Frogs O' War - Midweek MusingsThe #1 TCU Athletics blog on the internet!https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50293/fow-fav.png2015-06-03T12:11:08-05:00http://www.frogsowar.com/rss/stream/57567362015-06-03T12:11:08-05:002015-06-03T12:11:08-05:00Midweek Musings: We need to talk about SMU
<figure>
<img alt="Somehow the only photos of SMU available are from 2013. That... kind of says it all." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/B9XC49VK6W7ciOLFl7z7V_y1JEw=/0x397:2718x2209/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46467648/usa-today-7536094.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Somehow the only photos of SMU available are from 2013. That... kind of says it all. | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>TCU has had one consistent opponent throughout the WAC, CUSA, MWC and Big 12 periods, but is their consistency in mediocrity making them a worthwhile opponent?</p> <p>A feature unique to sports is how a fan hearing a word can arouse such a wide variety of emotions. When I hear "TCU" anywhere, you can pretty well guarantee that I'll smile, and turn to try and find the party in question to give them a thumbs up or the Frog sign, while the mention of "Baylor" is enough to sour my mood and in some cases cause a different sort of hand gesture-- unless it's prefaced or followed by a comment of how much they suck. Names have power in college football, even when they're just a few letters strung together, which brings us to three little letters that used to mean so much years ago, but now seem to met with a shrug of indifference -- SMU.</p>
<p>TCU is, of course, a school with many rivals- Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and SMU all having their own rivalry Wikipedia pages. Additionally, we've had a few other stand-in rivals as well while we were conference hopping, with Louisville, Southern Miss (sucks), BYU, Utah, and Boise State springing readily to mind. It's a very unique situation to be in, and I might go so far as to say that TCU may have the most rivalries of any non-blue blood program (Everyone in the Big 10 hates Michigan, for example), and does have likely the most <i>mutual</i> rivalries our of any school in college football (with the possible exception of Notre Dame, who will make up a trophy for anyone they play more than twice), which means that TCU has a pretty good gamut of almost all of the types of rivalry enmity. And that there are so many sorts of opponents that rile up different sorts of enmity, and the rekindled hatred of some teams and fanbases since the move to the Big 12 has meant that the lack of feeling when that one particular rival rolls into town stands out all the more by comparison. So what has gone so rotten in the battle for the Iron Skillet?</p>
<p><b>The tide turned in the rivalry, and it turned at a time where it's not likely to be made up: </b>When SMU got the Death Penalty after riding a long money train of wins (The boosters bought the players that led to an impressive 15 straight pony wins over TCU), things changed in a big way for the TCU and SMU programs. Although it would be a while before TCU would make its resurgence to a football power, it dragged the Mustangs down into the cellar with us and actually gave us a leg up. In the 9 games after the death penalty but before Fran/Patterson, the Frogs won 6- not exactly a string of dominance, but considering the quality of teams that the Frogs were rolling out in those years, that SMU had a losing record against us should have stood out as a huge warning sign. Since Patterson came on staff at TCU with coach Fran in 1998, TCU has gone 13-3 against the ponies, and while conference realignment has shuffled us around quite a lot, there has been one constant- TCU has been at least one step ahead of SMU every time, and that has meant recruiting, financial and coaching advantages that SMU will probably never be able to match. Now, I still have a soft spot for the G5 after our days of conference hopping, so I don't think the lack of rivalry fire is because of the difference in conference affiliation- I'm sure that if we played a good Boise State team next year things would be absolutely rocking- but SMU is not Boise State, and never will be. In fact...</p>
<p><b>SMU is the worst college football team of the 2000s: </b>This may be a bit of an overstatement, but the more I think about it, the more true it seems. Since 2000, SMU has had twice as many seasons of one win or less than they've had winning seasons- You could make an argument for New Mexico State (one 1 win season, one 0 win season), Louisiana-Monroe (two one win seasons), Army (two 1 win seasons, one 0 win season), Buffalo (three 1 win seasons), or Idaho (five 1 win seasons), but SMU's three one win seasons and majestic 0-fer in 2003 makes them just as deserving of the title. The only coach to take SMU to a bowl game since the death penalty quit this season after our game with them because he was afraid being associated with their 2014 season would make him too toxic to ever get another job. Oh, and speaking of SMU being toxic...</p>
<p><b>They drag down our strength of schedule, and it's cost us big: </b>SMU has long been out of the discussion for what makes a tough or marquee out of conference opponent, unless of course, you're talking about programs that have <a href="http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/30/613/full/7369.png">fairly miserable scheduling practices</a>, but it's almost to the point where TCU might be better off taking an extra bye week and only playing 11 games instead of playing SMU. College football is a popularity contest, and whatever caveats you might throw around about "they're a traditional rival", when you're comparing two similar teams, who you play matters. Remember the Rose Bowl season, how awesome the atmosphere was and the program defining victory over Wisconsin we got out of it? Now realize that if Boise State didn't miss two incredible gimmie field goals, we're in the Las Vegas bowl against some at large team <i>because the Pac-12 didn't have enough bowl teams</i>. That's right, we wouldn'tve even been playing a P5 team, much less a conference winner- and why was Boise State favored to jump us in the polls? Because they played Virginia Tech and Oregon State in OOC games, while we played Oregon State and SMU. This year the Frogs <i>and </i>Baylor were in a three way discussion for the last spot in the playoffs and had been sitting pretty over an Ohio State team that had lost its top 2 quarterbacks, only to be passed in the only poll that actually mattered. Why? Some people will argue that we lost out because we didn't have "one true champion", but to my mind the fact that we had one good non-conference game to Ohio State's two (and Baylor's traditional none) might have cost us a much bigger ring last season. And while we're on the topic of costing us things...</p>
