For anyone with an ESPN Insider account (which I dont have, so if you do, please forward me the article). Here is the link to the TCU preview that was released today.Thursday, June 11, 2009
ESPN: Top 25 Intel - No. 18 TCU
For anyone with an ESPN Insider account (which I dont have, so if you do, please forward me the article). Here is the link to the TCU preview that was released today.
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Maybe we should set up a community SpitBlood Insider Account Finch, Ayyy?
Wow, that was a tease of a link (even though you warned us)
Do you get a commission for every person who signs up for ESPN insider after that post?
Cause I really want to now.
Just a heads up and I know this could be looked down upon, but the full insider article was posted on the other site which must not be named.
TCU head coach Gary Patterson has a hard time explaining just how his defense was so dominant last year.
"It's not a simple explanation," he says, "but, essentially, you had a group that hunted together. That's what we say: They hunt together."
As he tries to explain this, Patterson is driving in the early summer heat of eastern Texas with a couple coaches along for the ride. It's another June sojourn for talent during camp season in a state where it's always football season. They're looking for players who will, well, hunt.
Patterson continues his explanation: "You know each other's strengths, how to play together, how to press each other, and who got there first didn't matter."
But somebody always got there for TCU last year.
The defense was a sensitive bear trap. Second nationally to only USC in scoring defense at 11.3 points per game allowed, TCU's run defense was particularly absurd. They gave up just 612 yards all season. To put that in perspective, the next closest was Alabama, at 1,038 yards allowed. There was simply never a time you could run on this team.
Funny thing was you couldn't pass on them, either. Since the Horned Frogs shut everybody down on the rush on both first and second downs, third downs turned into a good time for a quarterback fox hunt. So this amazing run defense was also second in the nation to Texas with 43 sacks. Thirteen different players got into the game, led by Jerry Hughes with 15.0.
The TCU defense has been so dominant that it has failed just once to lead the league in total defense since the program moved to the Mountain West in 2005. That one "down year" meant third place. And Hughes is back to carry on that tradition.
Problem is that he's one of just four starters returning to the defense. Three of the hunt organizers from last year's team -- Stephen Hodge, Jason Phillips and Robert Henson -- are now NFL-bound.
"The guy that might be toughest to replace is Hodge," Patterson says. As a 6-foot, 236-pound safety, Hodge could be anywhere for the swarming Horned Frogs.
Still, Patterson says he was pleasantly surprised this spring with how much there was left behind. Of course, this doesn't take into account the Horned Frogs' secret weapon for making their defense excellent once more in 2009.
"It's sort of simple," Patterson says. "We're going to be better on defense because we're going to be better on offense."
Not that TCU was an embarrassment last year on the offensive side of the ball. They were third in the MWC in scoring at 33.6 points per game, second in rushing at 220 yards per game, and second in total offense at 420 yards per game. But considering that the defense led the nation on first downs allowed at 12.1 (next closest: 13.7), it's not like there was ever pressure on the offense.
There will be this year.
"The good news is the offense is where we need it to be after spring," Patterson says. That's noteworthy, says the coach, because the staff put in some new things that should allow an already dangerous running team to do a lot more through the air. "We have a chance to be a lot more efficient throwing," he says. "We've changed some things."
But they haven't changed at quarterback. Junior Andy Dalton is back after a solid year that could offer improvement. Dalton was a dual threat in 2008, throwing for 2,242 yards and rushing for 432 yards. He was one of 17 quarterbacks in the country to hit 2,000/400 mark. But that success didn't turn into passing touchdowns -- he finished with 11 passing touchdowns last season, 11th-fewest among passers with at least 300 passing attempts (79 qualified). Fortunately for TCU, Dalton's favorite target, Jimmy Young is back. Young finished with a team-leading 59 catches, 988 yards and five TDs.
Even with added emphasis on passing, the running game that was so good last year also has a chance to be just as good or better. Leading rusher Joseph Turner (577 yards, 4.0 yards per carry) returns, as well as three other players who finished with more than 300 yards rushing.
"We'll be really fast back there," Patterson says. "Of course, fast doesn't make a difference unless you have space." Patterson says the Frogs have gotten some stability "up the middle" in the spring after losing center Blake Schlueter to the Denver Broncos. Also returning are both starting tackles.
Ultimately, with added balance to the same exceptional defense that has defined the Patterson and (defensive coordinator) Dick Bumpus era, TCU should be good again -- even if Patterson asked, "What are you, crazy?" upon learning his team was No. 18 in this preseason poll. We'll get a sanity-check right away; Patterson's team essentially joins the ACC in September, with road games at Clemson and Virginia before the Horned Frogs' tough conference slate begins.
"Hey, you'd like to play a couple local high schools in September, but we know our work isn't done with this league," Patterson says.
He's right. Even though the Mountain West finished last year with both TCU and Utah among the AP's top seven, there's work to be done.
And Patterson knows. It's June, and he's out driving to camps with his coaches on the never-ending search for talent -- they're hunting together. Searching for the next wave of talent they can teach to do the same, even if he can't quite explain it.
gracias.
Ahhh I feel like Squints Palledorous, "I cant take it any more"... I need frogs football now!
Man SptiPurple, you should be a writer. You articulate well. What did that ESPN article say guys? I can't get the link to work because I don't have an Insider account.
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