(Sports Network) - Sporting the fourth-longest win streak in
the Football Bowl Subdivision this week, the eighth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs
settle in at Carter Stadium in Fort Worth this weekend versus the UNLV Rebels.

TCU, which is also the top-ranked team among the Mountain West Conference
members in the BCS at No. 6 this week, has won 11 straight games at home
following a 44-6 blowout of Colorado State two weeks ago. More recently, the
Frogs leaped over nationally-ranked BYU in a battle for MWC supremacy last
Saturday in Provo, capturing a resounding 38-7 triumph to remain undefeated on
the season at 7-0.

"I don't think anyone would have predicted this," said TCU head coach Gary
Patterson after his team completely dominated BYU on the road, "and that's why
I told the players to enjoy the moment."

Heading into this week there are just seven FBS programs that have yet to lose
and while TCU is one of them, so is Boise State from over in the Western
Athletic Conference, which means the Frogs have some competition when it comes
to being recognized as a serious BCS threat.

As for the Rebels, they were carrying around with them the weight of a four-
game slide heading into action last week against New Mexico in Albuquerque,
but the squad was able to unburden itself with a 34-17 victory on the road.
The triumph served to snap what had become a 20-game losing streak on the road
in conference games, the longest such drought in program history, and was just
the third of the season for UNLV and the second against a member of the FBS.

Last season, UNLV fell hard in a 44-14 setback versus TCU, which gave the
Frogs their sixth win in seven tries in the all-time series.

Omar Clayton got back on track for the Rebels as he completed 20-of-30 passes
for 204 yards and two touchdowns in the win over New Mexico last weekend. Just
as important, Clayton did not issue a single interception and kept himself
from being sacked.

"I'm very excited about getting a win, especially getting a win on the road in
conference," noted UNLV head coach Mike Sanford after the game with UNM. "I
thought our team played with a lot of heart tonight, I thought we played
determined, I thought we played relentlessly."

Ryan Wolfe added to his spectacular UNLV career by making a team-best 11
catches for 118 yards and a touchdown in the victory. With his receptions
total, Wolfe became the MWC's all-time leading receiver with 270 catches,
surpassing the mark of 262 receptions set by San Diego State's J.R. Tolver
earlier this decade. Wolfe is also well within striking distance of becoming
the league's all-time leader in receiving yards, currently sitting in fourth
place with his 3,392 yards. Ahead of him on that list are Tolver, Jovon
Bouknight and David Anderson, the latter owning the record with 3,634 yards.

"You have to mention Ryan Wolfe being the all-time leading receiver in the
history of the Mountain West Conference, which is a great accomplishment,"
coach Sanford also noted. "And I congratulate him, I think he's an outstanding
player, and I think the best receiver that I've been around. He's just
special."

Obviously the Rebels have a number of offensive performers who can help carry
them to victory on any given Saturday, but the defense isn't doing the Sin
City squad any favors.

After eight games UNLV ranks 107th in the nation in run defense with 190.1 ypg
allowed and is 116th in pass efficiency defense with a rating of 158.19. Put
it all together and the Rebels are last in the Mountain West with 433.8 ypg
allowed overall and are giving up 32.9 ppg which is 105th in the country at
the moment.

Although, the UNLV defense is not completely devoid of strong players,
especially with someone like Jason Beauchamp laying out big hits as the team's
top tackler. A candidate for postseason accolades again, Beauchamp also leads
the program with his nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.

Comparing the defenses between these two programs is almost unfair, given just
how dominant TCU has performed against some of the tougher opponents on the
schedule. Heading into the meeting with TCU last week, the Cougars were ranked
first in the league and sixth in the nation in scoring by putting up 38.6 ppg
and still the Horned Frogs did everything right in limiting BYU to just a
single field goal.

At this point the Frogs are fifth in the nation in defense, permitting just
246.6 ypg and that's after sizing up the likes of Clemson, Air Force and the
Cougars. The Falcons are the only team from the FBS to score more than a pair
of touchdowns against TCU this season, although the Frogs did take pity on
Texas State early on and gave up a season-high 21 points to that group.
Nevertheless, opponents are still averaging a minuscule 12.7 ppg versus TCU,
tops in the conference and sixth in the country.

A consensus All-American last season after he led the nation with 15 sacks,
defensive end Jerry Hughes is at it again for the Horned Frogs with his 35
overall stops, 10.5 TFLs and nine sacks, all numbers that should have him
making a bid for prestigious postseason honors yet again.

And yet, this TCU group is so much more than just defense anymore. Against the
Cougars the squad generated 412 yards of total offense as Andy Dalton
completed 13 passes for a staggering 241 yards and three touchdowns as he
survived a pair of sacks. The unit put together a modest rushing attack with
127 yards and two touchdowns on 37 attempts. The yardage total on the ground
was by far the lowest of the season for a team that is currently averaging
211.0 ypg rushing to rank second in the conference and 13th nationally.

No stranger to making something happen with his legs again this season, Dalton
is fourth on the team with his 244 net rushing yards, one of four players with
more than 200 yards on the ground to this point. At the top of that list is
Joseph Turner who is averaging better than five yards per carry and has
visited the end zone eight times.

If the Horned Frogs were not ranked as low as 69th in the country in turnover
margin with minus-0.14 miscues per outing, it is rather scary thinking about
how great this program could be and how much more attention they would bring
to the Mountain West Conference.






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