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Friday Fast Facts – TCU Week
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Leading off …
— Your “T.I.P.S” for Colorado at TCU, my weekly written preview, along with my predictions for CU’s second trip to the state of Texas (hoping for a better result than the Houston game), can be found here.
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The Big Picture …
— Familiar Foes? … This weekend will just the third time CU and TCU have met. The two teams met in non-conference play in a home-and-home series in 2022 and 2023, with the road team winning both games;
— Black Out … This time, it’s for the other guys. TCU has designated the CU game as a “Black out”;
— Watch the scoreboard … In the Coach Prime era, when the Buffs score over 30 points in a game, CU is 13-3 (with a ten-game winning streak, including wins this September over Delaware and Wyoming). When the Buffs score less than 30 points in a game, however, CU is 2-12;
— The ESPN Power Index … Last weekend, CU was a 6.5-point underdog at home to No. 25 BYU, with the ESPN Power Index giving the Cougars a 77.3% chance at defeating the Buffs. This weekend, CU is a 13.5-point underdog to TCU, with the ESPN Power Index a 79.2% chance at victory … with CU given a 20.8% chance at winning;
— Broadcast info … The 5:30 p.m., MT, game will be telecast nationally by Fox, with Connor Onion on the play-by-play, Robert Griffin III on color, and Alexa Landestoy on the sidelines … 850 KOA radio will have Mark Johnson with the play-by-play, and former CU head coach Gary Barnett as the analyst. The lead in game for the Buffs v. Horned Frogs on Fox will be a MLB playoff game, featuring the Toronto Blue Jays hosting the New York Yankees (starting at 2:00 p.m., MT, Saturday).
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Player Notes …
— Dre’lon Miller … CU’s Swiss Army knife has lined up at slot receiver, wide receiver, inline, in the backfield and as a wildcat quarterback so far this season. With running backs Dekalon Taylor and Simeon Price listed as “Out” for the game, it would not be a surprise to see Dre’lon Miller at a number of positions against TCU;
— M*A*S*H Unit … In this week’s Big 12 “Player Participation Chart”, no fewer than 26 Buffs made the list (TCU has half as many, with 13). Now, CU does list eight of the 26 as “Probable”, and over half 15 Buffs listed as “Out” have been out for the season for some time. Still, having a third of the roster on the injury report can’t be considered great;
— Big Byard … Tawfiq Byard: The South Florida transfer leads all Big 12 defensive backs in tackles and is third in the league overall. He leads the team with 37 tackles, 32 of which have come in the last three games. Older brother Kevin
plays in the NFL for the Chicago Bears.
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— Colorado and TCU …
— Natty Buddies … Of the current members of the Big 12, only three teams own national championships, , the only other Big 12 teams with national titles are BYU (1984) and TCU (1938). The Buffs played the Cougars last weekend; the Horned Frogs this weekend;
— Colorado v. TCU … The Buffs and Horned Frogs have only met twice in history, with a home-and-home series in 2022 and 2023. While now conference foes, the first two games in the series were non-conference affairs. In 2022, TCU showed the nation just how terrible the Buffs were going to be that fall, dominating CU in a 38-13 rout. The Buffs would go on to suffer four more routs (by an average score of 44.5-13.5) before Karl Dorrell was shown the door;
— Colorado v. TCU, historically … TCU actually claims two national championships, one in the AP era (1938), and one just before (1935). The 1935 claim, though, is fairly dubious. In the last year before the AP poll winner became the recognized national champion, there were no fewer than 16 different polls, and TCU was named first in exactly one: The Williamson system … and only co-champions (with LSU) at that. Minnesota was the consensus national champion, coming in first in nine polls (SMU, which defeated TCU at the end of the season, was No. 1 in six polls).
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— The last time … September 2, 2023 … at TCU … Colorado 45, No. 17 TCU 42
Colorado shocked the college football world with a 45-42 upset victory on the road against No. 17 TCU. Head coach Deion Sanders silenced his critics by leading the Buffs to a win over a Horned Frog team which was coming off of a national championship game appearance. The Buffs, a 20.5-point underdog, led throughout much of the game, and withstood comeback after comeback by the Horned Frogs, with a stop on fourth down with under a minute to play sealing the win.
“We were just preaching one stop,” Coach Prime said. “Just one dern stop. I always had confidence because I knew as long as we had the ball, Shedeur was gonna get us down there. But we just needed to stop.”
