A Comprehensive Breakdown of TCU's Injuries

The Frogs lost a ton of players to injury this season, somewhere in the mid-20s, leading them to play 30 true and redshirt freshmen on the season. They still managed to go 10-2, showing just how masterful Gary Patterson and his coaching staff are at getting guys ready to play. The most insane stat makes this case the best: only three Horned Frogs started every game at the same position: Josh Carraway, Derrick Kindred, and Denzel Johnson.

While there's a chance some key players will be back prior to the bowl game, most of the fallen Frogs will miss the Alamo Bowl as well.

We've been hearing about these injuries all season, and we've seen some of the results of those injuries play out on the field, but it's still astounding when you compare the starting lineup for the Minnesota game with the starting lineup for the Baylor game.

Here they are, side by side.

Pos.	Minnesota	Baylor
WR	Doctson	Porter
WR	Slanina	Nixon
LT	Vaitai	Vaitai*
LG	Naff	Foltz
C	Hunt	Schlottman
RG	Foltz	Pryor
RT	Noteboom	Noteboom
WR	White	Stewart
WR	Listenbee	Listenbee*
QB	Boykin	Boykin*
TB	Green	Green
LE	Carraway	Carraway
DT	Bradley	Bradley
DT	Curry	Pierson
RE	Lathan	Tuaua
MLB	Freeze	Howard
SLB	Douglas	Summers
CB	Texada	O'Meally
WS	Iloka	Orr
FS	Kindred	Kindred
SS	Johnson	Johnson
CB	Orr	Lewis

So, right off the bat, we see that 12 starters from the Minnesota game did not start (or start at the same position) for the Baylor game. This doesn't include Mike Tuaua, who did not miss for injury reasons. Beyond those 12, the three players with an asterisk by their name (Boykin, Vaitai, and Listenbee) all missed at least one start due to an injury, bringing the total to 15.

But this isn't nearly the extent of all the injuries TCU suffered this season. Let's break it down game-by-game, by looking at each of the starting lineups, and noting others that got hurt during each contest.

Pre-Season

Before the season even got underway, TCU fans learned that some projected starters wouldn't be ready for the season-opener against Minnesota. Deante' Gray was recovering from knee surgery, while James McFarland had suffered an apparent foot injury and Davion Pierson was out with an undisclosed injury. Both Gray and McFarland, of course, would eventually be ruled out for the year, and both would become eligible for medical redshirts.

This all came, of course, after TCU fans learned that safety George Baltimore was walking away from football due to multiple injuries.

At the time, TCU fans simply thought the two backups, Desmon White and Josh Carraway, would have to hold their own for a game or two until Gray and McFarland returned. Little did we know it was just the beginning.

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	--	--	--	--
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	--	--	--	--

Minnesota

Gray, McFarland, and Pierson all missed the game, but TCU managed a 23-17 win. We also learned after the game that Derrick Kindred played with an injury, and was questionable prior to the game.

The big loss from this game, however, was linebacker Sammy Douglas, who tore his ACL on the second series of the game and was lost for the season. He was replaced by Ty Summers.

Of course, TCU also lost Mike Freeze after this game, as he walked away from the Frogs for personal reasons. He's not going to be counted on this list, same as Tuaua, because their time missed was not due to an injury.

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	--	--	--	--
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	--	--	--	--
LB	Douglas	Minnesota	Season	--	--	--	--

Stephen F. Austin

TCU lost its fifth defensive starter during the 70-7 drubbing of Stephen F. Austin, when FS Kenny Iloka tore his ACL on kickoff coverage. He was replaced, for a short amount of time, Michael Downing, Nick Orr, and Ridwan Issahaku would all see time at free safety through the remainder of the season, with Orr making the final three starts of the regular season at that position.

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	--	--	--	--
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	--	--	--	--
LB	Douglas	Minnesota	Season	--	--	--	--
FS	Iloka	SFA	Season	--	--	--	--

SMU

TCU lost Ranthony Texada, their best cornerback during the first half of the SMU game, which can be pointed to as the biggest reason why SMU kept that game close until the fourth quarter. Texada was replaced by Corry O'Meally, who struggled mightily in that game, and the next several, before finally hitting his stride near the end of the season.

Terrell Lathan was also banged up in this game, and he would miss the next couple of games before returning to be a key cog in the defensive line rotation for the remainder of the season.

TCU fans also saw Kolby Listenbee get banged up in this game, and he would miss the next two full games (three starts) due to a hip injury.

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	WR	Listenbee	SMU	2 games
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	--	--	--	--
LB	Douglas	Minnesota	Season	--	--	--	--
FS	Iloka	SFA	Season	--	--	--	--
CB	Texada	SMU	Season	--	--	--	--
DE	Lathan	SMU	2 games	--	--	--	--

Texas Tech

The shootout against Texas Tech will always be remembered for the absolutely insane way it ended. However, it also marked the end of Ty Slanina's season, and it cost Emanuel Porter several games as well. Slanina broke his collarbone after making a catch over the middle of the field, and Porter took an awkward hit that would keep him out for several games.

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	WR	Listenbee	SMU	2 games
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	WR	Slanina	Texas Tech	Season
LB	Douglas	Minnesota	Season	WR	Porter	Texas Tech	5 games
FS	Iloka	SFA	Season	--	--	--	--
CB	Texada	SMU	Season	--	--	--	--
DE	Lathan	SMU	2 games	--	--	--	--

Texas

The Texas game was big for several reasons. First, it's always fun to see the Frogs beat the "flagship" program by an enormous margin. Second, it served as the coming-out party for KaVontae Turpin, who scored four touchdowns on the day.

