NCAAF Game Preview - TCU at Texas Tech
Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:00 PM EST

Mer
0
Bama
56
F
UVA
28
MiaFL
44
F
Okla
41
Kans
3
F
Cit
3
Clem
61
F
Mich
10
Wisc
24
F
ULMon
14
Aub
42
F
KY
13
UGA
42
F
Ill
14
OSU
52
F
Navy
17
ND
24
F
K St
45
OkSt
40
F
TCU
27
TxTch
3
F
UCLA
23
USC
28
F
Neb
44
PSU
56
F
UCF
45
Temp
19
F
Utah
30
Wash
33
F
MissSt
28
Ark
21
F
SMU
45
Mem
66
F
Cal
14
Stan
17
F
LSU
30
Tenn
10
F
MD
7
MSU
17
F
Tuls
20
SoFL
27
F
Tex
28
WVU
14
F
NCSt
24
Wake
30
F
C Mi
42
Kent
23
F
Ohio
34
Akr
37
F
WestMI
31
NIU
35
F
E Mi
27
MiaOH
24
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Toled
66
BGSU
37
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Buff
40
Ball
24
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TnSt
6
JacSt
36
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MidTN
38
W Ky
41
F(2OT)
UNLV
38
NM
35
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Cin
20
ECU
48
F
Lib
19
ChaSo
20
F
JMU
31
Elon
3
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MIN
0
NW
39
F
Rut
0
Ind
41
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DelSt
6
FlaSt
77
F
Pitt
14
VaTec
20
F
Fres
13
Wyo
7
F
HBU
33
SamHu
53
F
Rice
21
OD
24
F
IASt
23
Bayl
13
F
Hawaii
0
UtSt
38
F
TxSt
12
ArkSt
30
F
SoAl
0
GaSo
52
F
AzSt
40
OreSt
24
F
LT
42
UTEP
21
F
UMass
16
BYU
10
F
UNCC
21
SMiss
66
F
WCU
10
UNC
65
F
SJSU
14
ColSt
42
F
Purd
24
Iowa
15
F
Syr
10
Lou
56
F
GATec
20
Duke
43
F
Hou
17
Tul
20
F
Wof
10
SCar
31
F
UAB
7
Fla
36
F
CoCar
13
Idaho
7
F
NMS
34
ULLaf
47
F
Army
49
NorTx
52
F
Ariz
28
Oreg
48
F
Marsh
7
UTSA
9
F
TxAM
31
Miss
24
F
FLInt
24
FlAtl
52
F
BC
39
UConn
16
F
MIZ
45
Vand
17
F
AF
19
Boise
44
F
NEV
23
SDSU
42
F
BGSU
31
E Mi
34
F
MiaOH
28
Ball
7
F
Kent
14
Akr
24
F
Patterson focusing only on No. 12 TCU's game at Texas Tech
Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:13 AM

TCU coach Gary Patterson insisted this week that he's only focused on winning at Texas Tech on Saturday.

He's not concerned with the fact that the No. 12 Horned Frogs (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) control their own destiny in reaching the Big 12 Championship Game and a possible rematch with Oklahoma.

He basically scoffed at the idea of major job offers from the state of Florida.

Nope, Patterson only has the Red Raiders on his mind.

"For us, it's just about Texas Tech," Patterson said during his spot on the Big 12 weekly teleconference on Monday. "None of the rest of that makes any difference if you can't win the next two."

That's a good idea, considering TCU has a two-game losing streak on the road after falling at then-No. 25 Iowa State and taking a 38-20 thumping at No. 5 Oklahoma on Saturday.

Although the Red Raiders have lost four of five, Patterson doesn't think his team can afford a hangover after the loss to the Sooners.

"(Texas Tech is) a really tough place to play," Patterson said. "So, for us, all it can be right now is just, 'How do we find a way to win against Texas Tech coming off an emotional ball game?' For us, that's the only thing we've allowed ourselves to think about."

The TCU-Texas Tech series has been fiercely competitive since the Horned Frogs came into the Big 12 in 2012.

The Red Raiders have won two overtime games, including a 27-24 double-overtime victory in Fort Worth last season. TCU has the only lopsided victory as it routed Texas Tech, 82-27, in 2014. The Horned Frogs followed up the huge win with a three-point victory in Lubbock in 2015 in which TCU running back Aaron Green caught a tipped pass in the end zone on fourth-down for the go-ahead touchdown with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Cantrell late in the fourth quarter to tie the game a year ago. Then Mahomes ran 15 yards for a score in the first overtime, all setting up kicker Clayton Hatfield's 37-yard game-winning field goal in the second overtime.

Mahomes is now in the NFL, but at least the Red Raiders have Hatfield back in action.

Texas Tech has struggled mightily in the kicking-for-points area this season, making just 7 of 15 field goal attempts and even missing three extra points. But Hatfield made a 39-yarder last week against Baylor, helping to settle the Red Raiders' nerves about that facet of the game.

"Hopefully, that kind of broke the ice for us in the kicking game," Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said on Tuesday. "Moving forward, it can be a strength instead of something we're all holding our breath about."

The Red Raiders (5-5, 2-5) have enough to worry about when they face the Horned Frogs.

TCU enters with the second-ranked rushing defense in the nation. Meanwhile, Texas Tech running back Justin Stockton missed two of the last three games with a head injury and backup Tre King sat out the fourth quarter in the Red Raiders' win over Baylor on Saturday with a leg injury.

Those factors hint that Texas Tech could be very one-dimensional, leaning heavily on the passing game this week. Kingsbury didn't say as much, but he knows there won't be much tricking TCU.

"You've got to win some individual matchups, really," Kingsbury said. "(TCU has) a defense that they're so well-coached, they're going to take away a lot of the things you try to do schematically. So you've got to have good matchups, you've got to have guys make contested plays."

The Red Raiders have been praised for their effort on defense this season as they're giving up almost 100 yards less than their per-game average of 2016. Texas Tech has also come up with 22 takeaways for a national-top-10 turnover margin of plus-10.

That's probably on Patterson's mind as his Horned Frogs didn't exactly thrive on offense against Texas Tech last season. TCU posted 418 yards of total offense versus the Red Raiders in a double-overtime loss a year ago.

Horned Frogs quarterback Kenny Hill completed 16 of 29 passes for 160 yards and an interception and got benched mid-game against the Red Raiders in 2016. So this will be another chance for Hill to demonstrate his improvement from his junior to senior season.

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