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TCU-SMU Preview

Sep 20, 2010 - 6:40 PM By CHRIS ALTRUDA STATS Editor

No. 4 TCU (3-0) at Southern Methodist (2-1), 8:00 p.m. EDT

Andrew Dalton knows TCU has to be perfect to claim a second consecutive Bowl Championship Series berth, and he's playing his position to near perfection.

The senior quarterback leads the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs into Dallas, where they play local rival SMU on Friday night in a bid to retain the Iron Skillet.

Dalton leads all Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks with 32 victories, the most recent coming in Saturday's 45-10 rout of Baylor. He completed his first 11 passes and finished 21 of 23 for 267 yards and two touchdowns as TCU (3-0) scored TDs on its first five drives.

"We knew we had to come out and attack like we did," said receiver Jeremy Kerley, who caught both touchdown passes. "We had to get on them and get on them quick."

Dalton, 15th in the FBS with a 161.4 passer rating, has completed 74.6 percent of his throws for 624 yards and four touchdowns while adding 113 rushing yards and three scores. The Horned Frogs have won 17 of 18, losing only to Boise State in last year's Fiesta Bowl after an unbeaten 2009 regular season, and are averaging 45.7 points in 2010.

"I think you've got to give Andy a lot of credit for the way that the offense has been performing," coach Gary Patterson said. "That's what a senior quarterback is supposed to do."

While Dalton and tailback Ed Wesley, who has 384 yards while averaging 8.2 per carry, are the focal points of TCU's offense, Patterson has been making an effort to get Kerley more involved. The senior wideout, also TCU's return man, already has three receiving TDs after totaling two all of last year among his 44 receptions.

"He's such an explosive player. We draw things up to get him the ball, and put him in position where he can go make a play," Dalton said of Kerley, who has 13 receptions and is averaging 17.3 yards on punt returns. "That's one of the things we talked about, and we were able to do it."

TCU has been typically stout defensively, yielding 222.7 yards per game - fourth-best nationally - and limiting opponents to a 29.7-percent conversion rate on third downs.

SMU (2-1) took a key step in its rebuilding under second-year coach June Jones with a 35-21 win over Washington State on Saturday, ending a 17-game losing streak to BCS conference schools that dated back to 2000. Kyle Pardon threw for 280 yards and four touchdowns - three to Aldrick Robinson - and ran for a fifth for the Mustangs, who scored 21 straight second-half points to snap a 14-all tie.

"I thought Kyle did a lot of good things," Jones said. "He did what he was supposed to do and in key situations made key throws."

Pardon has at least two touchdown passes in all three games and eight overall. The sophomore has not thrown an interception in SMU's two wins after being picked off three times in its season-opening loss to Texas Tech.

Jones knows very well what TCU is trying to accomplish, having arrived at SMU after guiding Hawaii to an unbeaten 2007 regular season that ended with an eventual loss to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

The Horned Frogs have held the Iron Skillet for three straight years and posted a 39-14 victory last season. Kerley gave TCU the lead for good with a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the first quarter, and Dalton put the game out of reach with two fourth-quarter scoring passes.

SMU's only win over a ranked opponent since 1996 came at the expense of No. 22 TCU in 2005, the last time the Mustangs won the Iron Skillet.