Looking back on the memorable (and not so memorable) matchups between Utah and TCU

Saturday’s Utah-TCU game will be the first time the former Mountain West foes have met since 2010.

In the time since, both schools left the MWC for power conferences — Utah to the Pac-12 and TCU to the Big 12 in 2011 — and enjoyed success. The Utes won back-to-back Pac-12 titles in 2021 and 2022, while the Horned Frogs soared to even greater heights, beating Michigan in the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinal before being blown out by Georgia in the national championship game.

The two teams meet at Rice-Eccles Stadium this weekend to renew a series that once featured some of the most important games in each school’s history, but over a decade removed from those memorable matchups, the stakes are much lower this time around.

Make no mistake, Saturday’s game is still important, but it’s a far cry from what the series looked like from 2008-10. Utah enters this year’s game with two straight losses, and turns the page to the Isaac Wilson era after Cam Rising’s season-ending injury , while TCU is reeling after losing two out of its last three, including a 66-42 loss at rival SMU and a 30-19 home loss vs. Big 12 bottom-dweller Houston.

Here’s a look back at what happened the last three times Utah and TCU met on the gridiron — one of the most memorable games in Utah history, and two others that Ute fans would rather forget.

“A lot of memorable games with the Horned Frogs and Gary Patterson was at the helm for so many years, in fact every one of those, and so yeah, those stand out in your mind,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said this week.

2008: No. 8 Utah 13, No. 12 TCU 10

There was a buzz in the air long before kickoff at Rice-Eccles Stadium as No. 8 Utah (9-0) and No. 12 TCU (8-1) met for the de facto Mountain West championship game.

The Utes remained unscathed through their first nine games — kicking off the season with a win at Michigan, beating Oregon State on a last-minute Louie Sakoda field goal and sneaking by New Mexico the week before playing the Horned Frogs — to set up one of the biggest games in school history.

An air of anticipation from the 45,666 black-clad fans filled the stadium — it was Utah’s first-ever “blackout” game and the school’s first time wearing black jerseys — but that feeling soon gave way to frustration as TCU raced out to a 10-0 lead and gained 202 yards in the first quarter.

Brian Johnson led the Utes on a field-goal drive in the first quarter, then Sakoda made another one after Sean Smith picked off Andy Dalton near the end of the half to cut the TCU lead to 10-6.

In the second half, the frustration in the stadium continued to build as both defenses dominated, especially TCU’s, leading to six consecutive punts. Utah’s offense, which had been so dynamic that season, sputtered throughout the night.

Horned Frogs running backs Ryan Christian and Aaron Brown finally got the TCU offense rolling down to the Utah 9-yard line in the middle of the fourth quarter, setting up an easy chip shot field goal for kicker Ross Evans.

Evans’ 26-yard field goal smacked off the left upright, but Utah’s ensuing drive went nowhere and Sakoda shanked the punt, setting TCU up in prime field position.

Once again, the Horned Frogs got into field-goal position, but pressure from Utah forced a third-down incompletion and Evans trotted on for redemption with 2:53 left.

When Evans missed the 35-yard field goal wide right, it started to feel like the Utes were destined to win.

After struggling all night, Johnson and the Utah offense came to life, as the Ute quarterback found Brent Casteel for a 22-yard gain to move into TCU territory.

From there, a pass interference penalty moved the Utes 15 yards closer, but there was one more obstacle for Johnson and the offense to overcome. Johnson overthrew a wide-open Casteel in the end zone on third-and-5, setting up a fourth-and-5 for the game.

Johnson converted the first down with an 11-yard pass to Freddie Brown, and two plays later, hit Brown on a slant route for the touchdown. The crowd reaction caused the press box to shake.

“And that was maybe the loudest. There’s been a few isolated — well, the crowd is great always — but where it’s at its peak was when we scored that touchdown, that place erupted and that was a great game for us,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said this week.

Robert Johnson picked off Dalton to seal the game, and fans came streaming onto the field, chanting “BCS! BCS! BCS!”