<p><b>They want to beat us a lot more than we want to beat them: </b>A lot of teams claim "it was their super bowl" when they lose to their rival, and it always sounds like a bit of a lame excuse. However, when you've beaten a team six years in a row, including 44-0 the year before, you don't always come out mentally focused. It's happened to the Frogs twice since 2000- SMU has done just enough to pull a game out when TCU was either feeling too good (2005) or too deflated (2011) and both times it's cost us at least a BCS game (the MWC champ frogs would've received an automatic bid if they'd finished in the top 14 and above an AQ conference champion, like, say, #23 West Virginia). Both of those games aggravate me to no end because of what they cost my beloved program, but what's most damning about the SMU rivalry at this point is...</p>
<p><b>It feels like any other game</b>: Frankly, I wouldn't be less miffed if TCU had lost both of those games to UT-San Antonio instead, all I think about in those games is what we could've done if we won, not that "Oh no, we lost to our rival" feeling that consumes one's soul- and I know you all know very well what that feels like. I suppose that's the biggest difference in the games these days- now we <i>know</i> what rivalry feels like- exulting in your triumph over evil, the crushing agony of your defeat due to (always) suspect officiating. I've never had that feeling with SMU, and I've been going to TCU games since 1984- I can only imagine it's an even stronger feeling among the younger alums who have only ever seen SMU be useless.</p>
<p>We've had a lot of talks about buffing up our non-conference schedule over the years, and I've always pointed out that scheduling two P5 teams will invariably mean the end of the SMU series, which I've assumed means a great deal to people. However, now that we're in the Big 12 and have remembered the taste and feeling of real rivalry... would anyone really care if we didn't see the fellows from Dallas on future schedules?</p>
https://www.frogsowar.com/2015/6/3/8614679/midweek-musings-we-need-to-talk-about-smuHawkeyedFrog2015-05-06T11:13:38-05:002015-05-06T11:13:38-05:00Midweek Musings: The Shift of Expectations
<figure>
<img alt="#1 in the Big 12- but how often will that happen?" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kdf4UJ0bkyvlQoIrGIjk9WgrXG8=/0x147:1274x996/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46284030/GettyImages-461549454.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>#1 in the Big 12- but how often will that happen? | Christian Petersen/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now that TCU has won its first Big 12 championship in football and is considered the preseason front runner for another, what do you expect this program to be from year to year?</p> <p>2015 is going to be a huge year for the Frogs, on that we're all agreed. 2014 was a year of new firsts for the Frogs, as they claimed their first Big 12 championship and 18th overall conference championship (twice as many as Baylor), and cemented their place on the preseason polls for the Big 12 and the nation- ensuring that next season will either be a tremendous success or a tremendous failure with very little middle ground. And you know what? I'm totally okay with that. Everyone loves a season like 2014 where we come out of nowhere to surprise everyone, but when you're a truly successful program you're going to end up being the presumed alpha dog from time to time, and how react when the onus is on goes a long way to shape how other people view your program. From that perspective, 2015 will be a very illustrative season for determining just what sort of program TCU is, and I think we have the guns to make it memorable.</p>
<p>What I'm concerned with is 2016. We've seen a few times now (one of the perks of flipping conferences) how TCU and Patterson respond in new conferences- there's an early feeling out period, maybe a year where TCU surprises people, and then a few years into the tenure, TCU is a seemingly perennial top dog. It happened in the WAC where the Frogs rolled up 3 consecutive conference titles and it happened again in the MWC after Patterson finally cracked the code on beating BYU and Utah (and Boise State) with regularity and rolled up three straight Mountain West championships. Even though in CUSA where the Frogs experienced some hard times (2004) as well as some growth (one conference title, one second place finish) by and large the formula for the Frogs has been one of growth by the coaching staff and the players until TCU stands alone at the top of the preseason prediction poll every year. In the Big 12 that's not going to happen every year though, and unlike in the Mountain West where that prediction is based more on hope, "BYU has grown a lot from the team that got blown out 38-7", it will actually be justified. This is not a conference that TCU can expect to simply dominate every year, there will be rebuilding and reloading seasons mixed in with the triumphs and close calls, especially with the continued growth in Waco, the sleeping recruiting juggernaut in Austin, the giant sacks of money in Stillwater, the wizard in Manhattan and of course, the most successful in-conference coach in Big 12 history, Bob Stoops. We aren't going to win the conference every year (despite the fact that I, the eternal optimist, will likely pick the Frogs #1 every preseason), and that means that we'll be learning a lot more about the extended fanbase that TCU has cultivated over the past decade of success.</p>