Third, there were no major injuries for the Horned Frogs. Were things turning around?

Kansas State

The Kansas State game marked the first time all season that TCU had, on both offense and defense, the same starting lineup for two consecutive games. It was also the second consecutive game where no significant injuries occurred.

Iowa State

Several significant players were injured, if only for a moment, during the Iowa State matchup. LB Travin Howard injured his shoulder early on and missed the remainder of the game, while WR KaVontae Turpin injured his neck/shoulder and missed the remainder of the game. Neither would miss the next game, but their time spent off the field has earned them both spots on the list.

Ja'Juan Story also suffered a season-ending injury in this game, becoming the sixth TCU receiver to get hurt, and third to be out for the season.

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	WR	Listenbee	SMU	2 games
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	WR	Slanina	Texas Tech	Season
LB	Douglas	Minnesota	Season	WR	Porter	Texas Tech	5 games
FS	Iloka	SFA	Season	WR	Turpin	Iowa State
CB	Texada	SMU	Season	WR	Story	Iowa State	Season
DE	Lathan	SMU	2 games	--	--	--	--
LB	Howard	Iowa State		--	--	--	--

West Virginia

The most significant injury in this game happened when LT Halapoulivaati Vaitia was rolled up on in the first half. He would miss the next two games due to a left leg injury.

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	WR	Listenbee	SMU	2 games
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	WR	Slanina	Texas Tech	Season
LB	Douglas	Minnesota	Season	WR	Porter	Texas Tech	5 games
FS	Iloka	SFA	Season	WR	Turpin	Iowa State
CB	Texada	SMU	Season	WR	Story	Iowa State	Season
DE	Lathan	SMU	2 games	LT	Vaitai	West Virginia	2 games
LB	Howard	Iowa State		--	--	--	--

Oklahoma State

The game against Oklahoma State is where things went from worse to, "Why, God, why?" Josh Doctson suffered a wrist injury that would require surgery shortly after the game against Kansas. Brady Foltz also suffered a shoulder injury that would keep him out against Kansas.

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	WR	Listenbee	SMU	2 games
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	WR	Slanina	Texas Tech	Season
LB	Douglas	Minnesota	Season	WR	Porter	Texas Tech	5 games
FS	Iloka	SFA	Season	WR	Turpin	Iowa St.
CB	Texada	SMU	Season	WR	Story	Iowa St.	Season
DE	Lathan	SMU	2 games	LT	Vaitai	West Virginia	2 games
LB	Howard	Iowa St.		WR	Doctson	Oklahoma St.	Season
--	--	--	--	RG	Foltz	Oklahoma St.	1 game

Kansas

Five more injuries headlined a lethargic 23-17 win over the lowly Jayhawks, three of which were incredibly significant, while the fourth seemed more significant than it wound up being.

Trevone Boykin suffered an ankle injury on the second play of the game that would keep him out until TCU's season-finale against Baylor. LG Jamelle Naff and LS Matt Boggs both suffered season-ending injuries, and CB/S Nick Orr suffered a big laceration to his head. These four injuries brought the total for the season to 22 (24 if you count Freeze and Tuaua).

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	WR	Listenbee	SMU	2 games
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	WR	Slanina	Texas Tech	Season
LB	Douglas	Minnesota	Season	WR	Porter	Texas Tech	5 games
FS	Iloka	SFA	Season	WR	Turpin	Iowa St.
CB	Texada	SMU	Season	WR	Story	Iowa St.	Season
DE	Lathan	SMU	2 games	LT	Vaitai	West Virginia	2 games
LB	Howard	Iowa St.		WR	Doctson	Oklahoma St.	Season
CB	Orr	Kansas		RG	Foltz	Oklahoma St.	1 game
--	--	--	--	QB	Boykin	Kansas	1 game
--	--	--	--	LG	Naff	Kansas	Season
--	--	--	--	LS	Boggs	Kansas	Season

Oklahoma

We'll be talking about those two-point conversions for a while, because of what a win in Norman could have done for TCU's season.

One injury was reported during this game, with DT Aaron Curry going down with an undisclosed injury. He missed the Baylor game, and it's unknown if he'll play in the Alamo Bowl.

TCU Injury List
Defense				Offense
Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out	Pos.	Player	Game Lost	Length Out
LE	McFarland	Pre-Season	Season	WR	Gray	Pre-Season	Season
S	Baltimore	Pre-Season	Career	WR	Listenbee	SMU	2 games
DT	Pierson	Pre-Season	3 games	WR	Slanina	Texas Tech	Season
LB	Douglas	Minnesota	Season	WR	Porter	Texas Tech	5 games
FS	Iloka	SFA	Season	WR	Turpin	Iowa St.
CB	Texada	SMU	Season	WR	Story	Iowa St.	Season
DE	Lathan	SMU	2 games	LT	Vaitai	West Virginia	2 games
LB	Howard	Iowa St.		WR	Doctson	Oklahoma St.	Season
CB	Orr	Kansas		RG	Foltz	Oklahoma St.	1 game
DT	Curry	Oklahoma	1 game	QB	Boykin	Kansas	1 game
--	--	--	--	LG	Naff	Kansas	Season
--	--	--	--	LS	Boggs	Kansas	Season

Baylor

Somehow, some way, there were no significant injuries in the sloppiest, wettest, coldest game TCU played all season.

Thus, the regular season came to a close, having seen 24 Horned Frogs miss time during the season, 22 because of injury.