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DMN: The battle for the Iron Skillet awaits: TCU football enters bye week ahead of SMU matchup

TopFrog

TopFrog

Lifelong Frog
DMN: The battle for the Iron Skillet awaits: TCU football enters bye week ahead of SMU matchup

By Charles Baggarly

After a decisive victory against Tarleton State, TCU enters a bye week before heading to Dallas to face SMU.

Here are five takeaways from media availability:

The pressure is on​

There are plenty of reasons why TCU’s upcoming matchup against SMU on September 24 will be the most important game of the season. On top of the normal battle for superiority in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes is making his return to Gerald J. Ford Stadium after serving as head coach at SMU for four seasons.

Read more at https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/t...ootball-enters-bye-week-ahead-of-smu-matchup/
 
Deep Purple

Deep Purple

Full Member
TopFrog said:
DMN: The battle for the Iron Skillet awaits: TCU football enters bye week ahead of SMU matchup

By Charles Baggarly

There are plenty of reasons why TCU’s upcoming matchup against SMU on September 24 will be the most important game of the season.
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I have no doubt it's the most important game of the season for SMU. I have a hard time believing it's rated more important than UT, OU, Baylor, Okie State, Texas Tech, etc. by TCU fans.
 
This Ain't Chopped Liver

This Ain't Chopped Liver

Active Member
I think of the game as a rivalry, a very long historical one, because it has been. A unique crosstown one of similar sized private schools! Heck, throw in Dallas versus Fort Worth too. Frogs versus Ponies. It even has a trophy—the Iron Skillet.

DFW and the schools should market this rivalry. Make it a worthy and prominent but friendly crosstown DFW rivalry to bolster attendance, like it used to be—an annual event. It is something that DFW has that is unique and should be as good as it can be. Local should be good, especially now with Texas and Oklahoma leaving.

It could be a vehicle for DFW recruiting—an annual event that is revered and fevered enough that some local recruits then want to be a part of the rivalry.

Appears most don’t think of it that way and that is a shame because it should inject rival fun into every season. Why not hang on to that good historic rival tradition. Reinvigorate it.

Any change of heart now that the Frogs have lost two in a row?
 
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Deep Purple

Deep Purple

Full Member
This Ain't Chopped Liver said:
Any change of heart now that the Frogs have lost two in a row?
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TCU lost two in a row during a string of its worst football seasons since the 1990s. Meanwhile, our record against SMU during the past 11 years (skipping Covid year 2020, when the game was canceled) is 7-2. Our record over the last 22 years (didn't play them in 2006) is 15-5.

Doesn't sound like much of a rivalry to me.
 
Eight

Eight

Member
This Ain't Chopped Liver said:
I think of the game as a rivalry, a very long historical one, because it has been. And a crosstown one of similar sized private schools! Heck, throw in Dallas versus Fort Worth too. Frogs versus Ponies. It even has a trophy—the Iron Skillet.

I wonder how much the schools and DFW market this rivalry. Make it DFW crosstown noteworthy and friendly to bolster attendance, like it used to be—an annual event. It is something that DFW has that is unique and should be as good as it can be. Local should be good, especially now with Texas and Oklahoma leaving. It should even be good for DFW recruiting, local kids then wanting to be a part of the rivalry.

Appears most don’t think of it that way and I think that is a shame because it should inject rival fun into the season. Why not hang on to that good historic rival tradition. Reinvigorate it.

Any change of heart now that the Frogs have lost two in a row?
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no, the last time this game drew significant coverage in the metroplex was when? pre-cowboys when the toll road was still around and there was actual space between the two cities?

understand why some still like the rivalry and almost romanticize it, but having lived away from the metroplex for over thirty years it is just another game on the schedule and goodness knows it doesn't garner any media attention
 
Hoosierfrog

Hoosierfrog

Tier 1
Deep Purple said:
TCU lost two in a row during a string of its worst football seasons since the 1990s. Meanwhile, our record against SMU during the past 11 years (skipping Covid year 2020, when the game was canceled) is 7-2. Our record over the last 22 years (didn't play them in 2006) is 15-5.

Doesn't sound like much of a rivalry to me.
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Is it the record that makes a rivalry?

UT had a big edge over A&M when they played.

Texas has a a fair edge over OU.

Same with Michigan over OSU (to be fair it has shrunk considerably the last 20 years).

OU has a big edge in the Bedlam over oSu…
 
HornyWartyToad

HornyWartyToad

Active Member
Hoosierfrog said:
Is it the record that makes a rivalry?

UT had a big edge over A&M when they played.

Texas has a a fair edge over OU.

Same with Michigan over OSU (to be fair it has shrunk considerably the last 20 years).

