2001 Football Schedule
Big 12 Conference teams like Texas, Nebraska and 2000 National Champions Oklahoma are renowned for having some of the hardest schedules in collegiate football. But TCU head football coach Gary Patterson said he believes the Frogs’ 2001 schedule is not to be overlooked.

By John Weyand
Staff Reporter

Big 12 Conference teams like Texas, Nebraska and 2000 National Champions Oklahoma are renowned for having some of the hardest schedules in collegiate football. But TCU head football coach Gary Patterson said he believes the Frogs’ 2001 schedule is not to be overlooked.

TCU officially announced its football schedule last Thursday, listing four non-conference games and its first seven conference games as a member of Conference USA.

The Frogs’ scheduled opponents for 2001 had a combined record of 61-65 in 2000 while members of the 2000 schedule only managed a 56-85 record.

In addition, seven of the Frogs’ 11 opponents for next season had winning records last season, compared with only four of last year’s opponents.

Patterson said the 2001 schedule is an improvement over what was a challenging 2000 season.

“I feel (the 2001) schedule, with four bowl teams, is stronger than last year’s,” Patterson said. “Which included (nationally-ranked) Northwestern.”

TCU will begin the 2001 season by playing North Texas Sept. 1. Although North Texas has somewhat low attendance numbers, averaging just 14,180 a game, and a losing record in 2000, Patterson said the game had to be scheduled.

“A contract for three games was already arranged with UNT,” Patterson said. “(North Texas) came here a year and a half ago, and now it’s our turn to play them in Denton.”

The game against North Texas is one of seven played in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, including four of the first five of the season. Patterson said the increase in area games will be good for fan support.

Perhaps one of the most noticeable changes in the Frogs’ schedule is the moving of the Iron Skillet game against cross-town rival Southern Methodist to the second week of the season. The game will be played Sept. 8 instead of its traditional slot near the end of the season.

Patterson said the game’s early date was out of TCU’s control.

“Since the Frogs are in a new conference, we were not able to schedule SMU as the final game,” Patterson said. “All non-conference games are played at the start of the season.”

The Frogs’ final two non-conference games are against Marshall and Northwestern State.

Marshall, which finished the 2000 season at 7-5 and as champions of the Mid-American Conference, will come to Fort Worth Sept. 15. Northwestern State, a Division I-AA team, will play in Fort Worth Sept. 22. The Demons finished the 2000 season with a 6-5 record, but finished with four straight losses.

TCU will play its inaugural C-USA game Sept. 29 against the Houston. The game will be the Frogs’ first game of the season outside the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Houston finished second to last in C-USA with a 3-8 record.

TCU won’t play a game outside the state of Texas until Oct. 13, when they travel to New Orleans to face Tulane.

Tulane finished sixth in C-USA at 6-5, but gave Army its only win of the season in a 21-17 loss.

TCU will play its Homecoming game Oct. 20 against Army, the team with the worst 2000 record on the schedule. Army finished at 1-10, a record TCU should remember from its last season without former head coach Dennis Franchione.

Following Army, TCU will play in its first-ever Tuesday night game, a result of an agreement made with ESPN. The game, which will be nationally televised, will be against 1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl opponent East Carolina. The Pirates finished the 2000 season second in C-USA at 8-4.

Two of TCU’s last three games will be away, the first of which will be Nov. 10 at Alabama-Birmingham. The Frogs then have a bye week before their final game in Fort Worth. TCU will host the 2000 C-USA champion Louisville, which finished a 9-3 season with a loss to Mountain West Conference champion Colorado State in the Liberty Bowl.

To finish its regular season, TCU will have a rematch against 2000 Mobile Alabama Bowl opponent Southern Miss.

John Weyand
j.h.weyand@student.tcu.edu