TCU News: Football’s season in review, Basketball looks ahead to conference play

Football:

Looking Back At The Good, Bad and Ugly from TCU’s 2018 season | Horned Frog Blitz

Though many fans called for him to leave, the way Shawn Robinson handled his transfer still falls under the bad of this season.

- Shawn Robinson transferring without meeting with Coach Patterson. No matter how you put it, that’s just bad; you should meet with your head coach.

- We pause this story so I can adjust my knee pads, just like TCU had to do against Iowa State about five times. Those refs were bad…and strict. The crew against Iowa State was as bad as it gets for football; it’s amazing the Frogs’ squeaked out the win. I should just slide this down to the “ugly” category.

- I can spend a good day about the Frogs’ 47-10 loss to West Virginia, but I won’t. All I will say it’s the worst loss for Patterson while at TCU…literally, it was the largest margin of defeat since he’s been the coach.

- TCU was among the worst in the nation in turnover margin, ranking No. 101 with -5 for the season. The Frogs had 21 takeaways, but also gave the ball away 26 times.

TCU’s 2018 football season in review: MVPs, quotes, numbers and more | The Star-Telegram

The defense was so good, no matter how many starters went out with injuries.

With Ross Blacklock out for the season, defensive tackle Corey Bethley provided interior pressure all season. Bethley finished with five sacks and 9 1/2 tackles for loss, impressive numbers for a DT. … Cornerback Julius Lewis had a nice rebound season, tying for the team lead with two interceptions. … Linebacker Garret Wallow finished third on the team with 72 tackles, and showed flexibility moving midseason to safety. … Linebacker Jawuan Johnson made the most of his one season with the Frogs, registering 71 tackles.

He may not be a household name, but Dunlap helped put TCU football on map | The Star-Telegram

This is a great read by ol’ Clam Gene. I remember this game well... it was the start of something special for TCU.

Twenty years ago, Dunlap was one of a handful of mostly anonymous TCU football players who pulled off a prorgram-establishing upset by defeating USC in the 1998 Sun Bowl. TCU was a 17.5 point underdog.

“The further you are removed from the game the more you realize how special it was. It’s a bird’s eye deal; when you are in the weeds you don’t see what you are doing. Now I can see it was so special,” Dunlap said in a recent phone interview.

Dunlap graduated from TCU and played enough pro ball to qualify for the NFL’s pension plan. He is now a sales area representative for Penske trucking in Atlanta.

“That day in El Paso is a day I’ll never forget,” Dunlap said. “We knew it. It was a turning point for the entire program.”

Bill Haisten: Mike Gundy can view TCU and Baylor coaches as role models | Tulsa World

Interesting perspective from the view of a program that mirror’s TCU’s in a lot of ways.

With a 6-6 TCU squad that had been cut to pieces by injuries, Patterson coached his guts out in last week’s Cheez-It Bowl — one of the worst bowl games of all time.

The Horned Frogs committed five turnovers and finished with fewer than 300 total yards, yet found a way to beat Cal 10-7 in overtime.

As Patterson fumed, stomped holes in the sideline and drove his squad to a victory, TCU’s grand prize was a 7-6 record. A winning season. Before any other team goal, a winning season is the primary objective.

Patterson avoided what would have been only his fourth losing season in 18 years as the TCU head man. Ultimately, Patterson’s 2018 season will be remembered as having been only a modest success, but 7-6 is immeasurably better than 6-7.

“This will be one of those seasons you’ll remember,” Patterson said, because his players “fought back to get to a winning season.”

Basketball:

College hoops musings: Gauging TCU and Texas Tech’s places near the top of the Big 12; early NCAA tourney talk | Sports Day

TCU has certainly looked the part of big-time player in the toughest conference in the country, but they haven’t notched a signature win yet. They get their first chance when they host Baylor Saturday.

While Oklahoma looks like a more solid team without Trae Young (go figure), right now, I’d point to TCU as the third-best team in the Big 12. While the Horned Frogs stubbed their toe against Lipscomb, they’ve been impressive since Jaylen Fisher and Kouat Noi have rejoined the lineup. TCU basically rolled through three games in Hawaii with Alex Robinson padding his assist totals. The Horned Frogs may be the Big 12’s best offensive team, averaging 80 points a game and shooting 49.4 percent from the field.

Frogs roll into Big 12 play as hot as any team in country; UNT opens up CUSA with win | The Star-Telegram

TCU Women’s Basketball is hoping to build off of a strong close to last year. They got a big win to get them in the right mindset for the conference opener Wednesday.

The Horned Frogs exploded for a 22-0 run coming out of halftime to gain a near 40-point lead.

Through three quarters, Adeola Akomolafe posted her second career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

TCU held Alcorn State (1-11) to 25 percent shooting from the floor and forced 30 turnovers.

Okonkwo finished with 17 points and five rebounds on 50 percent shooting. Yummy Morris added 13 points off the bench.