MWC roundup: Dalton, defense lead No. 5 TCU past Wyoming, 45-0

FORT WORTH, Texas — Andy Dalton stood in the pocket and spotted Bart Johnson about 40 yards away in the end zone with a defender in seemingly good position to make a play.

The TCU quarterback threw it anyway.

Dalton's best throw of the day sailed over the defender's outstretched arms for a 31-yard touchdown that put to rest the TCU quarterback's worst game of the season a week earlier, and the No. 5 Horned Frogs recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time in 55 years in a 45-0 victory over Wyoming on Saturday.

Dalton was 14-of-17 for a season-high 270 yards and three touchdowns, surpassing his paltry 116-yard total from a week ago against Colorado State on the strike to Johnson, which put TCU ahead 21-0 on the first play of the second quarter.

"People just say that Andy Dalton is methodical. Well, how many games has he won now?" said TCU coach Gary Patterson, whose quarterback is the active major college leader with 35 victories. "It just doesn't happen by chance. It doesn't always have to be flamboyant to be great."

TCU (6-0, 2-0 Mountain West) led 31-0 at halftime a week after going to the break up just 6-0 against Colorado State, where Dalton finished 11-of-24 with a late TD pass in a 27-0 win. But this Dalton was the one Frogs fans remember. In his last home start, he set a TCU accuracy record by going 21-of-23 in a 45-10 rout of Baylor. He's now 50-of-61 for 719 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions in three home starts.

Part of the problem in Colorado was misfiring on deep throws, but Dalton was on target against the Cowboys. He opened the scoring by hitting Jeremy Kerley in stride for a 50-yard touchdown one play after a nifty 14-yard run on third-and-7, Dalton's 17th rushing first down of the season.

Dalton hooked up with Skye Dawson on another deep ball for 43 yards to set up a highlight-reel run by Ed Wesley, who spun out of a crouch with his knee just inches from the ground and bounced off several more defenders for a 17-yard score that put the Frogs up 28-0.

Wesley finished with 115 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries. He and Dalton both were on the bench for good early in the fourth quarter after Dalton's 4-yard TD pass to Antoine Hicks, who also had a 2-yard scoring run on his first carry of the season.