Hoover Hype
Coming off perhaps the worst game of his career last week at Arizona State, TCU QB Josh Hoover was in need of a major bounce back to get him and the Horned Frogs back on the right track, and that’s exactly what he delivered. Hoover completed 70% of his passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns through the air, plus another 20 crucial yards and a score on the ground, and most importantly he had zero turnovers. While the Colorado defense is far from the nation’s best, this is the kind of performance
that will have NFL scouts intrigued, especially the mature and intelligent execution on the game-sealing play. The Horned Frogs were forced into a 4th and 6 just outside the redzone with under 30 seconds to play in the game, leading by a touchdown. TCU could attempt a field goal despite Nate McCashland missing from 30 yards earlier in the game, or it could put the ball – and the game – in Hoover’s hands. TCU sent the offense back on the field, Hoover scanned the defense, called the route audible and dropped an absolute dime in the bucket to Eric McAlister to secure the win (and the cover!). It’s an elite belief in your quarterback by the coaching staff to trust him in that and impeccable execution to deliver in that situation. The Horned Frogs needed everything Hoover had because…
Nowhere to Run
For the second consecutive game, the TCU running game provided very little support to the offense. A week after combining for just 10 total rush yards at ASU, the Horned Frogs were at least able to muster up 94 on the ground vs. Colorado. Those yards came on 35 carries, good for a weak 2.7 yards per carry as a team, dropping the Horned Frogs to the very bottom of the Big 12 in rush yards per game and rush yards per attempt. This poor showing comes against the league’s worst run defense – a run defense so bad that it remains easily the worst in the conference despite containing the Frogs on Saturday. Kevorian Barnes returned for TCU and proved to be the most effective of the squad’s ballcarriers after missing last week with injury. The notable running failure of the night was on the goal line after a long drive, Frogs had the ball 1st & Goal from the 1; TCU is unable to punch it in on rush attempts from Nate Palmer and Jon Denman before a pass interference pushed TCU back, leading to a missed field goal attempt. TCU needs to find a way to convert these short yardage opportunities and take some pressure off of Josh Hoover’s shoulders.
Salter Peppered
While it remains clear that Kaidon Salter is the best QB for the Buffaloes right now, doing some impressive things on Saturday while throwing two TDs and running for another, the TCU defense had him in hell all night Saturday. TCU sacked Salter twice and hurried him another four times, but there is one other stat that really sticks out on the box score: three interceptions. Salter opened the game with an interception thrown to Jamel Johnson on just the third play of Colorado’s opening drive. He settled in after that, storming to a 14 point advantage before closing the half with interceptions in consecutive possessions. First it was Bud Clark lurking in the shadows and baiting Salter into the interception that looked straight out of a video game as Clark makes an excellent jumping catch, leading to a TCU game-tying TD pass. The next opportunity, the Buffs drove all the way to just outside the endzone with a handful of seconds remaining before the break in a tie game, Salter throws a ball into traffic that is batted away and picked off by Namdi Obiazor to send the game to halftime tied. After getting torched by Sam Leavitt a week ago, it was great to see the Horned Frogs defense neutralize a capable runner – Salter finished with 11 rush yards – and create multiple game-changing turnovers.
3rd Down Bad
The TCU defense is one of the worst nationally at getting off the field on third downs, allowing conversions on over 44% of 3rd down opportunities on the season, and that was on full display in Fort Worth on Saturday as Colorado was to go 9-14 on 3rd down while also converting on its only 4th down attempt. The Frogs were again able to frequently force the opposition into challenging 3rd-and-long situations, but simply break down when that final moment is needed to force a punt. Following this game TCU is tied with Oklahoma State for worst in the Big 12 at allowing 3rd down conversions, an alarming position to be despite now owning a 4-1 record. It’s an issue the Frogs will certainly need to fix in a hurry as the offenses ahead are only going to get stronger with Avery Johnson & Dylan Edwards next week in Manhattan before Sawyer Robertson and the Baylor Bears the following week.
