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Sports
Nov. 01, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

TOTAL DOMINATION: TCU smothers Rebels in rout

UNLV crosses 50-yard line just four times against MWC power

By MARK ANDERSON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
More Info

TEXAS CHRISTIAN - 41
UNLV - 0

KEY: The Rebels crossed into TCU territory just four times, and the Horned Frogs gained 578 yards on offense.

NEXT: Colorado State at UNLV, 7 p.m. Saturday, The Mtn. (334), KWWN-AM (1100)

UNLV running back Channing Trotter, center, is gang-tackled by a quintet of Texas Christian defenders in the first half of the Rebels' 41-0 loss to the eighth-ranked Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday.
Photo by The Associated Press.



UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton drops back to pass against TCU during the first half Saturday. Clayton completed 8 of 21 passes for 38 yards.
Photo by The Associated Press.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Texas Christian makes a weekly habit of stopping opposing offenses, so UNLV knew it had a tremendous challenge even before Saturday's game began.

The Rebels, though, weren't just stopped. They were completely shut down, needing binoculars just to look at the Horned Frogs' end zone.

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    • Heck, forget the goal line. No. 8 TCU defended the first-down marker with seemingly equal fervor in handing the Rebels a 41-0 defeat at Amon Carter Stadium.

    UNLV reached Frogs territory only four times and never advanced past TCU's 34-yard line.

    "I don't remember ever in my career playing against as good a defense as that," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said.

    The statistics told the story:

    -- It was the first time the Rebels were shut out since a 7-0 home loss to San Diego State on Nov. 8, 2003.

    -- UNLV's seven first downs were its fewest since picking up six two years ago at TCU.

    -- The Rebels passed for 42 yards, their lowest total since gaining 40 against Arkansas in Little Rock in 2001.

    -- TCU rushed for 390 yards, second for a UNLV opponent this season only to UNR's 559 on Oct. 3.

    -- UNLV's Kyle Watson punted 11 times, the most since Gary Cook had 12 against Brigham Young in 2004.

    The Rebels (3-6, 1-4 Mountain West Conference) now have no margin for error. They must win out to get to 6-6 and become bowl eligible, that task starting next Saturday at home against Colorado State.

    TCU (8-0, 4-0) will play in the postseason somewhere, whether it's a Bowl Championship Series game or a lesser bowl. The Frogs are competing with Boise State, which defeated San Jose State 45-7 on Saturday, for a BCS bid from a non-automatic conference.

    UNLV, no doubt, would support TCU's effort.

    "They're deserving of their rankings," Sanford said.

    TCU's defense, which was ranked No. 5 entering this game, lived up to its status. Rebels quarterback Omar Clayton, who seldom had any open receivers, completed 8 of 21 passes for 38 yards.

    "If you beat one guy, there's a guy right there behind him ready to take you down," UNLV receiver Ryan Wolfe said. "That's even if the quarterback has the time to get the ball off. Their front seven gets off the football so fast."

    Making the game even more frustrating for the Rebels, they failed to take advantage of the rare opportunities they had. TCU twice fumbled in the first quarter, but UNLV lost a combined 2 yards on the ensuing drives.

    The defense had its own problems.

    TCU scored first-half touchdowns on a 75-yard pass from quarterback Andy Dalton to wide receiver Antoine Hicks and a 59-yard run by tailback Ed Wesley. Rebels defenders were there both times to make stops, but failed to wrap up.

    "We can't do that," Sanford said. "I thought our defense came back and tackled better in the second half, but we've got to keep working and keep getting better at that."

    UNLV's defense allowed 578 yards, the fourth time this season it has given up more than 500. Dalton aided TCU's running game by passing for 178 yards and three touchdowns.

    "I don't think they did anything different from what we've seen, but they definitely have the athletes to run a great offense," UNLV defensive end/linebacker Jason Beauchamp said.

    Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Read the latest UNLV football updates at lvrj.com/blogs/unlv_sports.

    HOW THEY SCORED

    UNLV 0 0 0 0 - 0
    TCU 10 10 7 14 - 41

    FIRST QUARTER
    TCU 3, UNLV 0, 10:14 -- FG Ross Evans 29. Drive: 9 plays, 57 yards, 2:35. Key play: Horned Frogs quarterback Andy Dalton completes a 21-yard pass to wide-open receiver Jeremy Kerley at UNLV's 16-yard line.

    TCU 10, UNLV 0, 4:17 -- Antoine Hicks 75 pass from Dalton (Evans kick). Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards, 0:52. Key play: Dalton rolls right and throws downfield to Hicks, who breaks UNLV safety Alex De Giacomo's tackle at the Rebels' 48 and dashes the rest of the way to the end zone.

    SECOND QUARTER
    TCU 17, UNLV 0, 13:30 -- Ed Wesley 58 run (Evans kick). Drive: 3 plays, 75 yards, 1:04. Key play: Wesley starts left, breaks a tackle and then heads to the right side and scores easily.

    TCU 20, UNLV 0, 4:58 -- FG Evans 42. Drive: 7 plays, 39 yards, 2:54. Key plays: The Frogs open the drive with three consecutive first-down runs.