<p>One of the best things about TCU from an "attending school" point of view is that it's so small, which makes for a very close knit community. That smallness tends to hurt the Frogs in the athletics department most importantly in conference alignment business and the stadium attendance area- the former has more or less been taken care of, while the latter has been a matter of focus and emphasis for the athletic department for well over a decade. The focus has been very much on making TCU Fort Worth's football team and, by and large, I think it's been a great success- you certainly see a lot more people walking around downtown in TCU gear than you did when I was a lad, but it's been a bit easier pitch than usual because the Frogs have been winning a <i>lot</i>. You and I, dear reader, are the die hards- the ones who seek out more horned frog sports information in their spare time and even read <a href="http://www.frogsowar.com/2015/4/29/8392487/fow-offseason-extravaganza-how-to-play-cricket">nonsensical explanations about Cricket</a> in huge numbers simply because somebody tangentially related to the program decided to write about it- and we're also the sort of fans who will likely be supporting the team just as hard in the odd 7-6 year as in the 14-0 championship year- but the average Fort Worthian who is more of a football fan than just a TCU fan may not be as keen to help keep the stadium full if he's expecting another great run and it ends up being more of a Cactus Bowl sort of season. Some fans just don't have reasonable expectations.</p>
<p>On the other hand, when Patterson came into the Big 12, he talked about a four year plan- taking about four years to get the sort of talent into the program that would be needed to compete annually with the Big 12- and while we all paid at least lip service agreement to that, many of us (my own homer self included) thought that the Big 12 was ripe for the taking our first year and thought we'd kick things off with a bang Instead, Casey decided to kick his night off with a bang and it didn't quite work out. Then was the year of the broken armed QB and incompetent coordinators, leading to another even more disappointing season, but following that- when TCU finally was healthy and whole- the Frogs won the conference one year ahead of schedule, before being the near-universal favorite to win it again this year. So... maybe it's not so unreasonable to have wild expectations? What even is a realistic expectation for a growing program in a land with a couple of football super powers that may not be performing at peak capacity? I'm not too sure myself yet, so I threw up a poll- let me know what you think in the votes and in the comments!</p>
https://www.frogsowar.com/2015/5/6/8550247/midweek-musings-the-shift-of-expectationsHawkeyedFrog2015-03-25T10:03:00-05:002015-03-25T10:03:00-05:00Midweek Musings: How I became a TCU fan
<figure>
<img alt="Rocking the Flying T, still my favorite TCU icon." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/V4D68_HOHZUbh0RMhAVszK7q6tI=/0x223:473x538/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45975678/1794595_10205104179078082_2063018230092478410_n.0.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Rocking the Flying T, still my favorite TCU icon. | <a href='https://scontent-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1794595_10205104179078082_2063018230092478410_n.jpg?oh=dce9c4ab6c231ab54ae073b23c7ecbd6&oe=55AC5BA9'>Hawk's mom</a></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Reading about how all of you came to become fans of TCU has gotten me fired up to share my story. I've actually talked about it before, but as I think my TCU fandom is a bit unique (and we have a lot more readers now) I'm happy to update the story a bit.</p> <p>Every fan in the world has a reason for following his favorite team. Sometimes it's proximity- being raised in D/FW, I became a Mavericks fan. Sometimes you like a player so much that his team becomes your team wherever he ends up- you're the man, L.T. Sometimes one of your buddies (or an enemy) cheers for one team, so just to be contrary you start cheering for the other- Anyone beating the Patriots is the start of a good day (How's it going, Anthony?). And sometimes, you're just born into it.</p>
<p>I suppose I was born into a lot of fandoms. Dad went to Maryland (go Terps) and UC Santa Cruz (<a href="https://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/top10_mascots_banana_alt.jpg?w=260">go banana slugs!</a>), my grandparents on his side both went to Michigan. Perhaps if I'd been raised in the midwest I'd be over at Maizenbrew, celebrating the hire of one of the only men <a href="http://www.thepublicprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Jim-Harbaugh.jpg">whose facial expressions compare</a> with our own beloved <a href="http://balltribe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/September/gary_patterson.jpg">Gary Patterson's</a>. However, my dad was never that interested in sports, and instead of being one of 110,000 parked inside a massive stadium every Saturday, I was born in north Texas, and my mom's side of the family brought me up in a way that was an absolute rarity at the time... I was born to be a TCU fan.</p>
<p>It may seem a bit odd nowadays, with Fort Worth finally seeming to adopt TCU as its own football team (a little bit of a step away from the behemoth sports empire that sits in Arlington, but is still called "Dallas") and a torrent of Bleacher Creatures running out on the field before every home game, but there was a time when being a TCU fan was a bit of an isolated experience. In the stadium every Saturday I would watch the games with a large family contingent and wander around in the bleachers (There never seemed to be a shortage of seats on the alumni side, so when the game got too much for my five year old attention span I'd run up and down the empty bleachers to the field), and in basketball season I'd head to DMC with my grandfather and we would celebrate that we were actually better than Texas A&M at something (most of the time). It didn't really sink in a lot of the time that we were losing a lot more than we were winning- I always had a blast at the games hanging out with my family, and frankly, most of the opponents we played tended to blend together, but with three notable exceptions- the team in all white, the team in rend and black and, most of all, those jerks in maroon. The team in all white was, of course, the Longhorns (Texas will always be the originator of the stormtrooper away uniform), and they'd come in and beat us- usually not <i>badly, </i>but by enough so that young Hawk knew that