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There will be many eyes looking at Fort Worth, TX on Saturday.
Earlier this week, College Gameday announced that they will broadcast their Saturday pregame show live from the Campus Commons at Texas Christian University.
The (9-0, 5-0) Horned Frogs of TCU have their biggest game of the season and perhaps the biggest game in their school’s history.
With only three games left in the regular season, TCU continues to get closer and closer to being a BCS crasher.
Standing in their way is the last ranked team that TCU has left on their schedule, the No. 16 Utah Utes (8-1, 5-0).
After relieving Terrance Cain against Wyoming three weeks ago, Utah’s true freshman quarterback Jordan Wynn will remain the starter in the team’s biggest game of the season.
In his first start for the Utes last week, he led the team to a blowout 45-14 win against New Mexico. He finished 18-of-28 with 297 yards and two touchdowns.
Wynn is not the only freshman that Utah will have a significant offensive role against the Horned Frogs. Lining up behind Wynn in the backfield will be a redshirt freshman running back, Sausan Shakerin.
Shakerin had his best game of the season last week against the Lobos. He had 16 carries for 100 yards and one touchdown. Shakerin also had three catches for 34 yards and a score.
Shakerin will have some help in the backfield. Junior running back Eddie Wide will be Utah’s featured back. The junior Wide is coming off his best game of the year last week against New Mexico. He had 145 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. For Wide, it was his sixth consecutive 100-yard game, good enough to set a school-record.
However, it will not be easy against an outstanding TCU defense. The Horned Frog defense has giving up only 25 points in their last four games. Teams are only averaging three yards per rush attempt against the Frogs, and they have only given up three rushing touchdowns all season.
The TCU defense is only behind Texas and Florida in yards allowed per game with 240.6, and surrenders just 11.2 points per game, putting them in the top four among all FBS teams. TCU is also in the top four having giving up only 1,358 passing yards all season. Needless to say, it will be a tall order for Wynn and the Utes, especially since the game is in Fort Worth.
The Horned Frogs will hope to extend their 12-game home winning streak to a baker’s dozen on Saturday. It’s a streak that began after Utah defeated the Frogs in Fort Worth 27-20 on Oct. 18, 2007.
The matchup between these two teams has become a good rivalry in the Mountain West Conference. It was last year that the shoe was on the other foot and the Horned Frogs were trying to derail the Utes’ shot at crashing the BCS. Utah went on to win 13-10 on a game-winning touchdown with only 48 seconds left in the game.
Utah has won six straight since loosing 31-24 to the Oregon Ducks on Sept. 19, holding their opponents under 20 points during their win streak.
A win by Utah not only would derail TCU’s BCS train, but it would also tie them with TCU for the best record in the Mountain West Conference. Then, if Utah wins their remaining games, they would win the tie-breaker with the Horned Frogs and be champions of the Mountain West for the second straight season.
Will history repeat itself in this rivalry? Will the home team win and push the Frogs that much closer to securing a BCS berth? Or will a true freshman find a way to lead Utah to another Mountain West Conference championship? All I know is that it should be a great game.
(Sources: ESPN Utah vs. TCU Preview, Rivals.com)
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