And West Virginia is not a team that Patterson will take lightly, despite its 3-3 record and three-game losing streak. They have been close ever since. Their three games as conference foes have been decided by a combined five points, with two overtime games before the Frogs won 31-30 last season on Jaden Oberkrom’s 37-yard field goal to end regulation. Home teams won all four Big 12 games last weekend.
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“It feels like a month since we’ve been home”, coach Gary Patterson said.
There were no more 30-point games to finish the 2009 season, and the athletic director decided to make a change in the middle of the 2010 schedule.
But that was just a warmup for the fifth-ranked Horned Frogs (7-0, 4-0 Big 12), who head into their tell-tale stretch after an open date. The five teams above WVU in that category – Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State – have a combined 32-4 record.
“Winning the ballgames in front of us will speak more than anything that’s happened before”, Patterson said.
TCU’s Kolby Listenbee (7) is tackeled by West Virginia defender Dravon Henry during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in Morgantown, W.Va., Saturday, November 1, 2014.
The Mountaineers took losses at Oklahoma and Baylor in addition to falling to Oklahoma State at home.
“Always been a war, and they’re a lot better football team than 3-3”, Patterson said.
“The games we’re getting ready to play are going to speak volumes for us, for our resume”, Patterson said.
HOWARD AT HOME: West Virginia junior quarterback Skyler Howard went to high school about 15 miles from the TCU campus. But he’s not really concerned with a homecoming. “It’s just another game”. He saw family members two weeks ago, when the Mountaineers stayed in Fort Worth before their game at Baylor. The Mountaineers go with three linemen and three linebackers, while the Frogs use four linemen and two linebackers. Both teams are entering the game coming off a bye week.
TCU was second in the preseason Top 25 this year, but has been up and down in that poll. Josh Lambert’s third field goal was a 34-yarder in overtime for a 30-27 WVU victory.
It represents more than half the season so far for the Horned Frogs, and it has not been easy. Sophomore Travin Howard has 50 tackles and two forced fumbles, while freshman Montrel Wilson has 46 tackles.
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Since 2001, when West Virginia hired the offensive coordinator from Clemson and Rich Rodriguez accelerated heartbeats with promises of offenses that didn’t huddle and instead set hair on fire, the Mountaineers are 91-13 when they score at least 30 points. The Sooners have won 10 consecutive games in the series by an average margin of 26 points.