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders was impressive in leading the Buffs to victory. In his first start at CU, Sanders had a school-record 510 yards passing, completing 38-of-47 attempts for four touchdowns and no interceptions. Freshman running back Dylan Edwards scored four touchdowns, with one on the ground and three through the air, including a 75-yard score to open the third quarter, and a 46-yarder in the fourth quarter for the game winner. Edwards finished with 135 yards receiving on only five receptions – the highest receiving total by a running back in school history. Three other CU receivers topped the 100-yard mark, with Travis Hunter going for 119 on 11 receptions, Xavier Weaver going for 118 yards on six receptions, with Jimmy Horn collecting 11 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown.
“I knew we was gonna do this,” Shedeur Sanders said. “The scoreboard is just telling y’all that’s what’s going on, but you didn’t believe. Nobody believed that we was gonna do that.”
… Continue reading Game Story here …
… My Essay for the game, “I Don’t Believe What I Just Saw“, can be found here …
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— Getting to Know TCU … Notes and Numbers …
– Someone will end the night unhappy … TCU is aiming to avoid their first 0-2 start in Big 12 play since 2013. Similarly, CU (0-2) is looking for their first conference victory and to avoid an 0-3 start in conference play for the first time since 2017;
— So what is a “Horned Frog”? … The Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) is the largest of 15 species of horned lizards found in the United States. You may hear the name horned frog or horned toad, which originates from the creature’s short snout, round body and pronounced stance that makes them look like a frog or toad.
So, how did the horned frog become associated with TCU in the first place?
It started back in 1897 when the yearbook staff was looking for a catchy name to use as the title for the book. The football team was introduced the year before, and legend has it that the field was covered in horned frogs, leading to the mascot choice;
– Holding Hoover … For just the fourth time as a starter (23 starts), TCU quarterback Josh Hoover did not throw a touchdown pass in last weekend’s 27-24 loss to Arizona State;
– Sonny Dykes … TCU head coach Sonny Dykes has led programs at SMU (2018-21), Cal (2013-16), and Louisiana
Tech (2010-12). In all four stops, Dykes has led the program to the postseason, making him one of just six active head coaches to take four different schools to a bowl game. The others are Hugh Freeze, Butch Jones, Brian Kelly, Lane Kiffin, and Rich Rodriguez.
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Big 12 Notes …
— Four Big 12 teams ranked … The Big 12 Conference is back up four football programs in the latest Associated Press Top 25, even with No. 24 TCU falling out.
- Texas Tech, which was idle, rose one spot to No. 11. Iowa State stayed at No. 14, while BYU rose two spots (to No. 23) after beating CU, 24-21. Arizona State, meanwhile, rejoined the poll (at No. 25) for the first time since losing to Mississippi State in Week Two;
- TCU was ranked for the first time this season, but fell out again after losing, 27-24, on the road to Arizona State.
— Big 12 This-and-That …
- BYU, Houston, Iowa State and Texas Tech give the Big 12 four teams with 4-0 starts to the season for the first time since 2015. The Big 12 has four of the 20 undefeated FBS programs entering Week Six, tied for the second most of any conference;
- Baylor, Cincinnati, Kansas and Utah all eclipsed 525 yards of offense last week, no other FBS conference had more than one program achieve the feat;
- Former Buff wide receiver Jordyn Tyson has caught a touchdown in all five games this year, the longest streak by an Arizona State player to begin a season since Keith Poole in 1996 (six). The last Big 12 player with a longer such streak was Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb in 2019 (six).
— Big 12 lines …
From DraftKings …
The Big 12 …
Friday, October 3rd
- West Virginia at No. 23 BYU … 8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN … BYU is a 19.5-point home favorite …
Saturday, October 4th
- No. 14 Iowa State at Cincinnati … 10:00 a.m., MT, ESPN2 … Cincinnati is a 1.5-point home favorite …
- Kansas State at Baylor … 10:00 a.m. MT, ESPN+ … Baylor is a 6.5-point home favorite …
- Oklahoma State at Arizona … 1:00 p.m., MT, TNT … Arizona is a 20.5-point home favorite …
- No. 11 Texas Tech at Houston … 5:00 p.m., MT, ESPN … Houston is a 11.5-point home underdog …
- Colorado at TCU … 5:30 p.m., MT, Fox … TCU is a 13.5-point home favorite …
- Kansas at UCF … 5:30 p.m., MT, ESPN2 … UCF is a 5.5-point home underdog …
- … Idle … Arizona State … Utah …
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