TCU Horned Frogs at SMU Mustangs, Gerald Ford Stadium, Dallas, TX
Friday, September 24, 2010, 8:00 pm EST, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: TCU -17 1/2
Current Line: TCU -17
Opening Total:54 1/2
Current Total: 54 1/2
Money Line: TCU -1000/ SMU +700
Gary Patterson leads his TCU Horned Frogs in Dallas as -17 point road favorites on the college football betting odds to take on June Jones and the arch-rival SMU Mustangs. The winner of this Metroplexrivalry wins the Iron Skillet trophy. TCU has dominated the series recently winning 9 out of 10 games straight-up. And this year the Horned Frogs are ranked number 4 in the country, and are a 17 point favorite. However, the Frogs should not get cocky and overlook SMU. Besides being a rivalry game, SMU is improving. They won their first bowl game in almost 30 years last year against Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl. This year they are 2-1 with victories over a decent UAB team and the Pac-10’s Washington St. Granted, Washington St is awful and may be the worst team among the 6 BCS automatic qualifying conferences. The one loss was a narrow loss in Lubbuckto Texas Tech 35-27. So SMU has the talent to at least compete with TCU.
Frogs quarterback Andy Dalton has a 161.4 passer rating so far this season, fourthbest in the country. He has thrown for 624 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions so far this season on 53 completions out of 71 attempts. As good as Dalton has been the running game is even better led byEd Wesley with47 carries for 384 yards and 4 touchdowns. Dalton has even contributed 113 yards and 3 touchdown runs of his own. The Frogs are averaging almost 280 yards a game on the ground, good for ninth in the country. Receivers Jeremy Kerleyand Bart Johnson have been Dalton’s top targets this season. both have 13 catches, but Kerleyhas three touchdown catches. TCU also has a dominant defense to go along with their high powered offense. The defense is only giving up 227 yards a game, and less than 13 points a game. The defense is ranked number 4 in the country. After a close call against #24 Oregon St to open the season, TCU has played in two blowouts, beating Tennessee Tech 62-7 and Baylor 45-10.
SMU is 2-1 this season, but if you look at the stats you wonder how that is. They are ranked 53rd in passing, rushing, and scoring offense. The Mustangs are ranked 55th in scoring defense. While the stats aren’t that impressive the Mustangs are a tough grittyteam who can make life difficult for teams. Quarterback Kyle Padron has thrown for 643 yards 8 touchdowns and three interceptions on 58/105 throws. You would expect a team using the run and shoot to average more than 208 yards a game passing, but Coach Jones wants to run a more balanced attack than he did at Hawaii. The Mustangs are averaging 165 yards per game on the ground, led by Zach Line who has 276 yards and three touchdowns so far this season. The Mustangs defense has been decent this year, but Texas Tech did put up a ton of yards and points.
SMU hasn’t had much success against TCU in recent years, but did beat the Frogs in 2005. That was also their last victory over a ranked opponent, as TCU was ranked #22 at the time. The Mustangs would love to repeat that success this year and reclaim the Iron Skillet. Weather could be a factor as there is a 40 percent chance of rain. Bettors should keep an eye on the weather reports as it might slow down these two offenses.
Maddux Sports is also still looking at this game and will release a play if we have one in the morning. Currently on a 18-6 college football pick run tonights play should be money in the bank.
