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GoFrogs: SMU at TCU preview

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https://gofrogs.com/news/2021/9/20/football-preview-smu.aspx

GoFrogs: SMU at TCU preview
GAME 3: vs. SMU
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021
TIME: 11 a.m.
LOCATION: Fort Worth, Texas (Amon G. Carter Stadium)
SERIES RECORD: TCU leads, 51-41-7
LAST MEETING: SMU 41, TCU 38 (2019)
TV: FS1 (Dan Hellie, Robert Smith)
RADIO: WBAP 820 AM, Sirius 119, XM 200 (Brian Estridge, John Denton, Landry Burdine)
SPANISH RADIO: Zona MX 99.1 FM (Miguel Cruz, Elvis Gallegos)

ABOUT THE GAME
• TCU hosts SMU on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the 100th meeting in the battle for the Iron Skillet.
• Dating back to last season, the Horned Frogs have won their last five games to tie for the seventh-longest active winning streak in the nation. They have also won seven of their past eight contests.
• TCU has opened with a 2-0 record for the 13th time in Head Coach Gary Patterson's 21 seasons. The Horned Frogs are looking to go 3-0 for the 10th time under Patterson.
• Based on votes received this week, TCU is 26th in the Associated Press poll and 28th in the USA Today Coaches ranking.
• Four SMU coaches, including Head Coach Sonny Dykes, were on staff with the Horned Frogs under Patterson.
• Patterson is 15-3 as a head coach versus SMU and 2-1 against Dykes, including a 1-1 mark with him at SMU. The Horned Frogs and Patterson defeated Dykes' Louisiana Tech team 31-24 in the 2011 Poinsettia Bowl.
• The Horned Frogs have won 15 of their last 21 regular-season games after an open date.
• When last in action, TCU defeated Cal 34-32 to improve to 8-0 under Patterson against Pac-12 opponents.
• TCU running back Zach Evans ranks No. 1 nationally among active players with a 7.8 career yards per carry averge.

HOME SWEET HOME
• TCU is opening a season with four straight home games for just the second time (1979) in its history.
• The Horned Frogs are 94-27 under Head Coach Gary Patterson at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

SERIES HISTORY
• With TCU and SMU not able to play last season, it marked just the fourth time since 1925 the schools did not face other. The other times were in 2006 and the two seasons (1987-88) SMU did not field a team.
• The Horned Frogs hold a 51-41-7 edge over the Mustangs in a series that began with a 43-0 TCU win in Fort Worth in 1915.
• TCU has won 11 of the last 13 games and 17 of 20 with SMU.
• The Horned Frogs are 28-19-5 versus the Mustangs in Fort Worth and 23-22-2 in Dallas.
• SMU is TCU's second-most played series. The Horned Frogs' 99 meetings with the Mustangs trail only Baylor (116).

FAMILIAR FACES
• SMU head coach Sonny Dykes was an offensive analyst for TCU in 2017, prior to taking the Mustangs' head coach position.
• SMU wide receivers coach David Gru was also an offensive analyst with the Horned Frogs in 2017.
• SMU safeties coach Trey Haverty was a TCU graduate assistant (2007-09) and then safeties coach (2011) and wide receivers coach (2012).
• SMU special teams coordinator Kenny Perry was TCU's cornerbacks coach during its Big 12 championship season in 2014 after serving as its director of high school relations in 2013.

IT'S 2021
• In six of the last nine odd-numbered years (2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017), TCU has won at least 11 games.

TCU NOTABLES
• Over the last seven seasons, TCU is tied for the Big 12's second-best conference record (38-25) and has the third-best overall mark (60-30).
• TCU is one of just seven programs nationally to finish with an Associated Press Top-10 final ranking in at least three of the last seven seasons (2014, 2015, 2017). The others are Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Penn State.
• TCU head coach Gary Patterson, at 21 seasons, is the nation's second-longest tenured head coach, trailing only Iowa's Kirk Ferentz (23rd year).
• Patterson has released two music singles in which he wrote and provided lead vocals on, "Take A Step Back" and "Game On."

WELCOME SAINTS
• TCU has been the practice site the last three weeks for the New Orleans Saints.
• The Saints are the third NFL team in the last 11 years to practice at TCU. The Dallas Cowboys have utilized the Sam Baugh Indoor Practice Facility, while TCU was the host practice site for the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl XLV in Arlington.

TCU SUPPORT
• Since it began Big 12 play in 2012, TCU has had over $400 million in donor-funded athletics facilities upgrades. The most recent project was the $113 million Legends Club & Suites which opened in Fall 2020 on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium.
 
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