Tumble out of polls gnaws at Horned Frogs’ Patterson

Texas Christian’s Bowl Championship Series hopes already are doomed, and coach Gary Patterson can’t understand why.

The Horned Frogs’ 34-13 loss to Texas was more competitive than the score indicated, Patterson points out. TCU led 10-0 at halftime and trailed by just a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

But many pollsters fail to look beyond final scores, and in November when the BCS standings truly take shape, few will remember that the Horned Frogs played Texas tough for most of the game.

It drives Patterson crazy.

“We’re talking about losing to the seventh-ranked team in the country, and we dropped out of the polls,” Patterson, whose team entered the game ranked No. 19, said Tuesday. “In approaching the (schedule), what we’re trying to do is have some good ballgames and measuring-stick games.”

Scenarios such as TCU’s have made coaches more apt to line up opponents they can beat by 30 or 40 points than risk losing poll position because of a tough schedule.

“Everybody out there in the world talks about how nobody plays anybody anymore in the preseason,” Patterson said.

• NOWHERE TO RUN — Circumstances in UNLV’s first two games have limited the team’s use of its tailbacks, coach Mike Sanford acknowledged.

Utah State crowded the line of scrimmage in the opener, and the Rebels turned to the passing game to back off the Aggies. On Saturday, UNLV didn’t think it could run effectively against Wisconsin’s tough run defense.

Rebels tailbacks Frank Summers and David Peeples have combined for 22 rushes for 93 yards through the first two games. Even more telling, they have run just seven times for 37 yards in the second half of those games.

With pass-happy Hawaii in town Saturday, UNLV figures to make more of a commitment to running the ball to try to keep the Warriors’ offense on the sideline as much as possible.

“Ideally, we’d like to be a balanced offense,” Sanford said. “And if we can be balanced and keep them off guard … I think that will help. I think the biggest thing, we’ve got to run the ball more effectively and efficiently than we have.”

One reason UNLV signed the 5-foot-10-inch, 240-pound Summers was for short-yardage situations, to hammer into the line to convert third and fourth downs.

But needing one yard from Wisconsin’s 18-yard line midway through the second quarter, the Rebels didn’t even have Summers on the field on third down, and he didn’t get the ball on fourth down. Quarterback Travis Dixon handled the ball on both plays and was stopped for no gain on the first try, then lost a yard on the second.

Sanford called the tough Wisconsin defense “100 percent why” Summers was not used and faulted the execution, not the play-calls.

In other Rebels news, tight end Chris Butler (sprained knee) is questionable for Saturday’s game.

• BIG LOSS — Colorado State, already reeling at 0-2, lost senior tight end Kory Sperry for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Sperry was coming off a three-touchdown game against Colorado when he was hurt Saturday against California.

Also, New Mexico will be without cornerback Glover Quin for three to four weeks because of a groin injury.