NFL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA Sports Betting Articles and Sports News
Past featured sports articles and sports commentary from the OB Betting Experts. Stay up to date with the sports betting industry articles and weekly news of the OB Experts. Check daily for recent postings of articles and news for sports betting picks
Search all Basketball Handicapper Articles and Football Sports Betting Articles:MLB Baseball | NBA Basketball | NCAA Basketball | NFL Football | NCAA Football | NHL Hockey
View All Sports Handicapper Articles
2009 TCU Horned Frogs look to Make History
Written by Greg Michaels on 11/15/2009
Some young people may not know it, but Davey OBrien isnt just the name of trophy given every year to the best college quarterback. He was actually a living, breathing football players. And one of the best. Along with Slingin Sammy Baugh, OBrien helped bring Texas Christian University one of its two national championships in school history. That was over 70 years ago. With the current BCS system, that is going to be a hard feat to duplicate, but if there was ever a chance to get close to repeating history, the time is now. The Horned Frogs, led by coach Gary Patterson, whom many around football call a defensive genius, are 9-0 this season and face Utah in what is the biggest game since those former legends roamed the gridiron in the old Southwest Conference. Having only lost two games in their last 25, the Frogs are one of the hottest teams in football. One of those two losses came against their Mountain West rival Utah. If the Frogs, the 4th ranked team in the BCS, want to keep their slim national title hopes alive, they will have to exorcise the demons of a year ago, when their perfect season was derailed by the Utes. Not only is a perfect season at stake, so is the opportunity to play in a BCS Bowl game, the financial ramifications of which are massive. Last season the Frogs played in the Poinsettia Bowl, a game that earned them and their conference $750 thousand, if they were to make it to a BCS Bowl game, the payout would be 20 times that much, somewhere in the $17 million range. But there is a lot more at stake than money here. There is pride, there is perfection, and there is history, as the Frogs try and match the 1938 team, the only one in school history that did not lose or tie a single game. (If the Frogs get past the Utes, they will face a sub-.500 Wyoming team and a winless New Mexico squad.) "Our ultimate goal is to end the season undefeated," TCU quarterback Andy Dalton said. "We have a lot of potential but we have to keep going out and playing like this." The Frogs know they will have their hands full with a Utah team that went on to embarrass Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last year after derailing TCUs season. The 16th ranked Utes may be out of BCS contention, but if they beat the Frogs, they will likely win another conference championship and position themselves for a top 10 finish. So Utah will definitely not be expected to roll over. And unlike many teams in the Big 12 conference that surrounds them, the Frogs fate lies in the hands of their vaunted defense, led by Patterson on the sidelines and All-American defensive end Jerry Hughes, a former high school running back whom Patterson converted to defense. The Frogs may not get the headlines that Alabama and Texas get when it comes to defense, but their squad is equally impressive. The Killer Frogs, who will be playing with special helmets that feature a blood rain stain running down the center stripe Saturday night, rank third nationally, allowing less than 250 yards per game, and they have been extremely stingy of late, only giving up 25 points in their last four games. While their defense gets most of the recognition, however, the Frogs, led by the dual-threat Dalton have averaged 460 yards on offense, a stat not lost on Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. "If you look at the stats, they are at or are near the top in all three phases of the game," Whittingham said. "Coach Patterson has done a great job assembling talent and I think they do a great job coaching them. There is no question that this is the best football team we have faced from them to this point." Although not receiving as much attention as they did a year ago, the Utes are well equipped to pose a threat to the Frogs. Since their only loss of the season at an impressive Oregon the Utes have held every opponent to under 20 points, so you can expect a low scoring affair in Ft. Worth. But the Utes will have the handicap of starting quarterback Jordan Wynn for only the second time. While he looked impressive against New Mexico last week, the Frogs have a polar opposite record of the Lobos and the crowd will be a completely different story. The Frogs have sold out Amon G. Carter stadium for only the second time in the past 25 years, back when Eric Dickerson and the Pony Express used to make regular visits. The fans and alumni, often distracted by the neighboring Dallas Cowboys, know that this year is different. And with a win Saturday night, history could have a chance of repeating itself.
Pages:
|