The often imitated, never duplicated TCU football season preview is finally here. After correctly picking TCU’s record the past two seasons, I have a lot of pressure to go for the hat trick in 2011. The Frogs return four starters on offense and six on defense along with the punter and kicker from last year’s undefeated Rose Bowl team. There are a lot of new and young faces on this roster, which means Coach Patterson has to grow this team up quickly, especially with two road games to start the 2011 campaign.
The most glaring absence from the 2011 depth chart is obviously QB Andy Dalton. Friday’s game against Baylor will be the first time since 2006 that TCU will take the field without Dalton as its starter. Replacing a guy who won 44 games while at TCU won’t be an easy task, but that responsibility falls on the shoulders of Casey Pachall.
Pachall is a 6’5, 216 lb, highly recruited sophomore from Brownwood, Texas. From everything I have read and seen myself, Casey is faster and has a stronger arm than what Dalton had. Does he have the smarts and leadership ability that Dalton had though? That is the biggest question mark. The biggest difference between Pachall and Dalton though, is that Casey has been around a while. Dalton was basically thrown into the fire in 07 after receiving no playing time in 06. Pachall has been through three years of spring practice with TCU and also received playing time last season as Dalton’s backup. Casey has all the intangibles of being a great QB, but it’s yet to be seen if he can put it all together.
One plus Pachall has this season is the strong stable of running backs with him in the backfield. TCU returns all four RB’s from 2010, three of which had at least 500 yards last season, and Ed Wesley went over 1,000 yards with 11 TD’s. TCU’s group of running backs in Wesley, Tucker, James, and Dean is one of the best in the nation, and I fully expect them to be one of the high points of this team in 2011.
Another position grouping on offense that really excites me is the WR’s. TCU has twelve true freshmen on their depth chart for this season and five of them are at wide out. Brandon Carter, Cam White, LaDarius Brown, David Porter, and David Bush are all on the three deep, but I am not sure how much each of them will play. Sophomore Josh Boyce who led the frogs in receiving last season should put up even better numbers in 2011. He is the Frogs most dangerous deep threat and has the potential to be one of the best WR’s in TCU history. One player I am anxious to see is Antoine Hicks. Hicks busted onto the scene in 2009 but was bothered with injuries in 2010. Hicks had a good spring and hopefully he returns to the playmaker he was two season ago when he became known as Antoine Six.
All of the above sounds fine and dandy but if the offensive line isn’t getting the job done, then the entire offense will be off. Outside of the quarterback position, my biggest worry is the offensive line. Only one starter returns from last season which is Kyle Dooley with 27 career starts. Three other players have made starts in the past Jeff Olson (4), Spencer Thompson (3) and Blaize Foltz (2) but with the o-line it’s all about building consistency. How fast can these guys start working as a cohesive unit? Hopefully by September 2nd.
Now onto the bread and butter of a Gary Patterson coached team, the defense. The Frogs return six starters which includes one of the best linebacker tandems in the country in Tank Carder and Tanner Brock. TCU also has a pretty stout defensive line with Stansly Maponga, who was second team All-Mountain West Conference last season, and Braylon Broughton as the book ends. On the inside, a player to watch out for is D.J. Yendrey. Yendrey had a solid Rose Bowl and has looked good in practice thus far.
My biggest concern on defense is the secondary. TCU has to replace a corner, the free safety, and strong safety. In a 4-2-5 defense, those are important positions. Luckily all of the guys stepping up have game experience outside of Sam Carter who is at SS. There is a nice battle for playing time between Travaras Battle and Jason Verrett at the corner opposite Greg McCoy. Both players should see plenty of time of the field though. Johnny Fobbs will hold down the FS spot.
Now it’s time for the important part, the prediction. Here is where I always get nervous. I think this TCU team has a TON of talent, but it’s still too raw. I think this group is going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2012, but 2011 makes me uneasy. The record of 10-2 keeps popping in my mind. There aren’t a whole lot of teams on this schedule that can beat the Horned Frogs, but there are a few tricky ones. At Air Force, at San Diego State, and at Boise State will all be tough. I’m going with 10-2 and losses at Air Force and at Boise State although I think this Frogs team will be much improved by the time November rolls around. I wouldn’t be shocked if TCU beat Boise, but young QB’s and inexperienced offensive lines scare me. That is why I think the Frogs drop a couple games this season. Hopefully I am wrong for once…How do you see TCU finishing this season?