when they showed up it was trouble (when we beat them in '92 it was cathartic). The team with the red and black helmets was Texas Tech, who stuck out in my mind not for the simple fact that they were beating us pretty often, but rather, <i>how</i> they beat us- in some of the most inexplicable fashions. My earliest concrete sports memory is that we finally had the Raiders beaten, we had the lead, there were twenty something seconds left, they were <i>done</i>. And then they completed a hail mary on the last play to pull ahead, and I simply didn't know that was a thing that could happen. "We were winning for more of the game, though, so we won, right?" I asked as we walked back to the car- it turns out it didn't quite work that way. And then there were those folks in maroon, who would always stop my traipsing up the bleachers by actually being in those seats, with their weird always swaying, always standing, always kissing fans (I was 6 and it was <i>really</i> yucky) and their coach who was possibly the only man I ever remember my grandfather saying an unkind word about- Jackie Sherrill (My grandfather, the Disciples of Christ minister and twenty year employee of our great university's harshest words about anyone else were, "I wouldn't walk across the street to meet the man,"). Sherrill wasn't around at A&M long, but his teams were a lot better than ours, and he reveled in making sure everyone knew <i>exactly</i> how much better his teams were. What a jackass.</p>
<p>At any rate, despite being raised in North Texas, I didn't actually know any other kids who were fans of TCU until I moved to Fort Worth for high school- two of the neighbor kids had <i>heard</i> of TCU, but then they had the gall to say that BYU would beat TCU if they played anyway- which made the end of the TCU/BYU series so, so very satisfying (even though one of them ended up going to Utah State anyway.)- which was one of the most galling things I'd ever heard (despite not knowing what BYU was at the time). Then when I learned about the breakup of the SWC and the deal that would take away the team in all white and the spawn of Sherrill, but thanks to a bit of government intervention, a safe place was found for the team in red and black and... Baylor. It was amazing how quickly Baylor became a dirty word in the house, as the bears made their den in the cellar of the Big 12 south and didn't emerge until 2010, while TCU was forced to fend for itself in a weird new conference where we couldn't take a drive to see the road games anymore, and though I still went to most of the home games it just didn't feel the same- I was no longer even certain that we'd beat BYU if we played them- but then two things happened to rekindle my interest- we moved to Fort Worth, and I started to play football.</p>
<p>Even though I'd been in the stands for about a hundred TCU games at that point, I finally started to really understand and enjoy football in high school, because I was seeing TCU doing a lot of the same things that I was doing, and as a result I was fascinated watching the unique offense and defense that the Frogs put together when Fran came in- though the defense gave up far too many deep balls for my liking. I had suffered through a lot of miserable TCU games throughout the years, but now (even though I could still hop up and down through the bleachers) a lot more people were having fun in the stands, and our little TCU family was growing. When UTEP came to town in 2000, claiming that they'd bring enough fans to tear down our goalposts after they beat us for the conference championship, I was absolutely aghast- and when things started with an early interception and touchdown for the visitors, the "U-TEP" chants were louder than any that I'd heard for the Frogs in all of my years of attending games. Then we started to come back, we started to feed the ball to LT, and wouldn't you know it, the stadium started chanting right back at the visitors, first "L.T.", but then as the game rolled on and the Frogs kept putting up points it turned into "T-C-U". And when those goalposts came down to celebrate <i>our</i> WAC championship, I felt such an intense feeling of pride that it felt like I'd scored 47 points myself. It felt like we were home again, even though we'd never really left. It was a long road to get to the Big 12 from the WAC, but from that day on, I'm proud to say that I never stopped believing that we deserved it, and I never stopped believing that we'd beat the hell out of anyone if we'd only just play them. <i>Especially</i> BYU, Baylor and Texas A&M (and I was certainly right about the first two). Now if only we could get those standing, swaying, smooching aggies back in Fort Worth...</p>
<p>Go Frogs.</p>
https://www.frogsowar.com/2015/3/25/8287541/midweek-musings-how-i-became-a-tcu-fanHawkeyedFrog2015-02-11T12:22:59-06:002015-02-11T12:22:59-06:00Midweek Musings: The Humble Chucky Hunter
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ph9Z5Pvx5aIANGmLS5rSZ7V6ctk=/0x102:3193x2231/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45670584/usa-today-7994233.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The DT stud spoke with Jamie about his time at TCU and his hopes for his NFL future. </p> <p>Off the field, Chucky Hunter is a quite, humble, unassuming guy. On the field, he's a nightmare for opposing linemen, quarterbacks and running backs. The 6-foot-1, 305 pound defensive tackle was a monster for the Horned Frogs for four seasons, and now he's on the brink of taking his game to the next level.</p>
<h4>From Louisiana To Texas</h4>
<p>Hunter attended West Monroe High School in West Monroe, Louisiana, where he recorded 82 tackles, including 18 for loss, as a senior, earning a four star rating from Rivals.com. He was rated as the No. 27 defensive tackle in the country for the recruiting class of 2011, and he received interest from a variety of schools, including TCU, Baylor, Illinois, Ole Miss, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, Memphis and Louisiana Tech. However, during the recruiting process, TCU stood out.</p>
<p>Hunter said that his recruiting coach, Coach Burns, made him feel like family, a phrase we often hear from kids being recruited by TCU. Hunter noted that Burns and TCU were persistent, even when he didn't have his ACT scores.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="pullquote">"TCU kept me, and still treated me like family. That's what brought me to TCU." <span>-Chucky Hunter</span><span></span>
