4. TCU Horned Frogs College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The good: Eight starters should be back for a D that allowed just 351 yards and 24 points per game, helped by a fantastic pass rush and a whole lot of tackles for loss. The bad: The guys who left were starts.
Garret Wallow was an all-star who led the team with 90 tackles, safety Trevon Moehrig won the Thorpe Award and is now a Las Vegas Raider, and fellow safety Ar’Darius Washington is a Baltimore Raven. Even so, there’s a whole lot to like coming back.
– The defensive front has two killers on the ends. The combination Khari Coleman and Ochuan Mathis combing for and 12 sacks – nine coming from Mathis – and 29 tackles for loss, and there’s more talent behind them.
The tackle situation is fine with veterans Terrell Cooper and George Ellis, and in comes pass rusher Kenny Turnier from UCF to be a part of the rotation. Everyone on the line can get into the backfield – TCU was tenth in the nation in tackles for loss.
– Wallow might be gone, but Dee Winters is a good veteran who finished second on the team with 65 tackles. He’s an undersized 223-pounder in the middle, but he’s quick and he makes a whole lot of plays behind the line. Replacing Wallow will need a bit – it’ll take fall camp to get the right rotation – but there are plenty of options with Wyatt Harris getting the first look.
Here’s where the 4-2-5 scheme helps – TCU only uses two linebackers and it sticks with them. After Wallow and Winters, the third-best tackling linebacker was 28th on the team in stops.
The secondary is the bigger issue, only because you don’t just replace safety talents like Trevon Moehrig and Ar’Darius Washington. However, the Horned Frogs have a star at corner in Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson – he’s a good tackler who came up with 13 broken up passes.
At safety, Nook Bradford emerged late last year and ended up finishing fifth on the team with 44 stops, and La’Kendrick Van Zandt will find a spot somewhere.
– What You Need To Know: Offense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– TCU Schedule Analysis