TCU will cruise into Big 12 play with a 3-0 record after beating SMU 35-24 and retaining the Iron Skillet. With the Horned Frogs preparing for a Friday night showdown against Arizona State, we took a few
questions from Facebook and provided insight into current injuries and where TCU could take its season from here.
“What’s its going to take for TCU to be ranked this year? I feel like TCU has to go undefeated to even have a shot at a playoff invite. Meanwhile Notre Dame can go 6-6 and still have a top seeding. Seeing a massive bias on the Frogs. I would say the Big 12 but Tech is getting alot of love by the critics” — Steven Barber
Thankfully, AP voters heard your pleas! TCU is now No. 24 in the AP Top 25. It may be the minority opinion, but I felt that the Horned Frogs needed to start 3-0 on the season to break into the rankings. The North Carolina win was huge, but beating Abilene Christian (or any FCS school for that matter) won’t ever move the needle. Taking down SMU, who made the CFP last season, to reach 3-0 is exactly what TCU needed to get back into the polls. If the Horned Frogs can travel to Arizona State and survive the Sun Devils, then TCU will have a case for the top 20.
I’ve read a lot of complaints about Notre Dame still being ranked despite starting the season 1-2. One thing to keep in mind is that the Irish played two ranked teams (Miami and Texas A&M) and were in both games, only losing by a combined four points. The Irish will have to practically win out to stay relevant in the CFP chase, as only one ranked team (USC) remains on their schedule. Arkansas just lost to Memphis and Boise State took a bad loss from South Florida a few weeks ago. I only see one tough opponent on their final five games (Boston College, Navy, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Stanford) too, so ND can easily fall out of the ranks with another loss.
How’s the health of Hoover? He did run out to knee, but it’s still concerning going into Friday” — Geoffrey Foster
I don’t think this is anything to worry about. For those who didn’t watch, Josh Hoover had an offensive lineman fall on his leg toward the end of the SMU game, but he said in a postgame interview that he had cramps. TCU does have a short week, but I haven’t read or seen anything that would suggest his availability will be in doubt.
I also want to take this time to respond to a few other questions we had from Facebook about the status of running back Kevorian Barnes and kicker Kyle Lemmermann. Barnes, who was questionable for the SMU game and ultimately didn’t play after hurting his leg against ACU, doesn’t appear to be in any risk of missing significant time according to Sonny Dykes. Lemmermann, meanwhile, will likely be out for a while after posting to social media that he injured his kicking leg. It’s unfortunate for Lemmermann, who played well in the UNC game after an up-and-down freshman season. The good news is that backup kicker Nate McCashland converted each of his extra points against SMU. The bad news is that he missed on a 48-yarder and didn’t really come close.
I haven’t read or seen anything to confirm how long Lemmermann will be out for, so I’d imagine the kicking game could become a major storyline for this team if McCashland struggles to make field goals. One more note is that another kicker, Sam Bisesi, has handled six kickoffs this season, five in the ACU game.
