Last year, TCU owned BYU on third downs, killing momentum and keeping the Cougars punting, and giving BYU it's worst loss (32-7) since 2005. TCU's all-everything, Jerry Hughes, dominated the game by making BYU miserably one-dimensional.

In 2006, a game I covered for the Daily Universe, the Cougars shocked TCU by ending the nation's best 13-game winning streak, due in large part to John Beck converting with receivers and Harline on long third downs (3rd and 5+)... 

This year, BYU is protecting its own win streak: With a win Saturday, BYU would extend their conference record home win streak to 14 games; more importantly, beating TCU would give BYU two wins over top-10 opponents for the first time in school history and further their argument for getting into the BCS with one loss, as we've mentioned already

THE KEY TO THE GAME: The Cougars' offense is the best in the nation in third-down conversions 64.4 percent. However, the Horned Frogs' are fifth in stopping third-down conversions, limiting opponents to a 27 percent success rate. Whichever team holds true to its season-long character will--or at least should--win the game.