</div>
<p> </p>
<p>"TCU kept me, and still treated me like family. That's what brought me to TCU," Hunter said. It also helped, Hunter said, that TCU was a great place to get an education, and early playing time was on the table.</p>
<p>Hunter received interest from the big name in Louisiana, LSU, but an offer from the Tigers never came, and on January 16, 2011, Chucky committed to the Frogs.</p>
<h4>A Force From Day One</h4>
<p>As soon as Hunter stepped foot on campus, he was making an impact for the Frogs' vaunted defense. Becoming the first true freshman to start for the Horned Frogs since 2007, Hunter finished the 2011 season with 17 tackles, including two and a half tackles for loss.</p>
<p>That was all a plus, because for Hunter, the family environment he was promised as a recruit was turning into a reality. The addition of two friendly faces in 2012 would only bolster that feeling.</p>
<p>When Terrell Lathan and James McFarland stepped foot on campus in 2012, Chucky Hunter was reunited with two old running mates from West Monroe High School. Playing with Lathan and McFarland was good, Hunter said, because, "you feel comfortable playing with them." That comfort level helped the trio from West Monroe tear up offensive lines over the past few seasons. It also helped because the three were good motivators for each other, but Hunter said the motivation didn't stop there.</p>
<p>"We all motivate each other on the team," Hunter said, noting that now-retired coach Dick Bumpas was great at keeping the defense from being satisfied.</p>
<p>In all, Hunter played in 50 games for the Horned Frogs, starting 35, and he finished his TCU career with 140 tackles, 24 tackles for loss and eight and a half sacks.</p>
<h4>Preparing for the NFL</h4>
<p>Hunter was one of several Horned Frogs invited to participate in a post-season game, and he put in a lot of good work at the East-West Shrine Game, in St. Petersburg, Florida along with teammates Tayo Fabuluje and Sam Carter.</p>
<p>Hunter called it a "great experience," noting that, "not too many people get blessed with the opportunity to play [in a game like this]."</p>
<p>Hunter is projected to be a late round pickup in the 2015 NFL Draft, but is getting good remarks on his play, and character, from a variety of scouts. Dane Brugler of CBS Sports had this to say about Hunter back in January:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A three-year starter, Hunter has been an active ingredient to the Horned Frogs' success on defense, getting upfield quickly and also protecting the edge. He brings a good mix of strength and foot quickness to be a two-down interior presence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While Hunter was not invited to the NFL Combine, it's likely he'll be invited to at least a few workouts by NFL teams, and of course he'll have TCU's Pro Day on March 27th. However, when asked about the chance to play in the NFL, Hunter kept it simple.</p>
<p>"It's a blessing if I have a chance to play in the NFL."</p>
<p>Amen to that, Chucky, and best of luck.</p>
https://www.frogsowar.com/2015/2/11/8019259/midweek-musings-the-humble-chucky-hunterJamie Plunkett2014-09-18T13:47:42-05:002014-09-18T13:47:42-05:00Midweek Musings: Death By Thinking
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/krDpuDKt50PJMWe3KcbunU7zAp0=/0x110:2673x1892/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/38931326/455394908.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Cooper Neill</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a sport where thinking too much can be a player's downfall, is the new tempo helping Boykin by keeping him from over thinking?</p> <p>You've heard it plenty of times. "He's over thinking it."</p>
<p>It's a death knell in sports. Over-thinkers are typically slower players, and if you're not relying on instinct to carry you through the high speed nature of athletics, you probably won't last very long.</p>
<p>It's the key reason to why Trevone Boykin has been so successful through two games this season: He doesn't have time to over think. Instead, thanks to the increased tempo, Boykin is relying on instinct and all those reps to get him through drives and into the endzone.</p>
<p>He's even admitted it himself, sort of. After the Samford game, Boykin was asked about the large number of receivers who caught passes, to which he replied, "When we go so fast you don't really pay attention to it. Whoever is out there, all these guys make plays so whoever is out there I'm throwing the ball and they're going to make it. I really don't pay attention to who I'm throwing it to."</p>
<p>Whoa.</p>
<p>At first, that seems somewhat alarming. "What if you're throwing it to a safety, Tre?!"</p>
<p>But the more I thought about it, the more I liked it, because over thinking can kill drives and lose games. The tempo and rhythm of the offense, and pre-snap reads of the defense, are what dictates where the ball will go, and Boykin has become well versed in making those reads. He's also become aware of when he needs to run. This doesn't mean there won't be breakdowns in the blocking that lead to sacks, but what it does mean is that he's being instinctual about his runs, rather than working through strategies in his head (Sidenote: I really wish he'd start sliding more though, those big hits he takes at the end of his runs are going to catch up with him).</p>
<p>Have you noticed when the offense starts to stall? It's because the tempo has slowed down, giving Boykin the chance to over think and make bad throws (which he has still almost eliminated to this point).</p>
<p>What this doesn't mean is that he doesn't have time to make his reads, however. An up tempo offense still needs to pass block, and when he's had time, Boykin has made some incredible throws, flashing, more consistently than in past years, his arm strength and accuracy.</p>
<p>There's a reason he's completing over 64% of his passes, compared to just 59% a year ago. There's a reason he already accumulated 578 passing yards (or as I like to think of it, 48% of his passing yards from a season ago), as well as 121 rushing yards (39% of his rushing yards from a season ago). Sure, some of that is a lack of Casey Pachall, but it's also a signal of vast improvements.</p>
