Thursday to surging Utah.

It makes the rest of the season that much more of a trial.

TCU, which had three first-half interceptions and couldn't score a touchdown in the second half, fell to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in the Mountain West Conference, all but eliminated from the league-title race before the end of October.

Playing in the postseason, which has become expected in Cowtown, isn't even a sure thing. The Frogs have a 16-day break before resuming their final four-game stretch, which includes tests with New Mexico and at BYU.

The Utes (5-3, 2-2) continued their upward swing, winning their fourth straight in front of a tame 25,381 at Amon Carter Stadium.

"When you turn the ball over as many times as we did, you're not going to beat a junior high team," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "We came out flat. . . . No excuses. Everybody had a short week."

TCU is 1-4 on Thursdays over the last three seasons.

The Frogs' offense and redshirt freshman quarterback Andy Dalton, coming off their best performance of the year in last week's win at Stanford, couldn't do enough against Utah.

Dalton was just 20-of-45 for 164 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.

But somehow, the Frogs still had a shot late.

With TCU down 10 and driving, Dalton threw his fourth interception of the game, picked off by Utah's Steven Tate.

Still, TCU's Chris Manfredini managed a 41-yard field goal, TCU's first points since the end of the first half, with 2:07 left to cut the deficit to seven.

The Frogs tried an onside kick — and for a moment it looked like TCU's David Hawthorne had recovered it.

But officials ruled that he touched the ball just before it crossed the mandatory 10 yards.

TCU simply made too many mistakes again.

The Frogs, trailing 24-17 at halftime, opened the half by driving to Utah's 5. But the drive stalled, and Manfredini missed a 22-yard field-goal attempt wide left.

Utah's Louie Sadoka pushed the lead to 10 with a 41-yard field goal with 7:51 to play.