TCU Football: Horned Frogs eye bounce back win over Texas

TCU football is reeling from a “coulda-shoulda-woulda” loss to Ohio State, but there’s no time to wallow. The Horned Frogs have a date with Texas next.

As the old line goes, the thrill of victory….and the agony of defeat.  And make no mistake, the loss to an Ohio State Buckeyes team that certainly has the look of a Playoff contender was a little agonizing.  The Bucks had two defensive touchdowns in a game TCU lost by 12 points.  TCU had two touchdowns called back due to penalties & poor execution.  One of those was a kickoff return to the house called back when Kavontae Turpin threw a forward pass by two yards instead of a lateral.

I’ve experienced a swift kick to the ole Bojangles that was less painful than watching that one come back.  Not to mention, it’s the dang Buckeyes…one of those annoying blueblood teams that continuously get press even if they have a down season because they are a big school that’s good for click bait.

But instead of reliving this one that got away let’s move on to another more familiar blue blood click bait team that’s more familiar to the Big 12 family: the Texas Longhorns. How UT has managed to be continuously mediocre for this long while basically owning Texas high school recruiting is a mystery that will be continued to be studied decades into the future.

Maybe its that amazing Austin culture with all the trappings outside of football. Maybe its the Texas alumni and donors always meddling more than they should. Or maybe its just Matthew McConaughey’s classic good looks and Texas drawl distracting the players on the sideline.

Put the ball in the hands of your studs

Whatever the case may be, Tom Herman certainly has his hands full with the Longhorns this year.  But Tommy Boy had the Horns looking pretty good last week vs. USC so there is a burnt orange light at the end of the tunnel just yet.

Which leads us to this weeks matchup between the No. 17 Horned Frogs vs Texas.  And if I’m Gary Patterson….first thing is I’m hitching my khaki pants a couple times… second is this is the man I want toting the rock as much as possible, Darius “Jet” Anderson.

Anderson has superstar potential.  And now that TCU enters league play, its time to take off the leash and let the Jet do what he does best which is take it to the house.  Anderson had 154 yards on 12 carries vs Ohio State including a 93-yard run that was a record breaker for the school.

12 carries for a talent like Darius Anderson is a crime. If Anderson doesn’t get 20 carries vs Texas then Sonny Cumbie must not like watching amazing 50+ yard runs from the sidelines. That combined with a solid, speedy Shawn Robinson at quarterback and future NFL WR Jalen Reagor and I’m liking the Horned Frogs chances.

Defensive concerns

On defense the Frogs may have bigger issues.  Through three games so far tackling has been a major issue. Ben Banagu was getting hyped as a potential 1st round draft pick in next years NFL draft. That guy hasn’t shown up yet.  While Julius Lewis was getting picked on a little bit vs. OSU, it looks like Noah Daniels had a very good performance and may just become a starter this week.

Ennis Gaines has looked great, Nico Small has looked small, Ty Summers according to Herbstreit looks like Captain America, and we sure could have used the big fella Ross Blaylock who is done for the year.  I do not envy the boys this week in practice as GP’s pants hitch may be a dangerous proposition to be around.

Prediction

I’d take the 2.5-3 points in a TCU win in Austin.  See you at the tailgate!