Texas Christian 40 - 10 W. Virginia (Final)

As we expected, WVU was not able to keep this game close.  Texas Christian's defense tends to show up at home, which makes the Horned Frogs particularly lethal.  Josh Doctson continues to look like Jerry Rice, with 11 catches for 183 yards and two touchdowns.  So far, no one has been able to guard him -- or even slow him down.  According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Christian QB Trevone Boykin "{t}oyed with the Mountaineers defense, using his feet to leave defenders grasping for air and whipping passes left, right and sidearm."  I didn't see much of the game -- I don't like college football on Thursday Night, and this game was never in doubt -- but that sounds like a good description of a typical Boykin performance.

OK, so West Virginia's record in UCFC play falls to 18-12, while Texas Christian's record improves to 45-19-6.  The Horned Frogs have now defended the title 13 times, which is the longest string of successful defenses since Southern Cal had 24 in a row during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

But now things are going to get tough.  On November 7, the Horned Frogs will take the Big Gold Trophy to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to take on an Oklahoma State team that is currently undefeated.  That will not be an easy game for the Horned Frogs.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/big-12/texas-christian-university/article41904384.html#storylink=cpy

Texas Christian 7 - 0 W. Virginia (8:46 left in 1st Quarter)

The Dynamic Duo!  Trevone Boykin (of W. Mesquite H.S. in Dallas) hurls a 10-yard touchdown pass to Josh Doctson of Mansfield, Tex.  Very good start for the Frogs.

I've got some errands to run, so I won't be giving this game the usual detailed coverage.  They shouldn't play on Thursday night.

Texas Christian v. W. Virginia

I don't like watching college football on Thursday night, and I'm annoyed that Texas Christian scheduled two Thursday night games in the same season.  But here we are, as the Horned Frogs prepare to defend the Big Gold Trophy for the 13th time.  It's the first home game for Texas Christian in 26 days, so I expect a big turnout in Fort Worth.

Here's where everything stands in the Big XII (numbers in parentheses represent AP ranking):

(2) Baylor:  4-0, 7-0
(5)  Texas Christian:  4-0, 7-0
(12) Oklahoma St:  4-0, 7-0
(14) Oklahoma:  3-1, 6-1
Texas:  2-2, 3-4
Texas Tech:  2-3, 5-3
Iowa St:  1-3, 2-5
W. Virginia:  0-3, 3-3
Kansas St:  0-4, 3-4
Kansas:  0-4, 0-7

Kudos to the schedule-makers in the Big XII, who are saving all the big games for the end.  After tonight's game with West Virginia, Texas Christian will play three of its last four games against teams ranked in the top 14 -- and two of those games (against the Oklahomas) will be on the road.

So Texas Christian has a lot of work before it can take the Big Gold Trophy to the NCAA Playoffs.  But tonight, they have to beat that they took the title from last year -- West Virginia.  That game was a hum-dinger -- a 31-30 donnybrook in the rain in Morgantown, W. Va.  That WVU team went 7-5 in the regular season, before losing to Texas A & M in the Liberty Bowl.  This year's team got off to a 3-0 start in non-conference play, with easy wins over Georgia Southern, Liberty, and Maryland.  But the Big XII schedule has been brutal for the Mountaineers -- their first four conference games are against four ranked teams, and three of those games are on the road.

WVU, being WVU, has given it the old college try, but the competition has been too tough for them.  Oklahoma beat them 44-24 in Norman, Okla., and then Oklahoma State beat them 33-26 in overtime up in Morgantown.  WVU's last game was a 62-38 loss at Baylor, which is the sort of thing that could happen to almost anyone.  Tonight the Mountaineers will end this obstacle course at Texas Christian, and my guess is that their fans will be happy to see some unranked opponents after that.

The Frogs are favored by 13 1/2 points in a game where the oddsmakers expect 74 points to be scored.  That would work out to something like a 44-30 win for Texas Christian.  I will be surprised and impressed if WVU keeps it that close.

Iowa St. 21 - 45 Texas Christian (Final)

After spotting the Cyclones a 21-14 lead, Texas Christian outscored Iowa State 31-0 the rest of the way.  A very solid performance by the Horned Frogs, at least in the last three quarters.  Iowa State falls to 0-8 in UCFC games -- although 21 points is the most the Cyclones have ever scored in a title bout.  The Horned Frogs move to 44-19-6.  They have now defended the Big Gold Trophy -- and if they can defend it one more time, they will have held it for more than a year.

Iowa St. 21 - 45 Texas Christian (8:45 left in 4th Quarter)

Iowa State finally appears to have been worn down by the Horned Frogs.  After an Iowa State drive stalled at the Texas Christian 26, the Frogs went 74 yards in 6 plays.  The last play was a beautiful catch and run by Josh Doctson, who caught the ball at around the Iowa State 30, and then beat everyone to the end zone.

With Texas Christian now up by 24 points, we will not be updating this game any further unless something extraordinary happens.

Iowa St. 21 - 38 Texas Christian (14:36 left in 4th Quarter)

The Texas Christian defense has not allowed any points since the first quarter.  Meanwhile, after a few punts, Trevone Boykin led the Horned Frogs on another scoring drive -- this time he scored himself from three yards out.  The Frogs are getting closer to taking the Big Gold Trophy back to Fort Worth.

Iowa St. 21 - 31 Texas Christian (11:24 left in 3d Quarter)

Texas Christian takes the kickoff and (as usual) goes the length of the field for a touchdown.  This particular touchdown was scored on a 13-yard run by Kyle Hicks (of Martin H.S. in Arlington, Tex.)