Well...there isn’t that much to talk about that hasn’t been talked about from the past 3 seasons.

This game didn’t teach us anything new about this team - and while the Baylor and Texas Tech games tried to throw us off the scent a little bit - the fact still remains that despite the talent saying otherwise...this offense is truly terrible. As shown by their inability to reach the end zone on Saturday.

Outside of really two drives, the TCU defense did fairly well! Our offense hasn’t helped them out almost all season long and then a very rare special teams mishap led to WVU scoring with a shortened field. For those that cannot tell, the offense is the only REAL problem on this team. Seriously, watching this TCU offense makes me feel like I’m in a Chappelle skit.

The Good:

-Griffin Kell: The kicker went two for two and was responsible for TCU’s only points on the day! While within the context of the game that sucks, it does NOT suck to have what appears to be a reliable kicker.

-Kendre Miller: When TCU decided to run on the day they couldn’t get much going on the ground, except Miller was able to make a couple Mountaineers miss and found that open grass. Miller was responsible for almost all of TCU’s chunk plays on the day and I know it sounds cliche but number 33 absolutely has a bright future here.

-The offensive line played better: Did they still let pressure get to their QB? Yes. Are they a good unit? No. Are they improving? Yes. Do they need to keep getting better? Yes. Was this week so bad that I’m struggling to find a lot of positives? You got it!

The Bad:

-Max Duggan passing: Alright let’s rip this off like a bandaid. Anyone that has read these MMQB entries over the past couple of seasons know how much I love and will protect Max Duggan with my own life. That being said, he appears to have one really bad passing game a season. Last year was against OSU and this year it was against WVU (I don’t really count the Texas Tech game since we didn’t give him a lot of chances to successfully pass). On Saturday Duggan perpetually was throwing the ball at receivers’ helmets - as opposed to their numbers - and also sailed so many balls out of reach of any Frogs.

Of course, when defenders are in your face and you don’t get a real chance to succeed as a playmaker it is understandable that you make mistakes from time to time! This season I think Duggan has shown a lot of promise and PROGRESS despite the terrible offensive line that he plays behind (new offensive line coach please). I can make as many excuses/defend him as much as I want, but that over throw to a wide open Taye Barber in the end zone will haunt me for some time. Max is good, he can be better, he’s going to make mistakes - especially behind a bad OL. Don’t give up on him just yet. If he is set up in a competent offense that knows what it is doing and he is STILL doing these things then we’ll talk.

-The Offense as a whole: I of course couldn’t lay this all at the feet of a single player/all at the feet of the QB. Let me do a quick break down:

• The defense regularly plays well, if not great, considering the circumstances that they are put in. Who is in charge of the defense? Gary Patterson. This unit is not the problem. Gary isn’t washed when it comes to what he’s in charge of; not really here for the fire Gary talk. The man can still coach a defense.
• The special teams unit is probably the best part of this team! The punt returns by Davis are consistently good, our kicking unit has been a positive, and TCU hasn’t given up a special teams touchdown all season long (knock on wood). This unit is well coached.
• The offense - despite being very talented - week after week under performs, is constantly on the cusp of going limp and falling over itself, doesn’t have an identity, and is just bad. They can move the ball which is a positive, but it hasn’t resulted in points. Four really good running backs, several good and capable receivers, a tight end that I believe could be truly great if he got the ball more, and of course a dynamic QB that has the chance to be a TCU all timer if he was set up for success. Instead what we have gotten is a team that cannot reach the end zone. I don’t think the coaches in charge of this unit are in fact bad. They are just doing a BAD JOB of coaching.

You get as much credit for the good years as the bad years in my eyes, and 2014, 2015, and 2017 still happened with the majority of this coaching core. That being said, we are on the cusp of 4 down seasons out of the past 5...yikes.

Based off of what I have listed above, it’s pretty easy to tell where the changes need to be made. That doesn’t necessarily mean that heads need to roll, or jobs need to be lost, but some sort of organization change on the offensive side of the ball is needed and needed bad.

The ship has sprung a leak and duct tape isn’t going to fix it.

Play of the Week:

I think for the first time in the years since I’ve started doing these MMQB posts for FoW (circa 2017 season) that I genuinely cannot think of a play of the game that stands out/that deserves recognition. Defense, offense, special teams, etc.

What I will do instead give the play of the week to...all of the TCU fans that decided to watch this game in its entirety. The ones that stick around their TV’s even when there is almost certain doom awaiting. You all deserve a pat on the back and a stiff freaking drink.

Next Week: Bye Bye Bye

TCU gets a week off before heading up to Lawrence to take on the Kansas Jayhawks. Thankfully we’ll have an extra week to prepare, because this game has a tendency of giving TCU fits. Plus if we lose to Kansas I may have to go on a spirit walk.