Frogs look to repeat last year’s victory
By Danny Gillham
Sports Editor

In positioning for a conference title, the Frogs are optimistic about their chances heading into Saturday’s game with Louisville.

“We’ve been talking since the beginning of the year about getting ourselves in the position to where we can play a team like Louisville to have a chance for a conference title,” head coach Gary Patterson said.

Save a fourth quarter meltdown against Cincinnati in the season opener, and the team would have an undefeated record. The team has reeled off five consecutive games, and are allowing just 16.2 points a game to the opposing team.

That’s why the Frogs (5-1, 2-1 C-USA) are pretty confident heading into the game with the Cardinals and the meat of their conference schedule, .

“It’s exciting,” junior defensive end Bo Schobel said. “We control our own destiny, and we’ll go like we play.”

Despite being 5-1, it can be argued that the previous games were against teams that were below-par. TCU schedule is ranked 116th out of 117 in strength of schedule by (www.teamrankings.com), as the team’s opponents’ combined record is 7-31.

The team now plays the Cardinals, the defending Conference USA champions.
TCU pulled off an upset of Louisville last year at Amon Carter Stadium, 37-22. The win was the first of two that made the Frogs bowl eligible, and gave the Cardinals their one loss in conference play last season. The win also knocked Louisville out of the top 20 in the national polls.

Now the situation is different this year, as both teams are meeting earlier in the season.

The game is also equally important to both squads, as they are each right in the thick of the conference title hunt.

Sophomore linebacker Martin Patterson said despite being underdogs on paper, the Frogs have reason to be confident.

“It does give you a little bit of an edge, because you won last year,” he said. “So you have that confidence that you can do it again. I’m sure they have confidence, they’re defending champions, and we’re trying to get there.”

Senior linebacker LaMarcus McDonald said when focusing on Saturday’s game, last year’s game is exactly that — last year’s.

“We beat those guys pretty bad last year, but that’s not for us to talk about,” McDonald said. “We’re worried about this year.”

While the Cardinals returned just five starters on offense, one of the returnees is quarterback Dave Ragone. The 6-foot-4, 250 pound lefty was a pre-season Heisman Trophy Candidate, and is the leader of the talented Louisville team.

Schobel said the team is well aware of the challenge ahead.

“They’re a great football team, and you got to think of it as that,” Schobel said. “If you think any less you’re gonna get beat.”

Danny Gillham