LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns, TCU had 15 sacks and two long TD returns as the No. 22 Horned Frogs opened the season with a 41-10 victory Saturday.

Texas Christian's Joey Biasatti gets the punt off before Nevada's Carl LaGrone can get there.(AP)

``The defensive line took control from the get go,'' TCU coach Dennis Franchione said. ``I've never seen 15 sacks before.''

The Horned Frogs sacked David Neil1 l2 in the first half, and held Nevada to 11 yards rushing for the game.

``I've never coached a team that gave up 15 sacks,'' Nevada coach Chris Tormey said.

``I didn't know it was that many,'' added Neill, a junior who threw for 3,000 yards in each of his first two seasons.

``I don't think I've ever been this tired after a game. I took a couple of hits to the head and body and it got kind of hard to get up after awhile.''

Defensive ends Aaron Schobel, who sat out the second half with an injury, and Joe Hill each had three sacks in the first half.

``We started getting a couple of sacks and it snowballed for us,'' said nose tackle Stuart Ashley, who added two sacks.

LaTarence Dunbar scored on a 95-yard kick return, and Lavar Veale had an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown to help the Horned Frogs run their winning streak to six games.

LaTarence Dunbar scored on a 95-yard kick return and Lavar Veale on an 85-yard punt return to help TCU stretch its winning streak to six games -- the Frogs' best since 1984.

Tomlinson passed the 100-yard mark midway through the second quarter, including scoring runs of 1 and 8 yards, then added a 43-yard touchdown run to put TCU ahead 41-10 before leaving the game in the third quarter.

``Tomlinson is everything he's advertised to be,'' said Tormey, the former Idaho coach in his first year at Nevada (0-2, 0-1 WAC).

Tomlinson broke the school record with his 35th career touchdown, and moved ahead of Andre Davis into second place on TCU's career rushing list with 3,281 yards.

``I thought the offensive line did a great job of blocking,'' said Tomlinson, who led the nation with 1,850 yards rushing last year. ``I thought we could have come out and played a little better. But it's the first game. Overall, I'm happy getting 176 yards in three quarters,'' he said.

Tomlinson said one of the Nevada defenders was quoted in the media saying they were going to shut him down.

``That kind of upset our whole offense. We wanted to go out there and show them they need to shut their mouth before they jump in the ring with the Horned Frogs,'' he said.

Veale took a punt at his own 15, reversed field and ran to the end zone to give TCU a 14-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

Nevada pulled within seven at 14-7 with 2:06 left in the first quarter when Neill threw 35 yards to Mike Crawford, and Adrian Dugas ran 1 yard for a TD on the next play.

But George Layne added a 28-yard touchdown run, and Tomlinson scored from 8 yards out to put TCU ahead 28-7 at the half.

Mike Phillips' 29-yard field goal pulled Nevada to 28-10. But Dunbar took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for the score and a 35-10 lead with 11:11 left in the third quarter.

``The most disappointing thing was the kicking game,'' Tormey said. ``Take their two touchdowns and put them on the other side of the ledger and it's a whole new ball game.''

Neill was 19-of-39 for 226 yards when he wasn't face down on Nevada's new artificial turf.

``We got behind and we had to drop back and throw the ball a lot,'' Tormey said.

``We moved the ball better in the second half when our receivers started to show their potential,'' he said about the young corps of wide outs.

TCU quarterback Casey Printers completed only 3 of 9 pass attempts for 53 yards and one interception.

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