<p>You may hate on-pace stats, but here they are.</p>
<p>Boykin is on pace to throw for 3,468 yards and 24 touchdowns, and rush for 726 yards and six touchdowns. That's over 4,000 yards of offense and 30 touchdowns.</p>
<p>So keep doing what you're doing, Deuce. Don't over think things.</p>
https://www.frogsowar.com/2014/9/18/6389909/midweek-musings-death-by-thinkingJamie Plunkett2014-08-13T13:12:57-05:002014-08-13T13:12:57-05:00Why TCU needs to breakup with SMU
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5v4rEFyMlNF6r-J5UfJJIUCN1-o=/0x0:4000x2667/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36895146/182189798.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Ronald Martinez</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The problems with scheduling non-Power 5 teams and why TCU should breakup with SMU. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;"><b><span>Let’s start off with a public service announcement/reminder.</span></b> Gary and Bret Bielema get to face off two years from now in Fort Worth. Knowing Bret, he might just want to opt out of the game and offer to play TCU twice in lovely Fayetteville. Bielema isn’t paid to be logical, but <i>he is </i>paid to win football games. Something he has yet to do in the SEC. We’ve talked about this before, the SEC West is the hardest division in college football, maybe all of football—but Big Bret has shown little progress on either side of the ball. If it’s another year like last year for him, we might not get the rematch we want so much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span>I’m working on this in detail, and hopefully I’ll be able to share more soon, but locking Cal in for 2020 and 2021 helps my theory that the Big 12 might soon dissolve and TCU will go West. The way the new playoff system is designed, one league will end up getting screwed more than the others. Even sans <span>Jameis Winston</span>, Jimbo Fischer and Florida State will have firm hegemony in the ACC for a long time.</span><span> </span><span>The SEC will always be a lock, and the Pac-12 and Big Ten both benefit from a Championship game. Not so good for the Big 12. But that’s all of this is a ways off, not to mention speculative. </span></p>
<h3>The Future is in Four, Not Five.</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span>Welcome to College Football 2014—where computers are irrelevant and polls no longer matter. Well one poll does. And that’s a committee of high-minded individuals. High-minded individuals who, won’t be care that much that TCU walloped the team from Dallas. By the time the poll’s first released in late October, there are more important games to consider by that point. You know; Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State. The only non-conference game that really matters for anyone in the Big 12 is Kansas State’s Thursday night matchup against Auburn. <i>(The same could be said for Charlie Strong’s Longhorns, but the Kansas State is more primed for a playoff run than Texas at the moment)</i>. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span>For a team that doesn’t have a Conference Championship, if the Wildcats were to beat Auburn, yet lose a weird game to say Iowa State, but still win the Big 12, the voters may be </span><span>lenient</span><span>. </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16pt;">Ok, I lied. There’s another one that matters.</b><span> The Big 12’s other biggest non-conference game isn’t even a Big 12 game at all. It’s Michigan State and Oregon on September 6th. It’s a big game for the Big 12 because the loser of that game, more than likely, will be competing for—if not win—their respective conference title, and because the loser still could nab a playoff spot from the Big 12. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span>The world we’re living in now, one with a Power 5, the Minnesota game is actually a great idea. They’re good, but certainly not great. Their defense, which ranked 5th in the B1G last year will be a great indicator of what’s to come this season from the minds of Meachem and Cumbie. It’s a build-in win, but it’s still a victory over a likely bowl team from a Power 5 conference. In a world where we are forced to play them (non-conference games) anyway, you can’t get much better than that. This is the same reason scheduling Cal, and not USC is a great idea. Also, this is my quick plea--regardless of future conference shifts--to get Washington on the schedule. Patterson vs. Peterson forever. </span></p>
<h3>Go Your Own Way: Breaking up with SMU</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span>This all being said, it’s time to break up with <b>SMU.</b></span><span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;">The Iron Skillet is a dinosaur that isn’t worth an InGen revival. We win? Great--We beat June Jones and a team that’s putzed around Conference USA for the last 10 years. Lose? Well...it’s a little less worse with the new playoff system, but it’s still pretty bad. But sans a Championship game, it’s automatically no playoff for TCU. SMU’s not in the Power 5 and the lack of a championship game will screw the Big 12 exponentially in the new system. <i>There’s a tie in the Big 12? A three way tie?</i> Cool, only one--if any at all--will get to play in Jerry World come January.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span>The Big 12 doesn’t suffer from parity necessarily. It suffers from the round robin system. One that, while actually the most fair, isn’t designed for the playoff format. Nor was it designed for the BCS. There are some other factors at play, but the Big 12 hasn’t put a team in the National Championship since Texas in 2009. When there was, you know, a Championship game. Unless you’re Texas or Oklahoma, it’s going to be nearly impossible to sneak into the playoffs with 1-loss. Kansas State gets a little lucky in playing the National runner-up. So like we said above, there’s still a chance they could get in if they win that game yet lose a weird game somewhere before or after. But that’s where depending on a game like Oregon vs. Michigan State comes into play. </span><span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span>Baylor won’t run the table, and they won’t make the playoff as a 1-loss team for that reason. Their non-conference schedule is a cake walk. This isn’t anything personal against SMU, it’s just business. Since teams still have to play a non-conference schedule in 2014, I’d rather play Minnesota, Utah, and Wake Forest--games we should win year-to-year--than blowout SMU and keep a dying rivalry alive. A rivalry that has no upside other than to keep a piece of cookware for a year.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 16.0pt;"><span> We all remember what it was like when we weren’t at the big kid’s table. GP is a good soldier. One that fears hypocrisy. Which is why it was a good move for him to vote "No" against leaving off non-Power 5 opponents on the schedule. But TCU survived college football’s latest Darwinian expansion, and regardless of the Big 12’s stability, there’s a 99% they’ll survive the next one too.</span><span></span></p>
