TCU vs. West Virginia 2012: Horned Frogs defense bottles up Geno Smith

A young TCU team picked up its biggest win of the 2012 season in Week 10, edging out West Virginia in overtime. It was the third straight loss for the Mountaineers, a streak the Horned Frogs avoided with a gutsy two-point conversion call in the second overtime. The 39-38 win improved TCU's record to 6-3, and the defense looked much improved against a prolific Dana Holgorsen attack.

Geno Smith has regressed quite a bit in the second half of the season, but TCU's defense still did an impressive job against the one-time Heisman candidate. SB Nation's TCU blog, Frogs O' War, extolled the effort on the defensive side of the ball:

On the whole the defense absolutely smothered the West Virginia offense for most of the game, with the exception of Tavon Austin. Color me unimpressed with Geno Smith, as for the third consecutive game the former Heisman frontrunner made a large number of terrible throws, and the only way he really hurt the Frogs with consistency was when frogs slid off of him in the backfield and he ran upfield for key first downs. And about Tavon Austin... I sure am glad he's graduating this year.

It won't get any easier for the Horned Frogs' defense as the No. 3 team in the country, Kansas State, comes to Fort Worth in Week 11. TCU may be the biggest hurdle in the Wildcats' bid for an undefeated season, and Gary Patterson will surely has his club ready for Collin Klein.