Thoughts on the TCU Game

[JasonB]

Apologies for the delay, but I needed some time today to rewatch the replay after being there in person.

First, as I mentioned in the other thread, this was the first game at Ford I remember the crowd actually having an impact on the game. I get the people mentioning the Kansas game back in the opening, but I don't remember the student section in that one being nearly as intense as this. The students were harassing the TCU sideline the entire game; in fact, one of the assistant coaches was complaining about it and trying to point out some students in the crowd who I think threw a beer. TCU seemed rattled from the start. The early throws from Hoover were off, and I think the crowd had something to do with it. There was a real intensity in the crowd, even on the alumni side, and I think the UTEP game had that level of intensity, but that one didn't have the volume of people. IMHO, while we have experienced Moody Madness in the past, that was our first Ford Fanatics experience.

Second, before I get into individual players and position groups, Rhett made a point several times over the last two weeks about how good our special teams play has been. Point taken. The Smith and Junior returns were incredibly well executed with a slew of blockers. And don't forget that outstanding catch 40 (Tarian Lee) made on another kickoff and returned it up the line, that was really heads up.

Rhett has also made a big point of just doing your job. Nobody needs to be a superstar, not even QB, just run the plays and get the job done. He wants consistency and execution. Since taking over the QB position against BYU, by my count, Jennings has had 20 drives:

- 3 turnover
- 1 missed FG
- 5 TDS
- 8 FG
- 2 downs
- 1 punt

59 points in 20 drives; 3 points per drive would certainly be one of the top offenses in the country. The efficiency yesterday was outstanding, but this consistency is what RL is looking for.

The statistics Jennings puts up are not remarkable by any stretch, but they are efficient. The completion percentage is what it needs to be, and he is allowing the players to make plays on their own. The fumbles are going to continue to be an issue, it seems, so that is certainly something to watch. But he is doing a great job of running the offense.

Gigantic surprise with the OL - Chamblee - Parr - Clark - Osborne - PJ. Nobody saw the flip on the outside coming. Chamblee was solid on his side. Parr was back to his most comfortable position and did great. before the injury, Clark was outstanding, and then he came back and was still good. Osborne was incredible. And then PJ switched sides like it was nothing and was really good. Off the bench, Sparks came in at RG when Clark went out and Osborne shifted over and played well, while Byrd just about split time with Chamblee on the left and was really good. I thought that was a really smart move by the coaching staff - Byrd has stated he has comfort at left guard, so playing him at LT he was much better than over at RT. We were all hoping they would clean things up on the line, and we did. More simplistic schemes, especially in pass protection. In my preview, I talked about gap versus zone, and we did move back to zone... although I will note that we really did a more even set than in the past - it was only slightly heavy. And on replay, we actually executed some gap scheme power runs really well. One Gap blocking scheme of note was the 24 yard TD run by B Smith to the right side, where we had Parr pull from the left side. Really well done.

While I predicted in my preview that we had the opportunity to abuse their DT, and we did, there were two surprises in the running game. The first was the amount of success we had running off tackle. Their ends are good and LBs fast and athletic. But we killed them on those end runs. They had to bring the LBs inside to help with the tackles, so when our LT and RT were able to win consistently on the edge, it led to big yardage. It was the best run blocking game at tackle that I can remember in a long time.

The other surprise in the running game was that TCU kept playing two deep. I was absolutely shocked by it, it is almost coaching malpractice. At some point, you have to gamble on stopping the run and force Jennings to beat you deep. They never did. I'm sure they were aware of our speed off the edge with Smith, but 50 points in, don't you have to try something?

On the other side of the ball, we completely shut down their running game, which I predicted going into the game. In the post game, Dykes said something about how they thought after fall camp that they would have a really strong running game... well, this is what happens when your DTs are terrible. You think your success running up the middle in practice is an indication of a dominant OL rather than terrible DTs (as a side note, that is also why the Cowboys keep saying they don't have a problem at RB). Our DL completely dominated them.

Hoover gets the ball out quick, which makes him difficult to sack, but 14 pressures is pretty solid. Hoover did hold the ball a full half second longer than he normally does, which was a testament to early coverage, new defensive looks (including some zone) and our DL getting pressure on him. As predicted, we were able to get that push up the middle from JHH and Roberson, who both had really strong games again. But the pressure on the edge was a pleasant surprise against a solid pass blocking OL. Roberts has really rebounded from a game against Nevada, and then on the other side Harvey is really stepping up. The guy I am shocked at the PFF ratings for is Cam Robertson. They gave him very mid ratings, when he was absolutely awesome on Saturday. I think that is the most impactful game he has played with us.

The biggest problem we had defensively was out tackling, and that is something to watch. It isn't leading to burst gains because of our defensive speed and swarming nature, but we are turning -3 into +4 and 2 yard gains into 6. There were several shorter third downs TCU was able to convert when they should have been in much more difficult positions.

At LB, Wilson got dinged up and Kilgore was carrying an injury coming in, so Miyazano got a bunch of playing time and really struggled. Kind of surprised Medlock or Brandon Booker hasn't stepped into that 4th LB role by now. Or even the transfer Lee. Miyazano has potential, but he doesn't seem quite there yet. The LBs did a great job of helping to keep the short passing game in check, which was really important in the game.

