With TCU set to face Colorado this coming weekend, we took the time to take some questions from Facebook after the team’s 27-24 road loss against Arizona State on Friday. Below are a few of the questions I’ve
done my best to answer for this week’s Frog Mailbag.
“How does Sonny plan to address the lack to discipline and minimize mental errors moving forward?” — Jimmy McGrath
This has been one of the most discouraging things about how TCU has started the season: the overwhelming amount of penalties. The Horned Frogs rank 101st in college football with 7.3 penalties per game, far more than the 5.6 committed on average last season. TCU also ranks 103rd in penalty yards per game (65.0) after averaging 52.2 last season. Those numbers are out of 136 teams, meaning TCU is in the bottom third of all of college football in those categories. The Horned Frogs average 8.9 yards per penalty, indicating that most of the flags are for 5 and 10-yard infractions like false starts, holding calls and illegal procedures. Also, only 1.3 penalties per game result in first downs, 37st in the nation. Due to TCU’s ability to move the ball, the offense has, at times, been able to overcome those mistakes. But against quality opponents like Arizona State, they’re unacceptable. I’d imagine TCU will be looking at making some personnel changes on the offensive line before the Colorado game.
“Is our chance to get into the big 12 championship and 12 team playoffs over now?” — Ethan Prance
No, I don’t believe this loss to Arizona State will eliminate TCU from title contention or a spot in the playoff. There’s so much parity in the Big 12 that there could very well be a team with one or even two losses fighting for the conference championship. What complicates things slightly for the Horned Frogs is that TCU doesn’t face Texas Tech or Utah this season, meaning there won’t be any chances for head-to-head tiebreaker advantages. Given that the Sun Devils are likely to be in the mix for the Big 12 title, TCU will need to make up ground with wins against teams like Iowa State, Baylor, BYU and even Kansas State. If the Horned Frogs are unable to win those games, specifically the games against the Cyclones, Bears or Cougars, TCU has no chance of a run.
“The OL seem to disappear as the game progressed. No pass protection and no run blocking. What is it?” — Alvaro Enrique Gonzalez Pechtel
While penalties have been an issue this season, I think this is the first time all season that the offensive line has really struggled in terms of run blocking and pass protection. I had some concerns about this group coming into the season, as TCU was replacing two starters in Bless Harris (NFL) and center James Brockermeyer (Portal). Ryan Hughes only saw limited snaps at tackle as a freshman last season and while he’s played multiple roles on the offensive line over his three seasons, Ben Taylor-Whitfield looked rough on Friday. Cade Bennett, who missed all of last season after transferring in from San Diego State, is another player who needs to step up in order for this group to take a step forward. As of now, the only major concern I have with this group are the penalties, but if the Horned Frogs struggle against Colorado, then there could be some changes in personnel up front.
