TCU 29, Oklahoma State 49: 5 Things We Learned

1. Something is wrong with Aaron Green. He could not seem to break a tackle today, and was unable to find holes in the offensive line (who, admittedly, was getting beat constantly on both running and passing downs) for any significant amount of yardage. I still have no answer as to why Trevorris Johnson isn’t getting more carries, particularly in short-yardage situations, but as of right now, Aaron Green is not the effective every-down back that we’ve seen in the past.

2. This secondary has bigger holes than Swiss cheese. On several Oklahoma State drives, there were wide-open receivers either on check-down passes to the flat or on vertical routes downfield, leading to chunks of yards or touchdowns, respectively. Then, even when we had receivers covered downfield, the corners couldn’t seem to make a tackle. Oklahoma State has the type of offense that will take advantage of miscues and missed assignments, and it was glaringly obvious today. All that being said, the second-half defense only gave up one touchdown, but the multiple pix-sixes and first half point spread was too much to overcome. Regardless, the (first half) road defense will have to improve if we want any shot at a conference championship or NY6 bowl.

3. Boykin looked very off today, in no small part due to the tight coverage by Oklahoma State. The Pokes’ secondary continually challenged TCU’s receivers on short passes and were all over them on passes downfield, leading to more than a handful of batted balls, interceptions, and only the occasional penalty. No matter what the end result, it clearly rattled Boykin throughout the day, as he and the receivers never seemed to be able to get into any sort of rhythm. The playcalling wasn’t able to help today, either, as even the short passes were often contested, or over/underthrown.

4. The injury bug continues to bite, and Josh Doctson might be done for the year. Doctson caught a first down pass on a slant pass over the middle and had is wrist rolled up on as he got down between four cowboy defenders. He came up holding his left wrist and stayed on the field for a few minutes before trainers walked him to the locker room. Considering Doctson accounted for 40% of the team’s receiving yards, if he ends up being out for any extended amount of time during this November gauntlet it would be very bad news for TCU’s offense. In addition to all of the defensive losses, we’ve now had Ja’Juan Story, Emmanuel Porter, Ty Slanina, and Kolby Listenbee all miss significant time.

5. TCU did have a few bright spots today, as Kevontae Turpin continues to show flashes of greatness when he has the ball in his hands, along with Shaun Nixon on occasion. Nixon had a catch-and-run go for nearly 70 yards before he was finally caught around the 20, as well as a few key first down grabs over the middle. Turpin always seems to be a half-step away from breaking a big run on every touch.

This team will need to improve on a lot of things if they hope to escape November with 2 or more wins. Next up is Kansas at home.