TCU shuts out UNLV

November 2, 2009 by James Kaikis 

The Horned Frogs beat the Rebels 41-0 to stay perfect

As expected, a tough, physical Texas Christian University team smothered the Rebels Saturday in Fort Worth, Tex.

The Horned Frogs whooped the Rebels on all sides of the ball for the entire game and beat them 41-0.
The Rebels high-powered offense was shut out for the first time in 69 games.

“I think TCU is obviously an excellent football team and they are deserving of their rankings,” said head coach Mike Sanford. “Although we wanted to beat them today, I wish them the best of luck the rest of the season. We just didn’t do the things you need to do to win a game.”

The Rebels’ offense managed 160 total yards, 40 of those coming on a quarterback run by backup Mike Clausen.

The offense stalled time and time again. No UNLV drive lasted more than six plays, leading to 11 punts, a fumble, an interception and a turnover on downs for the UNLV drive chart. UNLV managed a season-low seven first downs in the game.

UNLV quarterbacks also finished nine for 23 for 42 yards.

As for star receivers Ryan Wolfe and Phillip Payne, Wolfe was held to a season low five catches for 25 yards while Payne had one catch for four yards.

“This is by far the best defense we’ve faced all season,” Sanford said. “We were obviously not productive on offense and we’ve got to be able to score points and move the ball. We didn’t convert on third downs and you have got to be able to go that.”

As for the Rebels’ defense, they were nowhere to be found for most of the day. The Horned Frogs were able to pour on 578 total yards including 390 on the ground.

“We are excited about the win. I liked the way we did things,” TCU head coach Gary Patterson said. “For some reason, we keep turning the ball over early in the game at home, which I wish we would get over. I like the shutout that’s hard to do and now it’s time to get ready for San Diego State.”

TCU quarterback Andy Dalton finished with 178 yards passing and three touchdowns. On the ground, the Horned Frogs had 48 carries from 10 different ball carriers averaging more than 8.1 yards per rush.

Of the TCU rushers, four players averaged more than 11 yards per carry and eight players averaged more than 6.4 yards per carry.

“I like to think that, as hard as we practice and as hard as we push each other, we get a lot of rest out there,” said TCU running back Joseph Turner. “We get to come in fresh and full speed.”

Turner ended the day with 65 yards and a touchdown on 10 total carries.

The Rebels fall to 3-6 on the year while the Horned Frogs sport an 8-0 record and look to be the BCS buster this season.

“I have a lot of respect for the coaches at UNLV,” Patterson said. “Offensively, those guys ran 90 plays against Utah at home. They can do some things offensively, so I’m very excited what we were able to get done… Right now, you just take what you get. We have another victory. We are 8-0 with four left.”