Life After Casey Pachall

The suspicions (and wants) of many were confirmed today when Gary Patterson, during his weekly Tuesday press conference, Casey Pachall is gone.

Pachall, suspended indefinitely last Thursday after being arrested for DUI, blew a .17 late Wednesday night after running a stop sign and hitting a curb, according to Fort Worth police.

"After having a very long conversation with Casey and his parents, the chancellor and my staff, Casey will dis-enroll from [TCU] for this semester. He will enter an inpatient facility...and hopefully our plan is he gets himself right and gets where we can bring him back in the spring," Patterson said Tuesday afternoon.

Some other Patterson quotes from his press conference:

"We won games before Casey Pachall was the quarterback, and we'll win games after Casey Pachall was the quarterback."

"He's going to a place where they have trained professionals who are supposed to make a difference."

"We move on, that's what you have to do."

And just like that, a promising collegiate career, and possible NFL stardom, came crashing to the ground, for now. I have my doubts that Casey will return to TCU in the spring, but I'm sure he will land somewhere. However, for now, TCU must move forward without its budding star, and the reigns of this team are firmly in the hands of redshirt freshman Trevone Boykin.

Boykin's first start against Iowa State was shaky, but he showed promise. He threw for 270 yards, the most a TCU freshman has thrown for since Andy Dalton did so in 2007 (Dalton threw for 298 yards against San Diego State). Boykin completed 23 of 40 pass attempts, including a touchdown pass to Aundre Dean to go with three interceptions.

Boykin also ran for 39 yards on 14 carries, showing off his versatility. Lest we forget, Trevone ran for more touchdowns (30) than he threw (24) during his senior season at West Mesquite.

I'd also like to remind our FOW readers that when Andy Dalton was a redshirt freshman those many moons ago, he threw for more interceptions (11) than he did touchdowns (10) en route to an 8-5 record and a bowl victory over Iowa State.

The point is, there are going to be some growing pains with Boykin, just like there were with Dalton. It's important that the fans understand this, and support Boykin through the mistakes he's bound to make.

This team, already suffering from extensive losses (I think Angry Trey said we've breached the 20 players out mark for the season now), is going to struggle to make a bowl game now.

The combined record of TCU's remaining opponents currently sits at 24-4, and four teams are currently ranked in the Top 25 (two rank in the Top 10 in both the AP and Coaches polls).

I see this as a perfect opportunity for Boykin, along with the rest of this young TCU team, to grow and play against the top tier of Big 12 teams with very few expectations, other than to grow and learn the game at the collegiate level.

The expectations for the defense though, are not diminished by the loss of Pachall. Instead, they are amplified.

It's now up to this unit to carry the Frogs throughout the rest of the season, and at the rate they're playing right now, that doesn't exactly inspire confidence in me.

They have been gashed consistently by runs between the tackles, and give up dink and dunk passes all day. Against Iowa State it led to two deep passes that saw Kevin White get beaten on deep routes.

The D-line has gotten decent pressure this year, but the secondary and the linebackers need to continue to work to support the D-line. A line can get all the pressure in the world, but if the receivers are open they'll never get to the quarterback.

Same goes for the stopping the run. The line can get a good push, but the linebackers need to fill the holes.

We'll see how Patterson and his staff have begun to right the ship against Baylor this week. It's going to be a difficult test for the defense, as Nick Florence has picked up almost exactly where RGIII left off.

The offense should be able to move the ball a little, but a little likely won't be enough.

It's going to be a long game, and an even longer back end of the season. Frog fans need to stick it out, because good things could still happen this season, and they most definitely will in 2013.

Go Frogs.