TCU News: Frogs Beat Baylor in Waco, Hill and GP Have Special Bond

Football:

Kenny Hill gave baseball a look, then had best football season at TCU | The Star-Telegram

It’s obvious that Coach P and Kenny have a special bond. Gary loves his QB, and his QB feels the same way.

“All these dudes in the locker room, they put their trust in me,” Hill said. “I love them. I love them all — Coach P for giving me this opportunity, everybody here. It means everything to me that I could have done this with these dudes.”

The baseball tryout perhaps gave Hill some closure about that part of his life. Pro football “is the only thing on my mind right now,” he said.

At the very least, the look at baseball was an appreciation from Patterson for Hill’s work in Fort Worth.

“Coaches, we have jobs because of young people,” Patterson said. “I think we forget sometimes we keep our jobs because they play well and win ballgames. How do you pay them back? You pay them back at the end, because they never quit being Frogs. You’re still writing job recommendations, you’re still making phone calls, you’re still doing all the things that you need to make sure you give them a chance to be successful, just like they’ve helped you be successful.”

Five burning offseason questions for TCU: Who wins the Horned Frogs' brewing QB battle? | Sports Day

Sewo is the returning player that needs to take the biggest leap in 2018, as he can make a huge difference in the run game alongside Darius Anderson and incoming freshman Fabian Franklin.

The rising junior might be the most exciting player on the roster not named Jalen Reagor, you know, from a potential standpoint. The Alamo Bowl should have proved that. Olonilua was instrumental in TCU's 2017 Alamo Bowl comeback, serving as the offensive spark that led to the Frogs' first score in the second half. His 89 total yards in TCU's bowl win were his second most of the season. He also rushed for a season-high 11.6 yards per carry.

The most exciting thing about Olonilua's Alamo Bowl performance? His ability to contribute between the 20s. For most of the season, he was primarily a red zone threat, even taking some direct snaps for rushing scores. At an impressive 6-3, 235 lbs., Olonilua could be a major force in 2018 if TCU can continue to find creative ways to use him. Once he's rolling and in a rhythm, he's very hard to stop.

Basketball:

Kenrich Williams, TCU avoid 0-2 Big 12 start with rare Waco win | The Star-Telegram

TCU almost lost another double digit lead, but fought back to win in OT in Waco for the first time in 15 years. After the game, it became clear what spurred the effort - their senior forward.

“Welcome to the Big 12,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “As I tell our guys, every game is going to be like this.”

TCU led 40-28 after two Fisher baskets to start the second half, but 14 straight points from Baylor resulted in a 49-46 lead with 11:48 left, a run that included Dixon’s second technical foul in as many games.

Desmond Bane followed with a 3-pointer to tie the game, and no team led by more than four from there until the Noi dunk.

“It was just a blessing. I was so excited,” Williams said. “I’ve got got family, friends, like 25 people here, and we got the win.”

TCU basketball’s 12-0 start hid a weakness, Jamie Dixon says | The Star-Telegram

Now they have to make a concerted effort to move forward and learn from their first loss of the year.

The Horned Frogs coach said the Frogs’ failure to get back and play defense in time against Oklahoma’s fast break and also getting out-rebounded in the second half cost them last week in the 90-89 loss, their first of the season.

“I’ve talked often that we’ve got to learn from the wins, and we had some good wins, but we hadn’t played a top-10 RPI team,” he said. “I go back to our lack of commitment to transition defense, our lack of understanding, that has hurt us all year, and this time it got us a loss.”