OU has a big edge in the Bedlam over oSu…
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USC>UCLA is another, I used to love watching that one way back in the day when it would be either the only game on tv, or maybe one of two on a Saturday. Pat Haden vs. Mark Harmon, OJ, Anthony Davis, etc. Still on my bucket list to go see that one in person.

Edit: Maybe what we need to crank up the excitement around this one is some old-school pranking. Think Animal House and Horse. :)
 
This Ain't Chopped Liver

This Ain't Chopped Liver

Active Member
Hoosierfrog said:
Is it the record that makes a rivalry?

UT had a big edge over A&M when they played.

Texas has a a fair edge over OU.

Same with Michigan over OSU (to be fair it has shrunk considerably the last 20 years).

OU has a big edge in the Bedlam over oSu…
Click to expand...
@Deep Purple
DFW and Texas’ BACKYARD BRAWL. That’s how it could be viewed, as it once was. Since 1949 it has been a rivalry of primarily three periods of one getting the better of the other—first TCU, then SMU and now TCU. Prior, going back to 1915 it was more even. And, immediately after SMU’s 2 year death penalty, TCU only managed a 6-4 record versus the Ponies from ‘89-‘98. That is how poor TCU was, but then COACH PATTERSON took hold!

I don’t think having two evenly matched programs is necessary for rivalry. You can rise to the occasion and knock off your rival like the last two games which is part of the fun and intrigue.

Each program knows what it is—a P5 versus a good G5. But SMU fans can still enjoy the prospect every year of pulling off the upset. TCU fans can enjoy beating up on their long crosstown rival as expected at this point in time. And be very disheartened when losing, like the last two years. And at some point, it most likely will be more balanced again.

I don’t see why that is difficult to get up for from either perspective if it is consumed in the context of rivalry which I think TCU v SMU should be. If it does not feel like fun rivalry, then that is mostly the fault of the fans of today, because it has been established as a long rivalry—a FACT. But, TCU, SMU and DFW maybe need to help out and sell it to reinvigorate it, for each season’s enthusiasm for the schedule and the good of TCU, SMU and the DFW metro. It should be an event that is admired because it is all local.

DFW and Texas’ BACKYARD BRAWL. It was that before WE decided not to care for it anymore. Yeah, we both endured losing, took those extraneous punches, and then quit on the rivalry.

As Hoosier points out, rivalries are often not even. But you either enjoy attempting to whoop that rival as expected by as much as you can though sometimes being disappointed, or rising to the occasion to punch the favored rival in the kisser for the possible knockout. One team is always favored.
 
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CountryFrog

CountryFrog

Active Member
This Ain't Chopped Liver said:
I think of the game as a rivalry, a very long historical one, because it has been. A unique crosstown one of similar sized private schools! Heck, throw in Dallas versus Fort Worth too. Frogs versus Ponies. It even has a trophy—the Iron Skillet.

DFW and the schools should market this rivalry. Make it a worthy and prominent but friendly crosstown DFW rivalry to bolster attendance, like it used to be—an annual event. It is something that DFW has that is unique and should be as good as it can be. Local should be good, especially now with Texas and Oklahoma leaving.

It could be a vehicle for DFW recruiting—an annual event that is revered and fevered enough that some local recruits then want to be a part of the rivalry.

Appears most don’t think of it that way and that is a shame because it should inject rival fun into every season. Why not hang on to that good historic rival tradition. Reinvigorate it.

Any change of heart now that the Frogs have lost two in a row?
Click to expand...
It's certainly a rivalry. It's also not even close to being the most important game of the season for TCU. Not even in the top 5.
 
Relic

Relic

Active Member
I remember going to the TCU / SMU game in 1965 as a kiddo. It seemed like a huge game to me, though I have no recollection of who won. The players looked like giants compared to my fellow Jr. High players.
 
helcap

helcap

Full Member
I am sure some here remember in 1978 the TCU- SMU game in Dallas was promoted as the Jerry Lewis/7-11 Bowl. Jerry himself was in attendance and the crowd was over 40,000 (large even at that time for SMU). So what this rivalry needs is some star power to make it matter again.
 
R

Rabidfrog

Active Member
All goes back to 1935 when TCU and SMU played for the natty. Sam Baugh was throwing hard, but Ponies scored on a long pass late and pulled off what was considered an upset. Frogs get the last laugh, though, when SMU lost the Rose Bowl, and we won the Sugar Bowl, thus gaining our first Natty via a poll taken when the bowl games were complete. Old Frogs would rather beat SMU than almost anyone, but those fans are fast dying out. I think it is a valuable rivalry, but don't like the attitude over on the Hilltop in Dallas. Everyone cheated back in the day, including TCU, but SMU did it with impunity, and finally got their due.
 

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