TCU Defeats Air Force 38-7 To Stay Unbeaten

Fort Worth, TX (Sports Network) - Ed Wesley carried the ball 28 times for 209 yards and two scores, as the fourth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs kept their perfect record intact with a 38-7 victory over the Air Force Falcons in Mountain West Conference play at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Andy Dalton completed 11-of-20 passes for 185 yards, a touchdown, and an interception for the Horned Frogs (8-0, 4-0 MWC), who have won 21 straight regular-season games dating back to the 2008 season. Dalton also carried the ball seven times for 93 yards and a score.

Tim Jefferson connected on 3-of-7 passes for 47 yards for the Falcons (5-3, 3-2), who have lost two in a row since a three-game winning streak. Jefferson also carried the ball nine times for 39 yards and a score.

Air Force Vs. TCU: Ed Wesley Increases TCU Lead To 38-7.

TCU’s Ed Wesley made this game even more of a blowout with a 13-yard rushing touchdown. The Falcons have yet to score since the first quarter.

Air Force Vs. TCU: Matthew Tucker Puts TCU Up 31-7

Running back Matthew Tucker rushed for a six-yard touchdown as time expired in the third quarter to build TCU’s lead to 31-7. Air Force will need a miracle to pull of the comeback.

Air Force Vs. TCU: Ed Wesley Adds To TCU Lead, 24-7

Air Force was unable to score on its first possession of the second half, but TCU wasted no time once they took control of the ball. Ed Wesley capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive with an eight-yard run for a touchdown.

Air Force Vs. TCU: Andy Dalton Connects With Jeremy Kerley For A Touchdown

After Tim Jefferson punted the ball for 50 yards, TCU quarterback Andy Dalton led the Horned Frogs to another touchdown. During the middle of the drive, Dalton and Antoine Hicks hooked up for a 38-yard reception, but it was an eight-yard touchdown reception that put TCU up, 17-7.

Air Force Vs. TCU: Ross Evans Kicks TCU To 10-7 Lead

TCU took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter on a 30-yard field goal by Ross Evans.

Air Force Vs. TCU: Tim Jefferson Ties Game At Seven

Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson led the Falcons to a touchdown on a 10-play, 89-yard drive. Out of the ten plays, nine were rushing attempts. Jefferson had two rushes for 19 yards and 16 yards, respectively. The latter was the rush that tied the game at seven. Jefferson made the only pass to bring the Falcons into the red zone, setting up the rushing touchdown two plays later.

Air Force Vs. TCU: Horned Frogs Take Early 7-0 Lead On Andy Dalton Rushing TD

The TCU Horned Frogs jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after quarterback Andy Dalton led the team 71 yards to the end zone. Dalton scored the first touchdown of the game on a five-yard rush.

Air Force Fullback Jared Tew Out For Six Weeks With A Broken Leg

Air Force will be missing its starting fullback Jared Tew who broke his right fibula in the first quarter of the Falcons' loss against San Diego State. On most teams the fullback is mainly a blocker and gets a few token carries, but in the Air Force triple option attack the fullback is important. The fullback dive is a key element in the Falcon option offense and can set up other plays by faking the dive to set up an option to the outside.

Tew is second on the team in rushing with 540 yards and three scores and he will be sorely missed. The backup to Tew is Nathan Walker, who is a senior with plenty of experienced and has four touchdowns of his own this year, but the issue comes after Walker where there is little depth.  The current back is senior Ryan Southworth, but he has only four carries on the year and behind him is freshman Brent Michaels.

The injury to Tew could play a key factor in Air Force's game against TCU on Saturday, especially if they have to bring in another fullback besides Walker for an extended period of time.

Air Force Goes On The Road To Take On #5 TCU

(Sports Network) — One of four teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision with a record of 7-0 entering play this week, the Horned Frogs of TCU find themselves ranked fourth in the AP poll and fifth in the first installment of the BCS rankings as they host the Air Force Falcons in Mountain West Conference play at Amon G. Carter Stadium this weekend.

