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FACTS & STATS: Site: War Memorial Stadium (29,181) -- Laramie, Wyoming. Television: The Mountain. Home Record: TCU 3-1, Wyoming 3-1. Away Record: TCU 2-1, Wyoming 2-1. Neutral Record: TCU 1-0, Wyoming 0-0. Conference Record: TCU 3-0, Wyoming 2-0. Series Record: TCU leads, 5-2.

GAME NOTES: Already bowl eligible for the seventh straight year and the 10th time in 11 seasons under head coach Gary Patterson, the TCU Horned Frogs attempt to keep the surprising Wyoming Cowboys from inching closer to that achievement this weekend as the two teams clash in a Mountain West Conference bout at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie.

TCU, which is leaving the state of Texas for just the third time this season during this trip, is rolling along with a three-game win streak after handing former MWC foe BYU a 38-28 setback last Friday night at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The victory was the sixth in eight chances for the Frogs, a team which has lost to fellow Lone Star State inhabitants Baylor (50-48) and SMU (40-33 in OT).

As for the Cowboys, one of only two other teams in the MWC yet to experience a league loss, they've shown the ability to dial up the offense for the most part this season, save for losses to Nebraska and Utah State in back-to-back games when they delivered just 33 combined points. Last Saturday, the squad moved to 2-0 in conference by holding on for a 30-27 road win at San Diego State, marking the team's second straight win overall.

Last year, TCU blew the doors off the Cowboys in a 45-0 final, which means the Frogs now own a 5-2 edge in the all-time series. The last time Wyoming claimed victory against TCU was at home in 2007 by a score of 24-21. Working against the Pokes is the fact that TCU has rattled off 20 straight MWC victories, a conference record. The Frogs have not bowed to a league foe in close to three years.

Casey Pachall threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns, while Matt Brown crossed the goal line on a couple of runs for the Horned Frogs, but even though they built a 25-point lead midway through the third quarter they still had to brace for a frantic counter-attack from BYU. As a group, the Frogs managed to produce only 136 yards on the ground, a far cry from the 264 yards and seven TDs delivered against New Mexico six days earlier. It was just the second time this season TCU has been held below 200 yards rushing as a unit, the program now averaging 207.3 ypg which has them ranked second in the conference and 21st in the nation. Thanks to the steady hand of Pachall who has thrown at least one TD in every game this season and has multiple TD strikes in all but one game, not to mention a rushing attack that ripped up the Lobos a few weeks back, TCU is second in the conference and eighth in the nation with 42.9 ppg.

The defense for the Horned Frogs took a few plays off in the second half versus the Cougars, something coach Patterson couldn't have been happy about, but in the end the team still secured the double-digit win. Part of the problem for the Frogs was that the defense was left on the field for more than 10 minutes in the first quarter, clearly making the group tired as the meeting wore on. Nevertheless, when Patterson needed his squad to step up, they did so by keeping BYU from converting any one of its three fourth-down tries. This season the Frogs have permitted conversions on just 3-of-13 fourth-down attempts and the group tends to get stronger after settling into a rhythm. The team has permitted just four rushing TDs through eight games and someone like Stansly Maponga has had a lot to do with that with his seven tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and four forced fumbles.

Despite his freshman status, Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith showed some true grit as he led the Pokes to the huge three-point win over San Diego State, on the road no less. Smith converted 25-of-36 passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns, en route to sharing MWC Offensive Player of the Week honors with SDSU's Ronnie Hillman. Chris McNeill accounted for 111 yards and both scores from Smith on his eight receptions, while the young signal-caller added a couple of rushing touchdowns as well. Smith has certainly shown that he has the potential to be a big-time player for the Cowboys, but the fact that he threw for a mere 96 yards against UNLV in the team's previous game says something about his killer extinct, at least for now. Even though he continues to put himself in harm's way, Smith is also first on the team with six rushing touchdowns which makes him a threat in so many ways for defenses that don't prepare well enough.

While Smith was handling the offense for the Cowboys, one that seemingly couldn't be stopped by the Aztecs in the first half, the run defense for the visitors got a little lax in the third quarter while allowing Hillman to register scoring runs of 99 and three yards to close the gap to just three points with 16 minutes to play. Gabe Knapton tallied six tackles, one of those a sack, while Tashaun Gipson stepped up with an interception that he returned 18 yards in the third. With Hillman streaking through the defense last Saturday it again became apparent that the Cowboys were having trouble slowing down strong running backs. If not for the fact that Texas State and Bowling Green were held to a combined 154 yards on the ground, Wyoming would be much worse than fifth in the conference and 109th in the nation with 208.9 ypg allowed. Because the guys up front are having their issues, Wyoming ranks 105th in the country in total defense, yielding an average of 439.7 ypg.

Wyoming has yet to really tangle with a defense like the one the Horned Frogs put on the field from week to week so while Smith might have his moments, in the long haul TCU will still prevail.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: TCU 31, Wyoming 10