Andy Dalton: Mountain West Counference Player of the Week

TCU quarterback Andy Dalton has been named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Saturday's 51-10 victory over New Mexico.

It's the third time this season Dalton has received the league's weekly honor.

Dalton totaled 273 yards of offense and five touchdowns as the Horned Frogs improved to 12-0 for the first time in program history and clinched the outright Mountain West Conference championship. TCU is in line for its first appearance in a BCS bowl.

A junior from Katy, Texas, Dalton completed 15-of-24 passes for 228 yards and four touchdowns against the Lobos. The four scoring tosses tied a career high set in last year's 54-7 win over Wyoming.

Dalton's 62- and 20-yard scoring strikes to Antoine Hicks came in a span of 12 seconds in the second quarter. Dalton and Bart Johnson connected on touchdown passes of 17 and 24 yards.

Dalton ran for 45 yards on nine carries, including an 8-yard scoring run.

Dalton earned his 29th victory as TCU¹s starting quarterback, tying him with Sam Baugh (29-7-2, .789, 1934-36) for the most in Horned Frog history. Dalton is 29-6 (.829).

The 228 passing yards gave Dalton a new single-season high of 2,484, bettering his previous best of 2,459 as a redshirt freshman in 2007. He also went over 7,000 career yards and is now at 7,185, just 186 shy of passing Max Knake (7,370, 1992-95) for the top spot in TCU history.

Dalton, sixth nationally with a 159.6 passing efficiency rating, has a 62.4 completion percentage that is on pace to set a TCU single-season record. He has 22 touchdown passes with just five interceptions and is fourth on the Horned Frogs with 522 yards rushing on a 4.9 per carry average.

Dalton appears on the watch list for the Manning Award, honoring the nation's top quarterback.

Jerry Hughes a Lott Trophy Finalist

The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has named TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes a finalist for the sixth-annual Lott Trophy.

The Lott Trophy is the first college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

Hughes is extremely involved in the community. Among a myriad of activities, he has been a mentor at the Fortress Youth Development Center in Fort Worth. He also routinely speaks to elementary and middle-school kids while volunteering at youth football clinics. Hughes is on pace to graduate this spring, in four years, with a degree in communications.

A 2008 consensus All-American, Hughes received a Local Hero Award from Bank of America last month for his work in the community. He was honored with local leaders at a luncheon at the Dallas Cowboys' stadium in Arlington.

Hughes has 15 tackles for loss, including 11 1/2 sacks, in leading No. 4 TCU (12-0, 8-0) to the cusp of its first BCS appearance.

Hughes is also a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Rotary Lombardi Award and Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.

The other three Lott Trophy finalists are Eric Berry of Tennessee, Ndaumkong Suh of Nebraska and Rolando McClain of Alabama. The Lott Trophy banquet will be held Dec. 13 at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach, Calif., and be televised live on Fox Sports West. The winner will be announced that night.

Sponsored by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation in Newport Beach, the award is given to the player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity.

Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis was last year's Lott Trophy recipient.

TCU Caps off Undefeated Season by Destroying New Mexico 51-10

*TCU (12-0, 8-0) clinched the outright Mountain West Conference championship. The Horned Frogs have their first conference title since 2005, their first season in the MWC. TCU has won or shared in 15 conference championships in its history.

*The Horned Frogs are 12-0 for the first time in their history. It’s the second 12-win season for TCU. The 1935 national championship team finished 12-1. The 2009 campaign marks the Horned Frogs’ first 12-win regular season.

*TCU has its first undefeated regular season since the 1938 national championship team went 10-0 before closing its campaign with an 11-0 record after a 15-7 win over Carnegie Tech in the Sugar Bowl. It’s the second undefeated and untied regular season in TCU history.

*The Horned Frogs’ seniors picked up their 42nd victory, making them the winningest class in TCU history. They are 42-9. The previous win record was 41 set by last year’s seniors.

*TCU extended its winning streak to 14 games, tying a school record set over 70 years ago. The 1937 team won its final three games before the 1938 squad went 11-0 en route to the national championship.

