Horned Frogs roll over Utes

SLIDESHOW: Utah vs. TCU football

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Now that the hometown fans are finally taking notice of No. 4 TCU, maybe the rest of the nation will also realize that the BCS-hopeful Horned Frogs are for real.

Utah certainly can't disagree.

In likely its last significant hurdle to an undefeated regular season, TCU scored three touchdowns in a 21âÑ2-minute span early in the second quarter and beat No. 16 Utah 55-28 Saturday night.

"If the nation didn't think that this was enough style points, then I don't know what is," coach Gary Patterson said. "We're just going to go about our business."

The Horned Frogs (10-0, 6-0 Mountain West) stretched their winning streak to 12 games since a last-minute loss last November at Utah (8-2, 5-1), which had won 22 of 23. TCU also has won 13 in a row at home since losing when the Utes last visited two years ago.

With a record crowd of 50,307 -- a sellout at 79-year-old Amon Carter Stadium without the benefit of an instate opponent -- and representatives from the Orange, Rose and Fiesta bowls watching from the athletic director's suite, the Frogs put on quite a show. Fans stormed the field when it was over.

Matthew Tucker had the first and last touchdowns (runs of 41 and 9 yards) for TCU, with five teammates getting into the end zone in between. The 55 points were the most allowed by Utah since 1996, a lopsided game that even caught the Frogs by surprise.

"Not in my wildest dream," defensive end Jerry Hughes said. "I figured it was going to be a dogfight."

Even without guaranteed access to the Bowl Championship Series, the Frogs have changed the question about if they can be a BCS buster. Now it's can they be the first outsider to play for the national title?

The Frogs are fourth in the BCS standings, the highest a team from a conference without an automatic bid has reached. They trail only Florida, Alabama and Texas -- all winners Saturday.

Ed Wesley ran for 137 yards and a touchdown and Andy Dalton threw for 207 yards and a score. TCU had 549 yards overall, its third straight game with at least 500.

Utah's Eddie Wide, who had posted six straight 100-yard games, was held to 25 yards on 14 carries.

"It was one of our worst performances," Utah linebacker Stevenson Sylvester said.

The Frogs, 10-0 for only the second time since its 1938 undefeated national championship team led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Davey O'Brien, play next week at wobbly Wyoming. They close the regular season Nov. 28 at home against New Mexico (0-10).