• The KillerFrogs

Remembering some GP teams - 2005 version (hello MWC!)

geefrogs

Active Member
previous thread about 2004 team.

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2005. A seismic shift in football. 18 schools changed conferences (!!!) We left C-USA on a down season with not much experience at all with the Mountain West schools. Here's the old story from 2005 ESPN.com (still loved those original ESPN websites.)

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It was a bit a strange experience moving to the Mountain West. I remember googling the closest road game and then closing my laptop in disbelief.

Reggie Bush won the Heisman (later vacated) and Texas won the title. Best Rose Bowl ever besides TCU/Wisky :)

2005 NFL draft - Anthony Alabi, 5th round to Miami.

The 2005 was lit. So many guys stepped out and really burst onto the scene. TCU has had many "what if" seasons but, man.....THAT ONE LOSS....AHGGGGHHG!!!!

Mountain West Accolades:
Gary - Coach of the Year
Aaron Brown - Freshman of the Year.
1st Team - Herbert Taylor OL, Michael Toudouze OL, Cory Rodgers PR/KR, Tommy Blake DL, Chase Ortiz DL, Quincy Butler DB,
2nd Team - Stephen Culp OL, Chris Manfredini K, Ranorris Ray DL, Jason Phillips LB, Drew Coleman DB, Jeremy Modkins DB

To the games! And it started with a bang.
 

geefrogs

Active Member
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The season started off with a HUUUUUUUGE victory! Is there any photo more iconic than this one? This just summed up the GP experience in the early years.

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We all remember this game. The defense was absolutely flying around the field destroying everything in sight. If you cant remember, here you go.



We jumped up to #22 in the polls the following week and then.....

WOMP WOMP. Smu finally got to us and big game hangovers do exist.



I had to watch this one again to remember how bad it went down. Oof. One of the last moments of the Tye Gunn era as well as Robert Merrill/Lonta giving way to AB.

The TCU-Utah rivalry started with a classic and usually was throughout our time together. Here's the end of the game sequence.



We ended their 18 game winning streak that game.

The Saturday night road game in Provo was a beautiful scene for those who went. The box score reminded me of TCU vs. UofH before.


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Jeff Ballard arrived and Cory Rodgers continued to build his legendary status. We were down 34-16 at the end of the 3rd and then Jeff Ballard turned into Davey O'Brien and led the comeback.

Incredible 4-game stretch. Everything else was just icing on the cake after this.

 

geefrogs

Active Member
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The middle of the schedule was quite soft and quickly became a theme during our run in the MWC. Almost always, our toughest games would be Utah and BYU. The boys steamrolled through the schedule.

What I do recall was how COLD GAMES ARE in the MWC!!!! Road games in Laramie?!??! no thank youuuuuu.

TCU had 4 TD scoring drives against New Mexico in less than 10 seconds. Think about that.

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Mr. Elvis! He made a start his freshman year and got an INT against New Mexico. Big fan of his.

The Wyoming game was freezing. Scoring 28 points in that weather was a feat. Look how COLD Bob looks!

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Throttled Air Force and Army (sorry America) and we were ranked #20 going into the final leg of the season.
 

geefrogs

Active Member
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Bob Merrill saved us again from being embarrassed. The football team enjoyed San Diego weather and beaches too much and forgot about the game. Not Bob. He rain for 170+ and a couple TDs to survive with a Win.

Let's remember a baller. Quincy Butler. Alot of kf.c folk talk about DBs here but RARELY do we speak about Quincy. He deserves his spot in the top-tier of DBs at TCU and also went on to play for the Rams a bit. Kudos to you.

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We also have to acknowledge the arrival of Tommy Blake. That defensive line with him, Chase, and Ranorris made the linebackers love playing (Hawthorne, Henson, Phillips) The 2005 team really was a treasure.

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We absolutely dusted Colorado State and UNLV in front of some ho-hum fans who didnt even realize UNLV had a football program. So our regular season we finished #14 going into the bowl game.
 

geefrogs

Active Member
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The bowl game was packed with Cyclone fans. I remember that. It was a reminder of the "big schools from the Big 12".