The Horned Frogs, who have won 20 straight regular-season games dating back to the 2008 season, have for the most part had their way with the competition so far in 2010 with a scoring margin in the neighborhood of 31 ppg. Last Saturday the team hosted BYU and nearly posted a third straight shutout, all against foes from the MWC, as the squad posted a 31-3 victory in Fort Worth. One of the top overall defenses in college football the last several years, TCU is first in the nation this week with just 9.3 ppg allowed to the opposition.

As for the Falcons, this time last week they were enjoying their place among the nationally ranked, but their three-game win streak and their stay in the polls ended rather quickly as they suffered a 27-25 setback at San Diego State. The defeat also dropped the academy to 3-1 in conference and that means it is trailing both TCU and Utah in the league standings as those two programs show off their perfect 3-0 marks.

The academy almost pulled off the upset last season versus TCU, but the Falcons had to settle for a 20-17 loss at home, which means they now trail in the all-time series by a count of 6-2-1.

"We left a lot of points out on the field," Air Force QB Tim Jefferson said after the loss to the Aztecs. "We failed to make a field goal in the first quarter. Then we got down to the red zone twice and the offense couldn't put the ball in the end zone. We also had a touchdown called back. Those are the points that we can't leave out there against a good team like San Diego State."

The Falcons registered 29 first downs in the meeting and 487 yards of total offense, but like Jefferson claimed, the offense simply did not capitalize on opportunities. The running game accounted for 312 yards and Jefferson took the passing game to a new level with 30 attempts, converting 13 for 175 yards and a score.

Not only did the offense for the Falcons have its issues, the defense had its hands full with SDSU running back Ronnie Hillman who stretched the field for a game-high 191 yards and two touchdowns on 24 attempts, something head coach Troy Calhoun knew could happen.

"He was everything that we anticipated and even more. He's fast. He's physical. He's a great talent. Their team is that way, too. Their receivers are that way. Their defense is that way. Talent wise, they are loaded. They are a loaded squad."

As for the Horned Frogs last Saturday, they put the ball in the hands of quarterback Andy Dalton and asked him to lead the way to their next win and he did just that with 273 yards and four touchdowns. Josh Boyce ended up as his favorite target with eight catches for 127 yards and two of those scoring tosses. Dalton, who was named the MWC's Co-Offensive Player of the Week, matched a career high with his four scoring passes.

"It was a big win for us, BYU is a good team," Dalton said after the victory. "Their record doesn't show how good they are. We knew we had to come out and fight. Early on in the first half we hadn't scored, but we finally got rolling."

Defensively the Frogs limited BYU to a mere 10 first downs and only 147 yards of offense, but considering the Cougars are operating with a new and young quarterback and the team is a shadow of itself from just last year, perhaps the effort was not as impressive. Nevertheless, it was still a strong effort that TCU and head coach Gary Patterson could be somewhat pleased with.

"They're paying attention and obviously, there is some accountability. There is some pride about what we've done. Last year we had four or five of our pro guys come back the week before BYU and talked to our kids."

When it comes to matching up with Air Force, the Horned Frogs know that they are going to be tested over and over again on the ground and by the looks of the line up front for TCU they should be ready. After seven games, the Frogs are not only second in the nation in overall defense with 218.3 ypg allowed, they have clamped down versus the run with only 90.3 ypg permitted, ninth-best in the country. However, the Frogs have to be prepared for a concerted effort from a Falcons squad that produced 229 yards on 45 attempts in last year's matchup that was extremely close.

Another factor in this game is having Jefferson under center. Last year he was unavailable for the meeting with TCU which left Connor Dietz and Johnathan Warzeka to combine for just seven completions for 58 yards and a touchdown. Just last week Jefferson showed that he could air the ball out when needed, so this will be a different team than the one TCU matched up against in 2009.

But even with Jefferson and the aerial attack actually factoring into this game for the Falcons, the fact remains that Air Force is a run-first program. The Falcons are again first in the nation in ground gains with 346.9 ypg and that helps to create an offense that is first in the MWC and 13th in the nation with better than 470 ypg, but one has to wonder if that's going to be enough to offset the beast that is the TCU defense, a unit that has been at the top of its game since coach Patterson took over.

The bottom line here is whether or not Jefferson can duplicate his efforts from the San Diego State game and force the TCU secondary to respect what the Falcons can do through the air. If he fails to establish that pressure then the game will again belong to the Horned Frogs.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: TCU 34, Air Force 13