https://www.frogsowar.com/2014/8/13/5999221/midweek-musings-razorbacks-ponies-and-bears-oh-myMarshall Weber2014-08-05T09:30:02-05:002014-08-05T09:30:02-05:00Midweek Musings: Is Andy Dalton Worth His Contract
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nzNnXEkli_7eIPZWeK8L8__XErs=/0x470:2825x2353/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36505556/20140611_jla_db4_101.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There have been a variety of responses to Andy Dalton's mega-contract, and depending on whether you're a TCU fan or a Bengals fan, you're view differs quite a bit. </p> <p>As you've no doubt heard by now, Andy Dalton, our Rose Bowl hero and living legend, got paid in a big way Monday morning. He finalized a six-year, $115 million contract with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.cincyjungle.com/">Cincinnati Bengals</a> that makes him a part of the organization through 2020 (a year that seems much further off than it actually is, IMO).</p>
<p>As a Horned Frog fan, I was pumped when I heard the news. SHOW HIM THAT MONEY. After all, I think he's deserving of a big payday. He's the best quarterback in recent TCU history, and probably in everyone's Top 3 Horned Frog QBs of all time, alongside Davey O' Brien and Sammy Baugh.</p>
<p>However it seems like Bengals fans still have some reservations about their Red Rifle. I suppose that's a little justified, seeing how Dalton is 0-3 in his three playoff appearances. Cincinnati fans have probably replayed those three second-half interceptions over and over thinking about what kind of playoff run the Bengals could/should have gone on last season, and they've certainly voiced their opinions about Dalton since that point in time. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that Dalton has increased his passing yards and touchdown numbers in each of his first three seasons.</p>
<p>But as I was reading some of the things people were saying, I started to, naturally I think, get a little defensive on his behalf. After all, he's the Andy Dalton that brought a Rose Bowl trophy back to Fort Worth. He's the Andy Dalton that set every TCU passing record in the book. He's the Andy Dalton that was a true leader for those squads, and a genuinely nice guy to this day.</p>
<p>When I really got to thinking about it though, I started to remember the full story of Dalton's career at TCU. Looking back on it, I remembered the criticism that was thrown his way prior to that Rose Bowl year, despite the numbers he put up.</p>
<p>In his first season at the helm, the redshirt freshman Dalton carried the Horned Frogs to an 8-5 record and a Houston Bowl win over Houston. That season, Dalton set records for completions and attempts by a Horned Frog quarterback, while becoming one of only five TCU QBs all-time to throw for more than 2,000 yards in a single season (2,459). That yardage, by the way, was good for second best all-time. He had his ups and downs, as any freshman quarterback will, with wins over Baylor and SMU hindered by losses to Texas, BYU, and Utah. I distinctly remember a rather large TCU contingency wondering aloud whether the team would be better off sticking with Dalton, or if <span>Marcus Jackson</span> should get a shot.</p>
<p>Between his sophomore and junior seasons, Dalton lost three games while at the helm, to Oklahoma (Sooner redemption for 2005), Utah (Where I witnessed first hand the most confusing use of the "overrated" chant of all time) and Boise State (damn Fiesta Bowl).After the 2009 season Dalton was the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, an All-American, a finalist for the Manning Award, and he even received a few Heisman votes.</p>
<p>After the Boise loss, though, the doubters remained. Can Dalton win the big game? When it really, really matters?</p>
<p>Of course, for Horned Frog fans those questions were answered with a resounding yes on January 1, 2011.</p>
<p>Now let's place that career arc next to Dalton's time in Cincinnati and be astounded by the similarities.</p>
<p>In his rookie year with the Bengals, Dalton had one of the best statistical years for a rookie quarterback of all-time (while simultaneously being overshadowed by the record breaking season <span>Cam Newton</span> had in Carolina) as he led Cincinnati to a 9-7 record and just their third playoff appearance since 1991. However, a playoff loss to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.battleredblog.com/">Texans</a> left a bad taste in people's mouths, and Bengals fans wondered if Dalton was really the answer.</p>
<p>His second season saw the Bengals improve their record to 10-6 and reach a second straight playoff appearance (for the first time since 1982). Meanwhile, his passing yards increased from 3,398 his rookie season to 3,669, his touchdowns increase from 20 to 27, and his completion percentage rise from about 58% to just over 62%. Another playoff loss to the Texans, though, had Bengals fans hoping that Cincinnati would draft someone who could win a big game.</p>
<p>Last season, Dalton once again helped the Bengals increase their record to 11-5, they made the playoffs for the third consecutive season (for the first time in team history), and Andy threw for 4,293 yards (7th most in the league) and 33 touchdowns (3rd most in the league). However, an awful second-half against San Diego negated all of that.</p>
<p>All that to say this: <span>Andy Dalton's</span> first three seasons at TCU were all riddled with doubt and question marks despite his putting up great numbers. We're now seeing a repeat of the same situation happening in Cincinnati. Bengals fans, like TCU fans, were quick to forget the lean years, as expectations had a reason to climb for the first time in a decade.</p>
