In the final home game of the season, players, coaches and fans left a mark for the senior football players.A bowl-qualifying, definitive 34-10 victory against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas on Saturday sent the 20 seniors on the team off with style.

With its sixth win on the season, TCU qualified for a bowl bid, but head coach Gary Patterson said he believes a seventh victory, which would come against San Diego State University this Saturday, is necessary for a bowl invitation.

“I didn’t really get that excited downstairs,” Patterson said. “It’s a two-game season and we’ve won one of them.”

Sophomore quarterback Marcus Jackson said the team feels a seventh win is necessary.

“We’re not going next week thinking we’re in a bowl,” Jackson said. “We feel like our backs are against the wall.”

Senior linebacker David Hawthorne said the team has to remain calm for the next game and prepare as they would for any team.

“We have to keep it calm (and) in our hands and not make it a Super Bowl,” he said.

The real story of the night was TCU’s ground game on both sides of the ball.

The TCU defense was stifling, allowing the Rebels only 12 rushing yards.

The Horned Frog defense shined against the maligned Runnin’ Rebels, allowing only one touchdown, which marks the second touchdown given up to the Runnin’ Rebels in the three games the teams have played as Mountain West Conference opponents.

UNLV quarterback Travis Dixon faced constant pressure from the Horned Frog defense and was held to negative yardage on the ground.

Hawthorne said the team’s main focus was to stop the run and the team did a great job doing that against UNLV.

The run defense was successful because they clamped down early, Patterson said, and the team was able to put up good numbers offensively, forcing the Rebels to effectively abandon the running game.

“When you get behind as far as they did, then it becomes a passing game,” Patterson said.

Senior defensive ends Chase Ortiz and Tommy Blake established a two-headed monster attack, pressuring Dixon throughout the night.

The TCU offense showed its worth, especially on the ground where the Frogs had four touchdowns coming from three different players and 251 yards rushing.

Not everything went as well for the rushing unit, which lost junior running back Aaron Brown to a season-ending injury in the third quarter.

Brown entered the season as the Mountain West preseason offensive player of the year, but has been hampered by injury since TCU’s opening games against the Baylor.

Sophomore running back Joseph Turner got things rolling for the Frogs with a 3-yard touchdown run on TCU’s first possession.

“I believe we’re a running team here,” said Turner, who finished the night with 61 rushing yards.

In TCU’s ensuing possession, redshirt freshman quarterback Andy Dalton showed he has a pretty good pair of legs in addition to an arm, with four rushes for 40 yards, capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run.

Before exiting, Brown joined Turner and Dalton with his own 10-yard run for six points.

Not to be outdone, Dalton added another rushing touchdown to his stat sheet with a 3-yard run late in the second quarter.

Dalton finished the game with 73 on the ground and led the team in total rushing yards for the second game in a row.

Turner said he had no idea Dalton could be so effective on the ground and said Dalton seems to be maturing.

“I think he’s starting to come out of his shell, starting to get more comfortable,” he said.

Patterson said having a quarterback who can run and throw is a real help to any team.

“You don’t have a coverage made up that covers the quarterback,” Patterson said. “It really adds another dimension and makes them account for them.”

Patterson said the increased emphasis on rushing is in part an attempt to control game time and flow.

He said not only does it help win the game, but controlling the clock limits the amount of injuries a team can suffer, which is just as important.

Patterson said the season is winding down well for the Horned Frogs, but San Diego will still be a challenge.

“We are kind of coming into our own a little bit,” Patterson said. “It’s a little bit too late, but we’ll take it. You have to get to seven.

“We earned one more tonight, and San Diego State plays a lot better at home.