Small Ball
It’s not uncommon for freshman to get a shot at game action when taking on FCS competition, but that’s often reserved to garbage time when the result is well out of reach. For the Horned Frogs on Saturday night, those fresh faces were the instant-impact stars of the show. The headliner here will be wide receiver Ed Small. Rocking the Jack Bech number 18, the four-star out of Austin made his first career catch and went on to have a career day, finishing
with 6 receptions for 45 yards and 2 touchdowns, demonstrating a clear connection with QB Josh Hoover already. Small’s first career touchdown was a gorgeous diving one-handed grab while his second was a sliding snag on a bullet from Hoover that was delivered through traffic. Opposing defenses face the impossible choice of trying to focus attention on the many weapons at Josh Hoover’s disposal, adding another to that list will only make this offense more lethal.
Old Men on Campus
It wasn’t just newcomers who could shine in early action for the Frogs on Saturday, the wily veterans also showed out und the lights. sixth-year super senior Chase Curtis opened the scoring for the Frogs, the third touchdown of his long career in Fort Worth. Another longtime Horned Frog, 5th year senior Trent Battle got his second touchdown of the season, rushing for five yards per carry and a score as part of a five-headed monster out of the backfield. Another fifth-year player, Joseph Manjack had the best game of his long career in just his second appearance for the Frogs, logging four catches for a game-high 114 yards. The Horned Frogs have a great mix of young blood to provide an energy boost and a bright future, but don’t forget about the wealth of experience that TCU can put on the field and deploy to great effect.
Maestro Hoover
It was another masterful performance for the Horned Frogs quarterback. Josh Hoover continues to bring his game to another level, completing 78% of his passes for 337 yards and four touchdowns. But it wasn’t just the stat line for the TCU gun slinger, it was his total control of the offense behind an offensive line that keeps him clean. Hoover was not only sacked zero times, but the ACU defense did not register a single official QB Hurry. Hoover threw with touch and threw with zip, he used his legs to create outside the pocket, throwing with accuracy on the move. Even though there will be better defenses ahead for the Frogs, Hoover showing off this level of ease in the offense though the season’s opening weeks projects for big things to come.
Bend & Break Defense
It’s tough to suggest anything was truly bad about a game you win by three touchdowns and pitch a first half shutout, but that final tally on the scoreboard doesn’t always tell the whole story. Even during that dominant first half, that shutout was preserved by two missed field goals and two punts coming on 4th & short near midfield that would typically be go-for-it territory for most teams on TCU’s schedule. After that first half shut out, the Wildcats came out of the locker rom and scored on each of its second half possessions. Regardless of any perceived garbage time cruising, a TCU Defense should not be allowing 453 total yards to any FCS team, plus another 46 via penalty as the TCU secondary was carved up by ACU QB Stone Earle all night. Part of why TCU could never fully put the game well out of reach is because the Frogs could never get the ball back into the offense’s hands. ACU was able to consistently conduct lengthy drives, dominating time of possession by holding onto the ball for over 36 minutes thanks to picking up an incredible 27 first downs. The TCU Defense could simply not get off the field, allowing the Wildcats to convert 12 of its 17 third down attempts. It of course was not all bad for this side of the ball: you can’t give up that many 3rd down conversions without first forcing that many 3rd downs and the Frogs earned 7 tackles for loss, including 4 sacks. However with explosive offenses ahead on the schedule with superstar skill talent, the Horned Frogs certainly have room for improvement.