<p>So, while it may not seem like Dalton is worth it at this point, know this. If his fourth year at the helm of the Bengals resembles anything similar to his last year with the Frogs, Bengals fans should get ready for quite the ride.</p>
<p>So is he worth the contract? I say yes, because as TCU fans can verify, life without Dalton can straight up suck.</p>
https://www.frogsowar.com/2014/8/5/5969407/midweek-musings-is-andy-dalton-worth-his-contractJamie Plunkett2014-07-30T14:22:55-05:002014-07-30T14:22:55-05:00Midweek Musings: A New Leader Emerging
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yGP9I8FghY9Vu6BRNVppUrghAvI=/0x70:2775x1920/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36277452/20140721_krj_aj6_0175.JPG.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sam Carter is quickly becoming the leader this team needs, both on and off the field. </p> <p>Maybe the window of opportunity for a post like this has already passed. Maybe talking about it will simply elicit "duh" or "yeah we know that already."</p>
<p>Regardless, it needs to be said. TCU once again has a leader. Ever since the departure of Andy Dalton, the player leadership has been lacking. We heard <a target="_blank" href="http://www.frogsowar.com/2014/2/26/5446632/dear-casey-it-was-supposed-to-be-you">and responded</a> to Casey Pachall's cries that the team lacked leadership. We've cried it ourselves for the past few years. Now, those cries can start to die down, thanks to Sam Carter.</p>
<p>It takes a lot to be a leader of peers. It requires that you first hold yourself to a higher standard, ensuring that the example you are setting doesn't offset or combat the words you're speaking. That comes in many different forms. From long nights in the film room, early morning workouts, and, oh yes, going to class and making time to study are all key parts of setting a strong example. These are incredibly important things for a leader to do, However, those aren't things the average fan can see. So how do we determine, beyond that, that Carter has what it takes to be a leader?</p>
<p>Let's start with on-field performance.</p>
<p>Carter has been overshadowed by larger names for the majority of his career, namely Jason Verrett, Devonte Fields, Stansly Maponga and Elisha Olabode, but that hasn't stopped him from being one of the most productive guys on the field. In 2012, as a sophomore, he had four interceptions and 14 passes defended, both good for second on the team behind Verrett.</p>
<p>His junior year, Carter's stat line started to speak to just how versatile of a player he can be. Five interceptions, seven passes defended, 7.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, 49 total tackles and a forced fumble. Now, as the key member of a secondary that loses Verrett and Olabode, Carter's numbers are set to explode, which means they may actually catch up with his on-field responsibilities.</p>
<p>If you were paying attention last year, you may have noticed something. When Gary Patterson wanted an extra corner or safety on the field, he'd remove a linebacker, and he'd have Carter slide down into that LB position (Hawk can go into much more detail about the when and why). Essentially, Carter was responsible for knowing, intricately, two positions on the field. He was also tasked, some of the time, with relaying the plays from the sideline and ensuring his teammates were in the right spots. That role will also increase with the departure of Olabode.</p>
<p>As much as on the field talent and responsibility contributes to creating a leader, it's the intangibles, and off the field example that drives things home for the guys around you. As I mentioned earlier, it's hard for the average fan to see those things, but we can pick out a few things from the interview below, conducted at the Big 12 media days last week.</p>
<p><object width="640" height="391" id="embed" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://www.big12sports.com/mediaPortal/embed.swf"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="wmode" value="window"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="flashVars" value="catid=NaN&id=3339240&img=http://www.big12sports.com//pics/640/107.gif&server=http://www.big12sports.com/XML/titanv3/clip/&pageurl=http://www.big12sports.com//mediaPortal/&jtv=10410&skin=10410&gaa=UA-8562399-2&sitename=jtvs.10410.big12&adpath=N12906217"> <embed name="embed" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://www.big12sports.com/mediaPortal/embed.swf" mce_src="http://www.big12sports.com/mediaPortal/embed.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="391" quality="high" wmode="window" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="catid=NaN&id=3339240&img=http://www.big12sports.com//pics/640/107.gif&server=http://www.big12sports.com/XML/titanv3/clip/&pageurl=http://www.big12sports.com//mediaPortal/&jtv=10410&skin=10410&gaa=UA-8562399-2&sitename=jtvs.10410.big12&adpath=N12906217"></embed></object> </p>
<p>Throughout the interview Carter seemingly returns to two main ideals that have contributed to where he is today. First, no day is promised. That generates the second ideal, your work ethic and daily effort should always be maxed out. The fact that Carter has already received his degree shows that he takes those things seriously. The fact that Carter's numbers are what they are on the field reflects that as well.</p>
<p>The rest of the country is starting to notice Carter too, as he's on watch lists for the Jim Thorpe Award, Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and the Lott IMPACT Trophy, given to the top defensive player in the country for his impact both on and off the field.</p>
<p>If it seems like Sam Carter is the perfect fit to be the next leader for this TCU team, that's because he is. We can only hope that his peers will take after his example and not after the lesser examples of those no longer with the team. Take care of your business in the classroom, take care of you business in the weight room and on the practice field, take care of business on game day, and you'll go far.</p>
<p>How far? Keep an eye on Sam to find out.</p>
https://www.frogsowar.com/2014/7/30/5952319/midweek-musings-a-new-leader-emerging-sam-carter-tcuJamie Plunkett