Monday Morning Quarterback: October 29th, 2012

ANGRY TREY

THE GOOD
Elisha Olabode played a solid game. He returned the Frogs lone interception for a touchdown which was one of the high points of this beat down.

I thought the defense played well in the first half before completely falling apart in the second half. When the offense is constantly going three and out, it's hard to keep the defense fresh.
It was nice to see TCU run a trick play of its own for once...

THE BAD
Everything.

Trevone Boykin was off. He didn't have the touch on his passes. If he wasn't overthrowing receivers his passes were being batted down. The receivers weren't helping much either as they had numerous drops.
The entire offense was pretty pathetic. LaDarius Brown had an alright game, but other than that, I cannot think of many other positives.

I still don't see how the referees didn't overturn the Boykin fumble in the 4th quarter. His arm was clearly coming forward. Am I missing something?

THE OTHER
The play calling has to be fixed. I don't think TCU is putting Boykin in positions to succeed. He has a different skill set than what Pachall had. The Frogs need to adjust. More option, more reads, more bootlegs, something has to change.

I was especially bothered by a sequence of play calling on the Frogs second possession of the 4th quarter. On 2nd and 4 Boykin took a shot down the field to Cam White which was incomplete. On 3rd and 4 Boykin once again threw down field to Boyce which was incomplete. TCU went for it on 4th and 4 which resulted in the questionable pass interference call against Oklahoma State. Why, when you need only four yards, do you throw three straight passes down the field? Especially when you know you are going for it on 4th down? It doesn't make sense to me. It's not like Boykin was having an especially great game throwing or something. There should have been a running play on 2nd or 3rd down or both.

Fungo Frog

THE GOOD
The defense started the game with its hair on fire... That was good, about the first quarter. The punter looked good... We made it to the game on time... It looks like everyone's hotel beds were comfortable...

THE BAD
After the first quarter, two things happened... The offense decided to not have a philosophy or plan, and just started running random plays over and over. The defense got its pants pulled down and didn't react, they played catchup for three quarters. Oberkrom also had his first serious misstep with a couple misses, which is interesting considering GPat's criticism last Tuesday. No idea if that played a role, but there is no way it helped.

THE FUTURE
This week, we get WVU, a game that looked win-able a couple weeks ago but now I am not so sure. Our best hope is probably a shootout, but even in that eventuality it doesn't look good. We get a national spot on FOX, big stage to compete, I really hope we decide to show up... In all honesty, with my mind on Baseball this weekend I am more ready to watch basketball and baseball than I am to watch another TCU Football game, considering what we are seeing right now. Yep, I am losing hope people, not good.

Hawkeyed Frog

THE GOOD
I'm happy with the punt and kickoff teams. Last week Perry was getting a bit too much leg on punts when we were trying to pin the opponents inside the twenty, but this week three of his punts were downed inside the twenty compared with only one touchback. Progress like that is always a joy to see. Also, I tend to get ripped a lot on other blogs for saying things about TCU that include the words "best in the Big 12" but I'm prepared to say this: TCU's kickoff team is probably the best in the Big 12. The only time this season that I remember the opponent getting a decent return was this week against Oklahoma State... and at the end of the return we forced (and recovered) a fumble. Great work kicking team.

THE BAD
What do you single out here this week? For the first time this season even Devonte Fields and Jaden Oberkrom had a bad day, and they've been the only two consistent spots on this team. I'll just throw my ultimate "Bad" of the week at whoever made the decision that the Frogs defense should try to go for the strip instead of the tackle in the second half. Yes, the momentum was firmly in Oklahoma State's favor, and it's natural to want to try and spark a turnaround with a big play. However the frogs tangling Randle in the backfield and swiping at the ball instead of wrapping up meant that Randle ended up having a great second half as he powered through swiping arms for four-six yards with ease. As a result, the TCU defense stayed on the field, Wes Lunt got into a rhythm and our offense never got its head on straight.

THE UGLY TRUTH
If Trevone Boykin is going to miss significant time you can turn the timer off, the season is done. I certainly hope that won't be the case, but given our luck with injuries and losing players this season it's hard not to be pessimistic. Boykin missing the West Virginia game, with the only secondary in the conference as easy to bomb on as Baylor, would be one of the cruelest twists of fate yet in this roller coaster season.

Jamie Plunkett

THE GOOD
The defense held strong for as long as they could, until they became too physically exhausted to keep competing. However, regardless of how the offense performs, it's not easy to see your defense give up 36 points.

THE BAD
Pretty much everything, but especially Teyvone Boykin and Jaden Oberkrom were very, very bad. Boykin couldn't hit an open receiver to save his life, and Oberkrom missed two field goals he normally makes.

Missing those field goals really took the wind out of the sails. Also, not being able to convert on fantastic field position a few times was incredibly frustrating.

THE "WE ARE GOING 5-7"
It's hard to see the Frogs winning another game this year, especially if they play like they did against OSU. However, I think they have more pride than they showed this weekend, so hopefully another good week of practice will lead to a win against a dropping-like-a-rock West Virginia.