Our safeties are still awesome, and lets give some love for Ahmaad Moses. That dude is just awesome. Pick 6, two INT, but he is all over the place. He is going to be an All ACC Safety the next two years, so enjoy it before he goes to play in the league.

Corner was obviously the biggest concern coming into the game, and they came out... kind of okay. Deuce finally earned his first start. He was burned on the 4th down playaction, but held his own a lot of the rest of the game. Smoke backed him up and wasn't horrible, but you can see the technique limitations right now. Deuce taking the spot over is good for the long run. On the other side, Crossley was okay, but was beaten a few times and got bailed out by drops. AJ struggled on the inside routes. Rogers made some really nice plays to get us the ball back at the end of the first half. Not a disaster, but certainly not a strength like it was last year. As I mentioned in the pre-game, this game and Louisville are the toughest games for the group this year, so coming out of the game okay isn't bad.

Overall in the passing game, while they ran up the yards, the turnovers were huge. The thing we did really well was limiting their dominance in the medium game - the 10--20 yard reception was where Hoover has been his most effective this year. We forced him to throw it outside more than he wants to, and we forced him to throw in the 0-10 range a lot. All of that keeps them out of rhythm. We certainly gave up more explosives on the flea flicker and the 4th down pass than we wanted to, but you take those tricky misdirections away, And we did a really good job of taking away the pass over the top. Again, Hoover is a very good QB, they were definitely getting something in the game. But we did a good job overall. The success on play action and misdirection is something I would look out for, especially on the opening drive next week against FSU.

Overall, just a great game. I'd look for more of the same next week against FSU on the offensive side. They were very lucky to pull out that win against Cal, and SMU will be looking to establish the running game early.

On a final note, can we go ahead and start a fund to buy out the game next year? If they are going to be jerks and end the series, let's end it on our terms and let that game sit in their memory bank for eternity. Or at least until Donatti and Sonny are fired and they are willing to restart the rivalry. Sonny's walk of shame is something that I will never forget.

[ShantyBoy]

Great analysis as usual and amen brother on buying out that game next year. I say give them a big royal f you, we have bigger fish to fry now.

[Arkpony]

Thanks as always!

[MV pony]

Spot on. Thank you for the analysis.

[fan]

Great analysis as usual and amen brother on buying out that game next year. I say give them a big royal f you, we have bigger fish to fry now.

^

[Dukie]

On a final note, can we go ahead and start a fund to buy out the game next year? If they are going to be jerks and end the series, let's end it on our terms and let that game sit in their memory bank for eternity. Or at least until Donatti and Sonny are fired and they are willing to restart the rivalry. Sonny's walk of shame is something that I will never forget.

Yes. And btw, Ole Miss has an open home date—and an SEC requirement that it be against a P4 team—in fall 2025: Wake just bought out the return trip after getting blasted in Winston-Salem.

The Grove 2025, the Boulevard after that, and no more visits to that sad pile of ugly bricks in FW.

[dalpony]

Thank you JasonB - truly appreciate your expert analysis and commentary

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

On a final note, can we go ahead and start a fund to buy out the game next year? If they are going to be jerks and end the series, let's end it on our terms and let that game sit in their memory bank for eternity. Or at least until Donatti and Sonny are fired and they are willing to restart the rivalry. Sonny's walk of shame is something that I will never forget.

Yes. And btw, Ole Miss has an open home date—and an SEC requirement that it be against a P4 team—in fall 2025: Wake just bought out the return trip after getting blasted in Winston-Salem.

The Grove 2025, the Boulevard after that, and no more visits to that sad pile of ugly bricks in FW.

When I first heard people advocating for trying to fill Ole Miss' empty slot next year, I thought, "Man, we already have Baylor and a road game at TCU in non-conference. Is adding another road game at Ole Miss as well a bit heavy?" I would still have that concern, but if we replaced TCU with Ole Miss. . . problem solved!!

[CBpony]

Your thoughts are a weekly highlight. Thank you!

[ShorePony]

Excellent analysis as always. Thanks!

[Topper]

Thank you Jason B and you are absolutely right about walking away from next year's game. Especially if Sonny Dykes is still coaching in Fort Worth next year. I wouldn't mind a road trip to Oxford.

[birddogger]

Jason B, always appreciate your pre-game analysis, although I didn’t like it. I’m almost as happy as you are that you missed how this one played out. But no one anticipated that kind of game.

I disagree that we should walk away. It makes us, rather than the Frogs, look like quitters. Plus, I believe that with the trajectory of the respective teams, we are more than capable of beating them on the road.

[JasonB]

While I recognize that "You're not breaking up with me, I'm breaking up with you!" isn't the most mature tactic in the world, in this case they made an [deleted] out of themselves on the last date and a more attractive option (Ole Miss) just became available. Let's dump them on our own terms and move on.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Whether we buy them out or beat them again in FW next year and walk away with the skillet forever. . .either way works for me.

[highlander]

For some reason buying them out sounds a lot more fun. Nothing says "you mean nothing to us" like buying out the game.