Steven Johnson the TCU beat writer for the Fort Worth Star Telegram is our guest writer this week for the Opposing View column. He gives a closer look at the TCU program and and how he sees the game.
There have been a couple tough losses to UCF and then the rivalry game with SMU. How would you say the team's psyche is right now?
The players and coaches are saying all the right things including how great of a practice TCU had on Tuesday, but the program also said similar things after the collapse to UCF. For now, I think the Horned Frogs are in okay spirits because they’re only 0-1 in conference play, so there’s a lot of football left to play. This game, or the Houston one next week, will be tipping points for team morale.
Break down the TCU offense. What do they like to do and who are the players to watch?
TCU is an up-tempo scheme with a mix of Air Raid and Veer and Shoot concepts. It’s an offense that can put up a lot of yards through the air with Josh Hoover at quarterback. The receivers are the strength of the team with Jack Bech leading the Big 12 in receiving yards, Savion Williams is the most talented player on offense and JP Richardson is a solid weapon in the slot. The offensive line has done a decent job at pass protection and has given Hoover enough time to take his shots down field.
What kind of defense do they run and who are the key playmakers?
After firing Joe Gillespie, TCU hired Andy Avalos and runs more of a 4-2-5 scheme with various fronts. The Horned Frogs like to blitz more than previous year and have more variety in their alignments than they did with the 3-3-5. TCU linebackers Namdi Obiazor and Johnny Hodges are the leaders on defense with Obiazor having NFL potential. Cooper McDonald is another name to watch at TCU’s STUD position, where he serves as an extra edge rusher. Bud Clark is another name to know at free safety and he’s been a key piece on defense since the national championship game run.
After four games what would you say the strengths and weaknesses are on both sides of the ball?
It’s very simple. The Horned Frogs can’t stop the run or run the ball. It’s not just inconsistency, right now TCU is bad at both, ranking near the bottom of the Big 12 in both categories. The loss of star defensive lineman Damonic Williams to Oklahoma in the interior on defense has really shown up the last two games as TCU still doesn’t have great depth inside. Offensively, the ineptitude of the offensive line to be physical in the ground game has been puzzling and there could be changes made soon. TCU has also struggled with discipline with two games where the team has over 100 penalty yards.
As you look at this game how do you see the matchup and what team has the edge?
I picked Kansas to win this game in my preseason prediction because of all the experience Kansas returns on offense and Jalon Daniels. Daniels’ performance this season gives me pause, but I’m not sure how TCU is supposed to stop the rushing attack and it appears Kansas is playing better defense. I would probably trust Kansas’ defense to get more stops than TCU’s. Until the Horned Frogs can find balance on offense and more toughness on defense, I think the edge has to go to Kansas.
