TCU News: Veteran Frogs remember ‘14, but want more

Football:

What to watch for, keys to victory, prediction for KU football vs. TCU | Kansas City Star

Ugh I hate this game so much.

KU key to success: Play with emotion. KU is not as good as TCU — no one will argue that point. Yet, the Jayhawks have lost their last three meetings against the Horned Frogs by a combined 11 points (including a 24-23 home loss last year) mostly because of effort. This also could be personal for many Jayhawks, as KU has 37 players from Texas and 15 from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “‘You didn’t recruit me. You didn’t really offer me. Now, you’ve got to pay.’ That’s just the mindset for me,” KU defensive end Dorance Armstrong said. “Hopefully it’s the same for some of the other guys from Texas as well.”

TCU players like night football, but not everyone is a fan of a late start | The Star-Telegram

Yeah, I have to leave at 6am Sunday to spend a week camping with 80 freshmen. OF COURSE this is the week we finally get a night game. Eye roll. So I am with Gary here, haha.

TCU coach Gary Patterson likes the energy of night games.

Outside of that?

“Nothing,” he said.

Nothing?

Nope. Throws off his schedule.

Playing late means getting home late, which means less time to watch all the games he wants to watch to cast his USA Today Coaches Poll vote.

“I’m still one of those guys that believes the coaches poll is supposed to mean something,” he said. “I’d rather play at 11 or 2:30 so you could actually get two or three hours of being a real human being.”

TCU looks like it did in '14, but hoping for much better finish | 247 Sports

We have all noticed the parallels, but I really like how this team is handling their ascent. A lot of them have been through it before.

So does this year remind the Horned Frogs of 2014? Patterson, in typical coach speak, said every team is different. He’s right. This TCU team is deeper and more prepared for Big 12 play than the 2014 iteration was because its the program's sixth year in the conference. Personnel, at least most of it, has changed, too. But Patterson's philosophies remain in place. That’s probably why his players will admit there are similarities between the two teams.

“A little bit. A little bit,” White said. “We’re 6-0. We lost to Baylor there in 2014. But, like I said, we don’t have a loss yet. So we’re doing pretty good.”

That 2014 group famously missed the CFB Playoff after the committee dropped the Horned Frogs from No. 3 to No. 6 in the final rankings. Patterson, three years later, is still asked questions about that scenario. Two queries at his press conference Tuesday were in regards to his opinion on the CFB Playoff formula and running up the score.

“You’re talking to somebody in this process who was third and was dropped to sixth once before and won 55-3 (over Iowa State),” Patterson said. “So did it matter? It didn’t matter. We were 11-1 at the time.”

How TCU football moved on and evolved offensively post-Meacham | The Star-Telegram

Cumbie doesn’t have the big play toys that TCU deployed under Meacham, so he’s going with a death by a million paper cuts approach. So far, it’s working.

Under Cumbie’s play-calling, TCU no longer looks for the big strike as aggressively and instead tries to stretch the defense sideline to sideline with a deep stable of offensive skill players.

He’s also gotten six touchdowns in eight Wildcat formation runs from running back Sewo Olonilua. Against West Virginia two weeks ago, Hill threw for a touchdown, ran for a touchdown and caught a touchdown.

“He’s getting a lot of guys involved,” senior receiver Desmon White said. “We have all our receivers around the same number of catches. Everybody’s contributing.”

Kansas football wants revenge for 1-point loss to TCU | Fansided

Yeah, and I want a million dollars.

Kansas football coach David Beaty is the most optimistic man in Lawrence and possibly the state of Kansas. As a matter of fact, he expects the Jayhawks to play well on national television Saturday night. Beaty and his team want to make up the missed opportunity in last season’s disappointing one-point loss to TCU.

Just over a year ago, the Jayhawks had a huge chance to knock off the Frogs and lost by one point. Three missed field goals killed the team’s chances in a game the Jayhawks did get a 50-yard field goal from Matt Wyman. Kansas senior kicker Gabe Rui won’t miss three field goals this weekend.