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It's the eighth week of the season and West Virginia is undefeated, something we may not have expected to be the case at the beginning of the year. TCU enters Saturday's game with some tough losses on its schedule, dropping games against Arkansas and Oklahoma. The Horned Frogs survived a scare against Kansas last week, escaping 24-23 on the road.
TCU head coach Gary Patterson has been successful when facing West Virginia in recent years. The Horned Frogs have won the last two meetings in this series. Last season, TCU won by 30 points in a 40-10 victory at home. As typical Dana Holgorsen-coached teams go, WVU has been relatively high-scoring so far this season, averaging 33 points per game. But perhaps more impressive is what the Mountaineer defense was able to do against Texas Tech last weekend, holding the Red Raiders to just 17 points, which was a season-low for Tech. It also broke the nine-game consecutive home streak in which the Red Raiders scored 50 or more points.
How to watch, stream, and listen
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN 2. Dave Pasch and Greg McElroy will be on the call with Tom Luginbill on the sidelines.
Radio: TCU, West Virginia
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: West Virginia is a 5-point favorite.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at The Smoking Musket for WVU fans and Frogs O' War for TCU fans.
Three big things to know
1. The key to stopping TCU starts with QB Kenny Hill: So far this season, the junior has thrown for 2,142 yards, completing 63.3 percent of his passes along with 12 touchdowns. He has thrown eight interceptions on the season, three of those coming last week against Kansas. He has also accounted for seven rushing touchdowns on the season.
2. West Virginia does well when scoring a lot: West Virginia is 19-4 when scoring 40 or more points under head coach Dana Holgorsen. Furthermore, the Mountaineers are 52-4 when they score 40 or more points since the year 2000. The Mountaineers scored over 40 points for the first time this season in the win over Texas Tech last weekend.
3. Saturday is important for the Big 12 race: Currently, West Virginia is one of three Big 12 teams without a conference loss, along with both Oklahoma and Baylor. WVU still has to play both of those teams, so a loss to TCU could hurt them in the Big 12. Meanwhile, TCU's only conference loss so far came at the hands of Oklahoma.