TCU Frogs usually have rocky MWC trips to Colorado

TCU never really enjoys its early October trips to Colorado.

No matter how good the fifth-ranked Horned Frogs have been the last couple of seasons, their Mountain West Conference games in the Colorado mountains always seem to be a struggle.

Before winning their last seven games by at least 27 points in an undefeated regular season and finally becoming a BCS buster last year, the Frogs won 20-17 at Air Force in an icy mist and bitter wind. They had to recover an onside kick in the final minute to secure victory.

Two years ago, Colorado State scored on its first drive on a chilly afternoon before TCU recovered to win 13-7. The Frogs won their next three by at least 25 points in an 11-2 season.

Now, after playing all of its non-conference games this season without leaving the Dallas-Fort Worth area, TCU (4-0) goes to Colorado State for its conference opener Saturday.

''We're going to have 200 people there and they're going to have 20,000,'' coach Gary Patterson said. ''You've got to take your own emotion. You've got to go get ready to play, have to understand what the game is about and go do it.''

That hasn't always been easy for Patterson's teams when they're first getting started.

Except for a season-opening win at New Mexico in 2008, the Frogs have struggled in their first MWC road games. But for a team that wants the chance to play in another Bowl Championship Series game, maybe even for the BCS title, TCU can't afford any letdowns. Or even close games against teams like Colorado State (1-3), which is nearly a five-touchdown underdog.

The Frogs dropped a spot in the AP poll last week after a 17-point win at SMU, a Friday night game on ESPN for everyone to see. They were also passed by Oregon in the USA Today coaches' poll, which is part of the BCS standings that won't be released until mid-October.

Patterson broke from his norm last week before the SMU game with some ''in the future'' talk to his players while trying to motivate them for the Mustangs and the rest of the season.

''You can see how it worked out for me, so we're going to go back to the Gary Patterson philosophy of the seven-day window,'' he said.

''It was kind of like trying to get in an extra 10 minutes at the driving range when I was supposed to be doing something else and it just didn't work very well,'' he said. ''So we're just going to worry about Colorado State this week.''

The Frogs had to travel only about 45 miles from their campus to SMU, and took a significant number of their fans with them. Yet, they were behind quickly and seemed to play with little emotion despite facing another former Southwest Conference rival.

A week earlier, TCU scored on its first five drives to beat Baylor 45-10 at home.

''Very rarely do I ever talk to the team before a game on the field. I stopped them in the middle of the field (at SMU). ... I told them they needed to get ready,'' Patterson said. ''The good thing about it is, in 2005 we probably had the same kind of emotion and got beat.''

Five years ago, the Frogs were coming off a season-opening upset at Oklahoma when they lost 21-10 at SMU, their only loss that season.

SMU jumped ahead 7-0 last week, then took advantage of an interception thrown by quarterback Andy Dalton to go up 17-14 early in the second half. Jeremy Kerley returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to set up a short scoring drive, though, and TCU went on to a 41-24 victory.

''After it was all said and done, I really have to give my kids a lot of credit,'' Patterson said this week. ''They didn't play with a lot of emotion, they really kind of got hit in the mouth and they found a way. ... It could have turned out a lot differently than that.''

Colorado State is coming off a 36-34 victory over Idaho after being outscored 109-19 its first three games.

TCU has won 17 straight regular-season games and is 30-3 over a stretch in which the only losses were to Oklahoma, Utah and Boise State - all ranked among the top 13 in the country.

Before that, there were some difficult MWC road openers for the Horned Frogs.

In their first Mountain West road game in 2005, the Frogs won a wild 51-50 overtime game at BYU. They lost their next two league road openers, at Utah in 2006 (before winning their next eight games in an 11-win season) and at Air Force in 2007.

Then came those cold games in Colorado the past two Octobers, though that won't be the case this weekend. The Saturday forecast in Fort Collins is for sunny skies and the temperature in the mid 70s.

''This is going to be the first time it looks like we're going to have really good weather,'' Patterson said.

Just like at home in the fall for TCU.