TCU Wins Mountain West
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The TCU Horned Frogs won their third consecutive undefeated Mountain West Conference Championship on Saturday with a 56-9 romp over UNLV.
TCU has a conference record 24 consecutive MW wins. The Horned Frogs will leave the conference next year for the Big XII.
TCU’s 19 seniors, honored in a pre-game ceremony, extended their record win total for a class to 46 victories over the last four seasons. It’s the fourth straight year the Horned Frogs’ seniors will graduate as the winningest class in TCU history. The seniors won three straight games against top-five ranked teams, are 2-1 in bowl games, 6-2 against teams from BCSâautomatic-qualifying conferences, 23-1 at Amon G. Carter Stadium, 30-1 in Mountain West games and 46-5 overall.
With a 99-yard kickoff return by Greg McCoy and a 16-yard interception return by Kris Gardner, TCU scored two second-quarter touchdowns in a 12-second span. The Horned Frogs had two touchdowns in a 15-second stretch earlier this season against Portland State. Greg McCoy’s 99-yard kickoff return makes him the first Horned Frog since Cory Rodgers in 2005 to return two kickoffs for scores in the same season. McCoy had a 94-yard touchdown against Louisiana-Monroe.
TCU held UNLV to an 0-for-15 mark on third-down conversions. It’s the first time a Horned Frog opponent was held without a third-down conversion since last year’s 45-0 victory over Wyoming.
True freshman Deryck Gildon recorded his second punt block of the season. He’s the first Horned Frog with two punt blocks in a season since Greg Burks in 2009. Matthew Tucker scored on a 32-yard run on the first play after Gildon’s punt block. Tucker has a team-high 11 rushing touchdowns on the season. His 26 career rushing scores rank sixth all-time at TCU.
Waymon James had scoring runs of 10 and 2 yards to give him six rushing touchdowns on the season and 11 in his career. Ed Wesley’s 9-yard third-quarter scoring run was his fifth rushing touchdown of the season and 20th of his career, moving him into a tie with Aaron Brown (2005-08) and Robert Merrill (2003-05) for ninth all-time at TCU. Matt Brown’s 6-yard scoring run was his sixth rushing touchdown of the season.
TCU quarterback Casey Pachall was 15 of 22 for 185 yards. Brandon Carter led the Frog receivers with 4 catches for 80 yards.
