TCU back from dead after poor start

PROVO — TCU entered the 2007 season as Mountain West Conference favorites, but injuries and some close losses — three conference defeats by a combined 13 points — pretty much dashed the Horned Frogs' championship hopes.

But it's November now and, suddenly, TCU (5-4 overall, 2-3 in MWC play) is looking like the team everyone expected it to be back in August.

Just look at the Frogs' 37-0 thrashing of New Mexico last Saturday. Players like preseason MWC defensive player of the year Tommy Blake, a defensive lineman who missed much of the season due to a medical leave of absence with an undisclosed illness, and running back Aaron Brown, the preseason offensive player of the year who missed two games due to an early-season injury, are back in the lineup. And a 16-day layoff after a loss at home to Utah did wonders for TCU, too.

"With everything that's gone on with Tommy being gone and all the injuries that we've had," said TCU coach Gary Patterson, "I think what we've been most excited about is a chance to play closer to the potential of the team we thought we had at the beginning of the year. We never got a chance to show it."

The Frogs have a chance to show it Thursday night against BYU, which sits atop the MWC standings and is the defending conference champion.

"We're excited about getting a chance to play against BYU, knowing the kind of team they have and being the best team in the conference the last two years," Patterson said. "Our kids like to play against great competition."

TCU needs one more win to become bowl eligible, and the Frogs are looking at playing a spoiler role. "A conference championship is out ... (we want to) try to play a little bit of a spoiler in this whole situation and mix up the league and see how it goes," Patterson said.

A year ago, BYU invaded Fort Worth, Texas, and upset TCU, which was nationally ranked and the defending conference champions. That night, the Cougars halted the Frogs' nation-leading 13-game winning and wrested away league supremacy.

But Patterson said last year's 31-17 setback to BYU isn't being used as a motivational tool.

"Last year we were the one on a roll as far as a winning streak and everything. I don't think that's been the motivation at all. Our kids are excited because they know there will be a lot of people there (at LaVell Edwards Stadium) and we know we'll play against a very athletic team, kind of like playing against a Texas or an Oklahoma, somebody we feel like has really good athletes. You get a chance to set a measuring stick and see how you play."