Cougars to play TCU in Cowboys Stadium

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Provo • Mountain West Conference rivals BYU and TCU aren't finished playing football against each other just yet.

The Cougars' schedule in their first year of football independence will feature the Horned Frogs, ESPN announced on Thursday, saying it will televise a BYU-TCU meeting on Oct. 28 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Kickoff is at 6 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.

The game will replace a scheduled BYU game at Louisiana Tech on Nov. 5, meaning the Cougars will still have 12 games on their schedule in 2011.

BYU last played at Cowboys Stadium on Sept. 5, 2009, downing Oklahoma 14-13 in a season opener in the first college game ever played in the facility owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

It has been reported that the Cougars agreed to the game as a favor to TCU, which was having trouble filling out its 2011 schedule when it was dropped by Texas Tech.

Coincidentally, TCU coach Gary Patterson, when he learned BYU was exploring independence last summer, said he would not play the Cougars again.

The Horned Frogs will play one more season in the MWC before heading to the Big East in 2012.

ESPN and BYU signed an eight-year deal for the sports network to televise BYU's home games and neutral site games (where BYU is the designated home team) last summer.