College Football News Preview 2020: TCU Horned Frogs Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The TCU Horned Frogs Offense
Get the downfield passing game going again. The TCU defense will again be among the Big 12’s best, and the running game might be outstanding if Zachary Evans is the real deal right out of the box, but as Max Duggan and the passing game go, so goes the offense.
Duggan had to get through his true freshman season in the high-powered world of the Big 12, and for the most part, he did just fine. However, TCU won when the passing game was great, and it will again with all of the other parts in place.
As a team, TCU was 3-0 when it averaged 7.7 yards or more per attempt. The 2019 passing game averaged a paltry 6.2 yards per throw after sputtering in 2018 averaging 6.7 yards per pass. Before that, the O averaged eight yards or more per throw in three of the previous four seasons.
Biggest Key To The TCU Horned Frogs Defense
The defense has to get nastier when its back is up against the wall. TCU was awful at red zone D last year, allowing offenses to score 90% of the time.
The year before? 80%. In 2017? 69% – TCU was second in the nation in red zone D that year.
But it’s more than that.
TCU lost six games by a touchdown or less, and it didn’t help that 22 touchdowns were scored in 31 trips inside the 20 in the seven losses. In the five wins, offenses scored just three touchdowns in the nine trips.
It’s this simple. In the seven losses, had TCU held offenses to field goals instead of touchdowns just once in each of the games, it would’ve had a winning season.
Key TCU Horned Frogs Player To A Successful Season
WR Taye Barber, Jr.
Go ahead and put QB Max Duggan here, or RB Zachary Evans, or one of the corners, or the new punter, but getting more pop out of the passing game is a must, especially without Jalen Reagor around.
There’s promise and potential thanks to a whole slew of decent options, but it’s the 5-9, 186-pound Barber who has to grow into a No. 1 target. In just nine games, he finished second on the team with 29 catches for 372 yards, but he didn’t score. He’s got the speed and experience to do a whole lot more – Duggan needs a go-to guy.
Key Game To The TCU Horned Frogs Season
Oklahoma State, Oct. 3
This is going to be a very, very good Cowboy team returning – it should be better than the one that whacked around TCU 34-27 last season. It’s the Big 12 opener for the Horned Frogs, though, and it’s a huge moment to do something big early on.
It’s going to be a tight race for the Big 12 title spots, and one loss right out of the gate to a team that might get there would be a killer.
– TCU Horned Frogs Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 TCU Fun Stats
– Time of Possession: TCU 32:55 – Opponents 27:05
– Fumbles: TCU 19 (lost 9) – Opponents 13 (lost 4)
– Punt Return Average: TCU 19.9 yards – Opponents 6.4 yards