The TCU Horned Frogs continue to say all the right things about focusing on one game at a time and have done little public lobbying for a College Football Playoff spot.
With the way they are playing, the Frogs don't have to do any talking or politicking. The product the Frogs are putting on the field says plenty.
Saturday night that was once again the case as the sixth-ranked Frogs turned what was supposed to be a showdown of top-10 teams into a laugher as they rolled over seventh-ranked Kansas State 41-20.
"I just know that if we win out we pretty much control our own destiny," said running back Aaron Green, who played a role in the Frogs shredding the Wildcats defense with a career high 171 yards. "This is almost like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This is the first year that the playoff system is here. We potentially might have a chance to play for a national championship. If you can't get ready for that then you need to stay at home. I know this game meant a lot, but we've still got to win."
TCU did just that against the Wildcats (7-2, 5-1) in a ground-and-pound fashion. Triggerman Trevone Boykin bounced back from a sub-par showing last week by accounting for 342 yards and four touchdowns.
Like Green, Boykin set a career high for rushing yards by rolling for 123, including a spectacular 19-yard run in the third quarter that ended with Boykin flipping into the end zone for a score that put the Frogs up 24-7.
TCU ran for 334 yards against a Kansas State team that hadn't allowed 200 rushing yards in a game this season. The Frogs controlled the clock (35:18 in time of possession), won the turnover battled (zero vs. one) and made fewer penalties than the least penalized team in the Big 12.
"We always take what they give us," TCU head coach Gary Patterson said. "You're going to have to go run the football if you want to be able to move the football and do some things you need to do. We knew it wasn't going to be one of those where they gave us big plays. They don't give anyone big plays."
TCU found a way to make them though, taking the drama out of what many in the crowd of 48,012 expected to be a close game. The Frogs were up 14-7 after the first quarter, 17-7 at halftime and 41-14 midway through the fourth quarter.
Dominant for sure, but Patterson will let others decide if it was a statement win or not.
"You got to stay out of the middle of all the stuff," said Patterson, whose team set a school record with its fourth win over a ranked team. "For us all that stuff doesn't matter. You can't control the committee. You can't control what you guys write. You can't control what the polls say. We can't control anything. All we can do is win. All I know is we were No. 6 and they were No. 7 and we won."
TCU did it without their leading rusher (B.J. Catalon) and one of its top receivers (Deante' Gray). Patterson said the Frogs didn't dwell on what they didn't have and instead looked for players to step up. Green, who knew last Sunday that he was going to get the start, did just that, scoring on a 65-yard run midway through the third quarter in response to a KSU touchdown that had cut TCU's lead to 24-14.
Boykin, who threw for 219 yards, spread the ball around. Wideout David Porter set a season high with 84 yards on seven receptions, including a 10-yard TD late in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
The well-rounded performance by the Frogs was a far cry from their come-from-behind 31-30 win over West Virginia last week.
"We knew we were going to have to bounce back this week and we practiced like that all week," Boykin said. "We had that chip on our shoulder all week to where losing wasn't really an option. We wanted to play our best game of the year and beat Kansas State and move on and get win No. 8."
