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TCU Announces 2002 Football Schedule
Feb. 15, 2002 After playing just four home games during the 2001 season, Amon G. Carter Stadium will be the site for six TCU home football games during the 2002 season, TCU Athletics Director Eric Hyman announced today. The current schedule lists 11 games, including a pair of nationally televised contests, but Hyman said a possibility for a 12th game remains in the negotiating stage. "This is a good schedule, but a demanding schedule," said TCU head coach Gary Patterson. "It's one that an older football team should be able to handle. It will be a challenge to open the season on the road against a conference opponent, then turn around and play on the road again five days later. But then six of our last nine games will be in front of our home crowd, including games versus in-state rivals SMU, UNT and Houston." The Horned Frogs will open its 106th season of intercollegiate football on Labor Day, Monday, September 2, when they travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats in a Conference USA matchup. The 4:30 p.m. ET game will be televised on ESPN, marking the second straight year that the Frogs' season opener will be televised nationally. It will mark the first time that TCU has opened its season against a conference opponent since 1979 when TCU squared off with SMU in a Southwest Conference tilt. The contest with the Bearcats, a participant in last year's Motor City Bowl, will be the first ever between the two schools on the gridiron. TCU finds itself on the road again just five days later when they travel to the Chicago area to face Northwestern out of the Big 10 conference. The teams have split their two previous meetings, with Northwestern winning in Evanston in 1999 before TCU came away with a 41-14 victory in Fort Worth in 2000. The Frogs' home opener comes the following week, September 14, when crosstown rival SMU visits Fort Worth in the 83rd meeting between the two Metroplex schools. TCU has won the last three contests for the "Iron Skillet" and will be looking to even the all-time series, one that the Mustangs currently lead by a slim 38-37-7 margin. Another local rival will visit Fort Worth when the defending Sun Belt Conference champion and New Orleans Bowl participant North Texas Mean Green makes their way down Interstate 35 on September 21. The Frogs defeated UNT by a 19-5 score in Denton last season. Homecoming festivities are set for Saturday, October 5 when the Frogs resume conference action by hosting the Houston Cougars. TCU has won the last four meetings with the Cougars, including a 34-17 win in Houston last fall. This will be Houston's first trip to Fort Worth since 1994. The Frogs will be on the road for their next two games, visiting West Point and Army on October 12, then traveling to defending Conference USA champion Louisville on October 19. The Frogs defeated each of those teams in the first-ever meetings between the two schools last season. TCU got past the Black Knights by a 38-20 score and became the only conference team to deal the Liberty Bowl-bound Cardinals a loss, 37-22. A national television audience will be watching when TCU hosts Southern Miss in another Conference USA matchup on Wednesday, October 30. TCU won in Hattiesburg, Miss. in the 2001 regular season finale by a 14-12 score, securing a galleryfurniture.com Bowl bid. The Frogs will have revenge on their minds when Tulane rolls into Fort Worth on November 9. The Green Wave handed TCU a 48-22 setback in New Orleans last season. TCU leads the all-time series, 6-3, but Tulane has won the last two contests. After a open week, TCU will travel to Greenville, N.C. for a November 23 matchup with the East Carolina Pirates. ECU, a participant in the 2001 Mobile Bowl, held on for a 37-30 win over the Frogs in Fort Worth last season. The Frogs will finish up their regular season slate on November 30 when they host Memphis in the first meeting between the two schools. UAB is the only Conference USA school that TCU will not play this season, as the league has increased from seven to eight conference games. Last year, TCU did not face either Cincinnati or Memphis. Here is the 2002 TCU football schedule. Game times have not been finalized. DAY DATE OPPONENT SITE Monday September 2 *Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio Saturday September 7 Northwestern Evanston, Ill. Saturday September 14 SMU Fort Worth Saturday September 21 North Texas Fort Worth Saturday September 28 TBA Saturday October 5 *Houston (HC) Fort Worth Saturday October 12 *Army West Point, N.Y. Saturday October 19 *Louisville Louisville, Ky. Wednesday October 30 *Southern Miss Fort Worth Saturday November 9 *Tulane Fort Worth Saturday November 16 OPEN Saturday November 23 *East Carolina Greenville, N.C. Saturday November 30 *Memphis Fort Worth
*-Conference USA game, Note: All dates subject to change.
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