But TCU had already made up for the 2004 beating from Big12 opponent Tech when we went into Norman and beat OU.

So, 2 wins against Big-12 schools was an awesome experience at this point in the Gary Patterson era. We didnt have many signature moments but 2005 was such a fun season.

I remember Iowa State had that big white guy Blythe who gave our DBs issues all game. Ballard hit Michael DePriest for a big 84 yard touchdown and our defense did enough to hold onto the lead and get the win. (IIRC DePriest was a track star before this experience)

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2005 was nice because bowl games were still important, you didnt have the same opting out and resting situations you do now. So it felt like a legit win against a tough team.

Amazing year. And OMG what HaPPENED against SMOOO?!?!!
 

Creeperfrog

Active Member
View attachment 10764

The season started off with a HUUUUUUUGE victory! Is there any photo more iconic than this one? This just summed up the GP experience in the early years.

collegesportsblog_files_2013_10_TCU_OKLAHOMA_3660094.jpg


We all remember this game. The defense was absolutely flying around the field destroying everything in sight. If you cant remember, here you go.



We jumped up to #22 in the polls the following week and then.....

WOMP WOMP. Smu finally got to us and big game hangovers do exist.



I had to watch this one again to remember how bad it went down. Oof. One of the last moments of the Tye Gunn era as well as Robert Merrill/Lonta giving way to AB.

The TCU-Utah rivalry started with a classic and usually was throughout our time together. Here's the end of the game sequence.



We ended their 18 game winning streak that game.

The Saturday night road game in Provo was a beautiful scene for those who went. The box score reminded me of TCU vs. UofH before.


267861.jpeg


Jeff Ballard arrived and Cory Rodgers continued to build his legendary status. We were down 34-16 at the end of the 3rd and then Jeff Ballard turned into Davey O'Brien and led the comeback.

Incredible 4-game stretch. Everything else was just icing on the cake after this.


BYU highlight video music... I don't get what whoever put that together was thinking. That game was in 2005. That song was not
 

MAcFroggy

Active Member
Man, I never noticed that massive offensive pass interference by Rodgers on the game winning catch against Utah. Haha.

That 2005 team was great. Came out of nowhere to dominate the MWC not only that year but future years as well.

The EV1.Net Houston bowl was huge for the program. People were pumped up about playing Iowa State in a bowl game.
 

Spike

Full Member
One of my favorite years in all of college football. Visited Wesleyan for my 3L year so went to all the home games. I cried when we beat OU. Maybe first time I'd ever cried tears of joy. That was the year my mom rediscovered TCU football and went to several home games w me. Lost her to cancer 2 years later. When we beat UNLV to seal the first outright conference championship since the 50s some of the old timers around me had tears on their eyes. A year or so later I got to meet Michael Depriest. Super nice guy, hope he's doing well.
 

Bob Sugar

Active Member
I think we're all pretty clear on the top 2 teams in the GP Era.

The 3rd best team is when it gets interesting and 2005 team makes a great case.
Top 3 are, hands down, '09, '10, and '14. I think any of those could beat the other two on any given day. I think all three would take most other GP coached teams to the woodshed.
 

NewFrogFan

Full Member
I think one of the more compelling stories of the 2005 season was Peter LoCoco. Misses five (5) FGs at SMU. Gets benched. Then, at the end of the Bowl game, with the game on the line and a looooong kick needed, LoCoco trots out and nails the kick.

Redemption.
I seem to remember a guy with a real bad back that night making a catch that helped with that FG.
 

NewFrogFan

Full Member
One of my favorite years in all of college football. Visited Wesleyan for my 3L year so went to all the home games. I cried when we beat OU. Maybe first time I'd ever cried tears of joy. That was the year my mom rediscovered TCU football and went to several home games w me. Lost her to cancer 2 years later. When we beat UNLV to seal the first outright conference championship since the 50s some of the old timers around me had tears on their eyes. A year or so later I got to meet Michael Depriest. Super nice guy, hope he's doing well.
Too bad you never made one of our lot 4 tailgates, there were usually always some of the older guys there.
 
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