    THIRD QUARTER
    TCU 27, UNLV 0, 10:52 -- Kerley 14 pass from Dalton (Evans kick). Drive: 9 plays, 57 yards, 4:01. Key play: Kerley opens the second half with a 43-yard kickoff return to the Frogs' 43.

    FOURTH QUARTER
    TCU 34, UNLV 0, 10:52 -- Wesley 21 pass from Dalton (Evans kick). Drive: 5 plays, 36 yards, 2:02. Key play: UNLV's Ryan Wolfe muffs a punt, and TCU's Kris Gardner recovers at the Rebels' 36.

    TCU 41, UNLV 0, 1:39 -- Billy Pizor 10 pass from Marcus Jackson (Evans kick). Drive: 8 plays, 61 yards, 4:53. Key play: Jackson rushes 23 yards to UNLV's 33.

    A -- 33,541.

    TEAM STATISTICS
    UNLV TCU
    First downs 7 27
    Rushes-yards 29-118 48-390
    Passing 42 188
    Comp-Att-Int 9-23-1 13-22-0
    Return Yards 0 57
    Punts-Avg. 11-41.5 3-40.3
    Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-2
    Penalties-Yards 3-23 6-89
    Time of Possession 26:46 33:14

    INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
    RUSHING -- UNLV, Clausen 7-65, Clayton 6-16, Trotter 6-12, Brogdon 3-11, Barefield 2-9, Cox 2-9, Wolfe 1-7, Thompson 1-0, Team 1-(minus 11). TCU, Wesley 7-86, Turner 10-64, Tucker 9-59, Dalton 8-53, Jackson 3-40, Dawson 3-33, Christian 2-25, Kerley 2-14, Fort 3-12, Cavness 1-4.

    PASSING -- UNLV, Clayton 8-21-0-38, Clausen 1-2-1-4. TCU, Dalton 12-21-0-178, Jackson 1-1-0-10.

    RECEIVING -- UNLV, Wolfe 5-25, Johnson 2-12, Payne 1-4, Trotter 1-1. TCU, Kerley 5-43, Christian 2-8, Hicks 1-75, Wesley 1-21, B.Johnson 1-14, Pizor 1-10, Tucker 1-9, Clay 1-8.

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    Tom in Summerlin wrote on November 02, 2009 08:03 AM: Why even waste the fuel money on the plane to Fort Worth? Just mail in a forfeit and save the environment. I really thought there would be an improvement this year. I was wrong, as usual.


    Matt Pomposelli wrote on November 01, 2009 03:26 PM: I'll say it again, UNLV is dumping games and has since they reintroduced Nevada schools sports betting. Having bet on and/or watched just about every UNLV game since then I can tell you innocent people that would never believe such a thing that they are conclusively betting against themselves. If you did the calculations the odds of Vegas still not being able to adjust these spreads is about the same as OJ being innocent.


    Ro H8tr wrote on November 01, 2009 12:36 PM: ro wrote on November 01, 2009 03:28 AM: It probably cost this team around 30 grand of students money to fly out to Forth Worth and play a game it had no chance of winning. Not only did they no win but they embarrassed the school again. Thank you for the people that made the decision this week not to return this coach next year. I wonder when they will let the community know?

    Uh, Ro, did you know the school's take was probably over $100,000 for the game? Win or lose, it's a profit deal. MORON.


    Dave wrote on November 01, 2009 12:35 PM: "I don't remember ever in my career playing against as good a defense as that," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said.

    Hmm. Mighty TEXAS STATE, a non-division 1 school scored 21 points against TCU this season. Sanford, it's time to go bye bye!


    End the Program??? wrote on November 01, 2009 12:22 PM: Sanford needs to go but with teams like Utah and TCU making BCS games UNLV and every other team in the conference gets a huge check that will more than cover the 30k to fly to Dallas. 2nd if you drop the football team the basketball team could not longer be in the MWC. Will never happen so it is wasted breath. Spend a little more money and get a good coach.


    Not a TCU fan, but... wrote on November 01, 2009 08:17 AM: ...have to say TCU is very impressive. Seems like they're a breeding ground for the likes of LaDanian Tomlinson and such. Maybe next time UNLV.


    Perez Hilton Is A Loser wrote on November 01, 2009 07:22 AM: What a total beat down that was


    It's time wrote on November 01, 2009 06:24 AM: it's time to end the football program at UNLV. There are better things to do with the budget than fund a losing team that can't win.


    rick wrote on November 01, 2009 05:25 AM: It appears that UNLV execs. must be insane.
    Even with a coaching change the environment is not conducive to being in Div. 1. Best result is to drop football.
    That being said, and obviously something they CAN'T get out of, become an independent and schedule games on a pay-
    per-view basis and take the loses on the field for payment to the athletic department. Short of this, nothing will change.


    ro wrote on November 01, 2009 03:28 AM: It probably cost this team around 30 grand of students money to fly out to Forth Worth and play a game it had no chance of winning. Not only did they no win but they embarrassed the school again. Thank you for the people that made the decision this week not to return this coach next year. I wonder when they will let the community know?


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