TCU 49, Baylor 21- Frogs O' War Postgame Analysis (UPDATED: 9:30am)

HawkeyedFrog: It took me longer than usual to get the analysis up, so apologies all round, but getting my thoughts together on this one took longer than I expected. The have not been many more satisfying wins in the Gary Patterson era than this one in Waco, coming off a loss to Iowa State and having come up heartbreakingly short in Waco just last year the Frogs needed this one. And the way they did it was absolutely beautiful. There were head scratching and gut wrenching moments on defense- three busted coverages that led to almost half of Baylor's total yards for the night and ended up at least setting up all three of Baylor's scores. Other than that, it was defensive dominance on behalf of the Frogs, forcing up six turnovers that really should have been seven (which I'll diagram in the Video rewind this week). I predicted that the Frogs would need to win the turnover battle to win the game, but the TCU defense made sure that no matter how often TCU turned the ball over that the Frogs would have the advantage.

And then a funny thing happened. TCU didn't turn the ball over. Apart from the ball coming out on Boykin early in the first quarter, which he then recovered, TCU did not put the ball on the turf or in the hands of a defensive back all game. And as a result of holding onto the ball, the TCU offense was absolutely deadly- 242 yards on the ground and 266 in the air, balance reigned once more for the Frogs. What this did was force the Baylor defense to die by a thousand cuts, picking up third down conversion after third down conversion and keeping the Baylor offense off the field. Even the Baylor offense played into this, as their quick scoring drives of one and two plays just meant that their defense never got the rest it needed to keep playing against a TCU team that wasn't going to give the ball away. In the end, TCU had ground the Baylor defense into paste and the Frogs could score at will.

This is a game that will be big for TCU this season- it was a needed win for bowl eligibility, but it was a game that Baylor recruits, including six who hold offers from TCU, were watching in person. And we absolutely smoked them. Baylor tied up the series with the win last year, but TCU goes ahead again after this one- and with Boykin at quarterback for another two or three years it's going to be tough for the Bears to stay within (blood) spitting distance of the Frogs.

As always, keep your eyes on this post as the rest of the Frogs O' War crew will edit in their thoughts.

Purple Wimple: ask yourself (don't cheat!) this: had somebody told you before kickoff that one of the game's QBs would finish 22-30 with four touchdowns and no interceptions, and the other would finish 12 for 19 with two touchdowns and four interceptions, which one would you have thought would be Trevone Boykin?

What a breakout for the redshirt freshman-- and what a dud for the senior!

It's probably too early to say there'll be no opening on the two-deep for a dried-out Casey Pachall next semester, but certainly it's looking like TCU may have the depth to stride ahead without worries at quarterback. (What's that? Depth? From a team only months removed from non-cartel status?) Too bad we can't play Baylor every week!

Also encouraging: red-zone performance, and fumbles generally. As in-- perfect. This is what the Kansas, Virginia, and Iowa State games would have been like if TCU had been able to take care of the ball.

Hats off to you, Horned Frogs. (And very cool hats in this game, too-- the shiny purple helmets look sharp.)

Fungo Frog: What a game... I had this thought that TCU might come out and roll, but I certainly did not expect Baylor to also be as flat as they were. Sure, TCU did get a couple of the turnovers, but Baylor also gave a few away in horrific fashion. On that end, I was mostly happy. Also, can we just call the defensive freshman of the year race? WOW.

Trevone Boykin, what can be said that hasn't already been said... I'll go here: He looked incredibly calm last night. TCU got down early, the crowd was rocking and rolling, and what did we do? Down the field, slow but steady, score. This was truly impressive. I was also happy with the offensive line because I actually saw them moving the line, opening holes, and boy I love that running game. When we can move the ball on the ground like that, it makes the five yard passes even more powerful.

I tweeted last night that it almost looked like a tanner version of Casey Pachall out there... Incredibly strong arm, very accurate, quick choices and good decisions on the ground. He didn't take too many risks, but he DID take risks which is good. Overall, the biggest takeaway from last night: Boykin showed he doesn't need to grow up, he is already there.