Fort Worth, TX (Sports Network) - The premiere game in the Mountain West Conference this week takes place in Fort Worth, Texas as the fourth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs encounter their final real hurdle en route to a perfect regular season as they entertain the 16th-ranked Utah Utes at Carter Stadium.

The Horned Frogs sport one of the nation's longest win streaks at 11 games and is one of only six teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision that is still undefeated in 2009. Last week, TCU easily dismissed San Diego State on the road by a score of 55-12, the team's top scoring output against another member of the FBS this season.

For their efforts the Horned Frogs jumped to fourth in the AP Poll and are in that same spot in the BCS rankings, making them the highest rated school outside of the BCS conferences.

After this meeting, the only remaining teams standing in the way of TCU and a perfect season are Wyoming and New Mexico, two teams with a combined record of just 4-14 entering the week.

As for the Utes, the only team to go undefeated all of 2008, they've suffered just a single loss this season in a 31-24 setback at Oregon in the third game of the year. Since then the team has triumphed in six straight games, including last week's 45-14 decision against a winless New Mexico squad in Salt Lake City.

This meeting could easily be the deciding factor as to which school will be picking up the MWC regular-season title and also have the best shot at a BCS bid, although BYU is still lurking in the weeds.

Last season, the Utes slipped by with a 13-10 decision, running their record to 5-1 all-time versus TCU. However, recent games have been nail biters as three of the last four meetings have been decided by seven points or less.

"I thought we played our best game of the year on offense on Saturday," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said after the New Mexico meeting. "We got into a rhythm and had good production on points, first downs and yardage. Eddie Wide and the offensive line had over 100 yards rushing for the sixth-straight week for a school record. Jordan Wynn played well in his first start. He was poised, confident and made good decisions."

Wide finished the contest with 145 yards and two touchdowns on the ground for the Utes in the lopsided win last weekend, while Wynn converted 18-of-28 passes for 297 yards and a pair of scores as well.

Receiver Jereme Brooks had a standout effort down the field for Utah with his six catches for 135 yards and a touchdown, matching David Reed in the number of catches to pace the squad.

Brooks and Reed have been central to the team's passing success this season, the combination accounting for a collective 94 receptions for more than 1,300 yards and nine touchdowns. Wynn has assumed the position of starting quarterback, even though Terrance Cain had handled the duties for much of the season leading up to November.

With Matt Asiata lost for the season the Utes have had to change some of their offensive schemes and those changes have opened up the field for Wide who is averaging better than six yards per carry and has eight touchdowns on 131 attempts.

"Right now, we're on a roll, especially offensively, and we were able to make some plays," TCU head coach Gary Patterson said after the meeting with San Diego State last weekend. "Our guys are moving around and they're healthy and we have a junior quarterback whos played three years and he made some plays today."

The quarterback coach Patterson was referring to is Andy Dalton who converted 14-of-20 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns and also picked up another 44 yards and two TDs on five rushing attempts as he was named a Co-Offensive Player of the Week in the MWC.

Now ranked sixth in the nation and second in the conference in rushing with 242.1 ypg, the Horned Frogs didn't have one single, dominating back in the SDSU contest, instead opting for a slew of ball carriers capable of posting 312 yards and five touchdowns on 53 attempts.

As for the TCU defense, Wayne Daniels turned some heads as he recorded the only sack of the game with the Aztecs and also forced one fumble and made a recovery. All-conference performer Jerry Hughes had just a single stop, but then again the team really didn't need him to have a big game in order to get into the win column.

Nevertheless, this weekend Hughes will certainly be a focal point of the defense for TCU and the Utes will have to make every effort to keep him from ruining too many plays. Hughes leads the team, is first in the MWC and tied for eighth in the country with an average of one sack per game. A senior defensive end who is a Texas native, Hughes is currently fourth on the team in total tackles with 41 and paces the squad with his 10.5 tackles for loss. Needless to say, having Hughes on that side of the ball is a major reason why the Horned Frogs are ranked first in the MWC and third in the nation in overall defense, with just 240.6 ypg allowed.

Points continue to be at a premium for TCU opponents as the Frogs have allowed a combined 25 points in the last four games and are now fifth in the country in scoring defense, permitting a mere 11.2 ppg.

As if having such a potent defense were not enough, TCU is a rare breed that excels on both sides of the ball and in special teams. The team has four players who have all run for at least 340 yards this season, the quartet combining for 18 of the team's 25 rushing touchdowns. The most dangerous of all of them is Dalton because he rarely gets caught behind the line of scrimmage and is always capable of finding an open receiver down the field. Dalton has converted 63.8 percent of his passes for 209 ypg and a total of 16 touchdowns, against just three interceptions.

"It's going to be exciting and there is a lot of fanfare attached to the game, but once the ball is in the air, from a player's perspective, that stuff no longer becomes a factor because we are so focused on the job at hand," says coach Whittingham. "It will be a great atmosphere for the fans and hopefully a great game for the television viewers."

"We haven't had success the past couple of years against Utah, so this is a big game for us, just like the rest of them," acknowledges coach Patterson. "Fortunately for us, we get to play at home and we have a lot of people that will be at the ball game. We're going to give it our best shot."