39. TCU Horned Frogs |
#5 in Big XII |
The last time TCU had an off year, 2013, they followed it by going 23-3 over the next two years, with a conference championship and a pair of top 7 national rankings. So when the Horned Frogs followed up a disappointing 2016 with an 11-3 season, a #9 finish, and a Big XII Championship Game appearance, it looked like 2016 was just a blip. They reached the top 15 of the polls in September last year, gave Ohio State all they could handle, but lost 6 of 8, including by 25 to Oklahoma and 37 to West Virginia. Starting quarterback Shawn Robinson announced he was transferring, but I don’t think any TCU fans shed a tear. He was fine, but never could put it all together, and his turnovers were a problem. Mike Collins, a transfer from Penn, saw action in 9 games, and was willing to go down the field more, averaging 3 yards more per completion, but with a substantially lower completion percentage, albeit with the interceptions. That said, Collins might be #4 on the depth chart right now. True freshman Justin Rogers may have gotten a look last year, but he still wasn’t fully recovered from an injury his senior year of high school, so he wound up redshirting. They brought in former Kansas State player, Alex Delton, as a grad transfer. They also signed Max Duggan, a 4*, the highest rated player in their 2019 class, who enrolled early, and was on campus for spring ball. The spring game did little to sort things out, with both Collins and Delton out injured, and Rogers still clearly not 100%. Rogers looked to have the better arm and decision making over Duggan, but reports are that Duggan moved around well, and Rogers did not. TCU has to travel to West Lafayette the second week of the season to play at Purdue, so ideally you’d want it figured out by then. But, if not, the rest of September (Arkansas-Pine Bluff, SMU, Kansas, all at home) should give everyone plenty of opportunities. All eyes are there, because quarterback looks to be the lone missing piece between 11-3 in 2017 and 7-6 in 2018. The running backs are steady, Jalen Reagor might be the most dynamic player in the conference, and the offensive line, which returns four starters, allowed the fewest sacks in the conference. The defense did graduate a lot of talent, but that has to just be plug and play at this point with Gary Patterson. TCU didn’t finish #1 across the board again in the Big XII defensively (scoring, total, rushing, passing), slipping all the way to #2 in scoring and rushing, but I think that’s still plenty to challenge for a trip to Dallas. The strength in right in the middle of that line with as good a pair of interior linemen as exists in the country. Ross Blacklock suffered an August achilles injury last year that cost him the entire season. If he is back and 100%, the 2017 Big XII Defensive Freshman of the Year joins all-Big XII tackle Corey Bethley in the middle. TCU held opponents to 3.6 ypc running last year, without him. But this is the Big XII, and if you can’t get after the passer, your defense is in trouble, no matter how good you are on the line. Bethley racked up 5 sacks last year, but the graduation of both ends, who finished first and second on the team in both sacks and tackles for loss are gone. Mix in the graduation of Ty Summers, who was their best pass rushing linebacker, and the one concern for this defense is going to be finding sacks. I trust Patterson to get that straightened out, because he always does. It comes down to the quarterback, because everything else seems to be in place, just like 2017 and 2018, and that one position resulted in a 4 win drop.
| KEY PLAYERS |
RB | Darius Anderson, Senior |
WR | Jalen Reagor, Junior |
T | Lucas Niang, Senior |
| . |
DT | Corey Bethley, Junior |
LB | Garret Wallo, Junior |
CB | Jeff Gladney, Senior |