“Really, the championship was on the line and we ended up obviously finishing it off with an undefeated season,” Whittingham said.

Two games later, Utah polished off an unbeaten regular season with a 48-24 win over No. 14 BYU to punch its ticket to a BCS bowl game for the second time in four years.

Considered a big underdog in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, the Utes shocked the college football world, racing out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead to beat Alabama 31-17 and cement a 13-0 season. Utah finished No. 2 in the final AP Poll, which still stands as the program’s best finish ever.

2009: No. 4 TCU 55, No. 16 Utah 28

ESPN’s “College GameDay” arrived in Fort Worth, Texas for another high-profile showdown between the Mountain West schools, only this time, it was TCU trying to bust into the BCS.

Utah had suffered an early-season loss at Oregon, but had won all of its Mountain West games and was in contention for the conference crown, not to mention a second-straight BCS game if other results broke right. TCU, meanwhile, was 9-0 and had all the momentum in the world behind it.

A 10-yard run by Utah’s Shaky Smithson knotted the score up at seven late in the first quarter, but that would be the last time Utah was within striking distance.

TCU scored 28 unanswered points, including a Jordan Wynn pick-six, a blocked Utah punt that set up a touchdown, and a 52-yard punt return that led to another score.

By halftime, the game was all but over with a 38-14 Horned Frogs lead.

The Horned Frogs ran wild, rushing for 348 yards and five scores, and Dalton added 207 yards, a touchdown and an interception through the air.

Wynn threw for 219 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.

TCU’s vaunted defense shut down the Utes’ rushing attack, holding Eddie Wide — who rushed for 100 yards or more in six consecutive games entering the game — to only 25 rushing yards and a score.

After beating Utah, the Horned Frogs easily got past Wyoming and New Mexico to earn their first BCS bid, but it wasn’t a dream ending — TCU lost 17-10 in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl to fellow BCS crasher Boise State.

2010: No. 3 TCU 47, No. 5 Utah 7

It was one of the most captivating pregame scenes in Rice-Eccles Stadium history. Utah fans filled the parking lot in front of the stadium at 7 a.m. for “College GameDay” and then stayed on campus for the rest of the day, filing into the home of the Utes well before kickoff.

Reviving the “blackout” theme from 2008 and donning special black camouflage uniforms to honor the military, everything was set up for a momentous game between No. 3 TCU and No. 5 Utah, both of whom were undefeated coming into the showdown.

By the time Utah came running out of the tunnel, every seat in the stadium was full and the crowd was as loud as it’s ever been.

That was pretty much the last time that the 46,522 in attendance cheered.

TCU scored 20 points in the first quarter on three touchdown passes, including a 93-yard touchdown toss by future NFL quarterback Andy Dalton and a 26-yard pass thrown by wide receiver Jeremy Kerley, then added three more points by halftime to take a 23-0 lead into the locker room.

Things didn’t improve from that juncture as the Horned Frogs’ defense completely stymied the Utes’ offense, which didn’t cross the 50-yard line until the fourth quarter.

Dalton threw for 355 yards and three touchdowns, while Wynn was limited to 148 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, plus a fumble. Utah only rushed for 51 total yards and turned the ball over four times, while forcing just one TCU turnover.

After all of the pregame anticipation leading up to the top-five showdown, the Utes’ BCS dreams were dashed in one of the most embarrassing losses in school history.

The 47-7 beatdown is a game no Utah fan, player or coach wants to remember, even to this day.

While talking about the Utah-TCU series this week, Whittingham commented, “I remember they boat raced us one time. I think it was when ‘GameDay’ came.”

One media member joked, “I don’t remember that game,” and Whittingham followed his lead.

“I don’t either. That’s right. All of a sudden it just popped out of there,” Whittingham said.

TCU finished the regular season 12-0, going to a BCS bowl game for the second year in a row, and this time finished the job with a 21-19 win over Wisconsin in the 2011 Rose Bowl.