*The Horned Frogs won their 14th consecutive home game and improved to 56-6 in their last 62 home dates dating back to 1999.

*Today’s crowd of 41,738 enabled TCU to set a single-season total attendance and per-game record. This year’s total attendance of 229,121 for six games averaged to 38,187.

*The Horned Frogs’ 51 points gave them a new single-season school record for points scored with 488. TCU entered the game having tied the previous mark, set last year, with 437 points.

*With 430 yards of total offense, TCU now has 5,613 yards on the year to set a single-season school record. The previous mark was 5,581 in 2003.

*TCU improved to 62-1 under head coach Gary Patterson when allowing 17 points or less.

*The Horned Frogs have scored at least 38 points in a school-record seven consecutive games.

*TCU topped 50 points for the third time in the last four games and the fourth time this season.

*TCU scored in its 215th consecutive game, the third-longest active streak in the nation and 13th all-time.

*TCU had five takeaways and now has 13 in the last four games.

*TCU was plus-3 in turnover margin today and is now 45-1 when ahead (32-1) or even (13-0) in that category the last five seasons.

*The Horned Frogs had a halftime lead (30-10) for the 11th time in 12 games this season.

*The Horned Frogs opened the game with a lead of at least 10-0 for the sixth time this season and 17th time in their last 25 games.

*TCU recorded a safety for the first time since last year’s 54-7 win over Wyoming.

2009 Mountain West Conference Champions!!!!

I Really Need These Shoes in My Life...

So, I posted the other day about the limited edition Nike Pro Combat packs they were releasing today in NYC. This guy on eBay has a TCU and Virginia Tech pack on sale for $3,000. I don’t know what the original price was, but that is ridiculous!

Here is my problem though…the shoes that came with it are sooo AWESOME! I hear there was only around 80 pair or so made, unfortunately it doesn’t look like I will get my hands on any. Here are some pictures of the TCU Nike Air Trainer 1’s.

(Click on image to see larger picture)

I might have found somewhat of a solution though…The Nike id store has the Air Trainer 1’s available to customize, so I put these together which I might have to buy. They look alike, but the cool TCU logos and stuff aren’t available to put on the shoes.

I really might have to get these sometime soon. Not sure yet…

Horned Frog River

The Dedication of “Horned Frog River”

Turning Trinity River through Fort Worth “TCU Purple” and renaming it “Horned Frog River” through mayoral proclamation.

Date: Friday, Nov. 27
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Fishing Pier at Trinity Park (location of Mayfest)
Noteworthy: River will be turned “TCU Purple” and renamed “Horned Frog River”

The Trinity River will be turned “purple” through Fort Worth’s Trinity Park and an honorary mayoral proclamation will be made by Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief for the renaming of the river “Horned Frog River” in celebration of the TCU football team's Mountain West Conference championship and pursuit of a BCS bowl.

"TCU football has made the entire city of Fort Worth extremely proud of its efforts this season,” said Mayor Mike Moncrief. “While we know there is one huge game to go on Saturday, the city of Fort Worth, in conjunction with Tarrant Regional Water District and Streams and Valleys, wanted to show our support of the Frogs in a big way.

"Therefore, on the banks of our beautiful river, now displaying the bright purple color that signifies our tremendous and citywide pride, this section of the Trinity River will be known as ‘Horned Frog River’ until the Frogs’ season is over. Clearly, ‘Purple Fever’ runs through it: Our City and now the River.”

The food-coloring type dye being used to turn “Horned Frog River” TCU purple was donated by Streams and Valleys, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to the beautification and recreational development of the Trinity River. The dye-coloring process will begin early Friday morning and should be “TCU Purple” by the time of the 10 a.m. news conference.

The dedication of “Horned Frog River” and Frog support rally will be attended by Mayor Mike Moncrief, Tarrant Regional Water District General Manager Jim Oliver and representatives of Streams and Valleys and TCU Athletics.