MMQB: We Have A QB Controversy

Alright. Let’s get this over with.

The Good

First and foremost: Adam Nunez is still a badass.

Ranthony Texada is one of the main reasons TCU’s defense held Texas Tech to season-lows in points (27) and yards (345). He was stellar again on Saturday. While teammate Julius Lewis had two misplays that cost TCU, he also had a relatively solid game.

I was most impressed, though, with the defensive line. They did a fantastic job containing Mahomes for the majority of the game, and sacked him four times. Mat Boesen was a relentless beast when he got his reps, recording two sacks, and throwing the timing off on multiple plays. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him start on Saturday.

Travin Howard was all over the place. He recorded 19 tackles, including a sack, and he recovered the fumble that set up TCU’s go-ahead touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Ultimately, if you had told me before the game that TCU would only give up 17 points to Tech in regulation, I would have started celebrating TCU’s blowout victory.

But that leads us to this....

The Bad

By all accounts Brandon Hatfield is a good guy. He’s even been a decent kicker to this point. He’s perfect on his extra points (something not all #collegekickers can say) and he had only missed one field goal in seven attempts coming into Saturday’s game.

Looking at it on paper and you’d think, “he’s doing a good job filling in for Jonathan Song.” But we have also seen how close he’s been to missing a few more. And on Saturday, he went 1-for-4 on field goal attempts, missing kicks from 37, 32, and 39 yards, the last miss dooming TCU in double overtime.

Kenny Hill was so bad he got benched. He threw one interception, that could have easily been three, consistently missed receivers, and gave way to Foster Sawyer in the third quarter, after his interception in the end zone.

Foster Sawyer wasn’t much better, either. He completed just six passes on 17 attempts (35.3%), missing a wiiiiiiiiiide open Taj Williams late in the fourth that would have helped put TCU in a position to win in regulation. Patterson noted in his Monday morning conference call that he had not yet talked about who will start against Baylor with his offensive coaches.

Of course, it’s not just the QBs who are at fault. There were several more dropped passes on Saturday, and Gary Patterson noted as much in his Monday morning conference call.

Kyle Hicks appeared to get banged up early in this game, resulting in just five touches for the elite back in this matchup. Sewo and TJ stepped in admirably for him, but they still only combined for 18 carries. They averaged 6.9 and 5.8 yards per carry, so it makes total sense that they only touched the ball seven and 11 times, respectively. Meanwhile, Derrick Green averaged 2.6 yards per carry, and he touched the ball eight times. Adam Nunez almost out-gained him on the ground.

Ultimately, though, this offense had perfect opportunity to take a big step forward on Saturday, and instead, they took three steps back.

Ban The Fade

This really needs no more explanation.

TCU heads to Waco this Saturday. Let’s hope the rivalry instincts take over and the Frogs show up and show out.