College Football '09: TCU Horned Frogs

Last Season: 11-2, 7-1, beat Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl

How good is the Mountain West Conference? Only one other non-BCS conference had a representative in the final 25 in '09 (WAC- Bosie State). The Mountain West had three (Utah, Bosie State, and BYU). The conference as a whole is not outstanding, but the top appears to be set in the national picture for a long time to come

One of the more exciting teams in the country is Texas Christian. Anytime you boast a defense as good as they do, your going to be in football games. Opposing offenses beware: you cannot run on the Horned Frogs. Last season, TCU led the nation in rush defense, allowing just a hair over 47 yards per game. USC was second in the nation in this category, allowing just over 87 yards per carry. That's a forty yard difference between first and second place!...and everyone knows how good a defense USC had.

The defense is anchored by All-American defensive end Jerry Hughes. Hughes led the nation with 15 sacks last season. But he may have to have as good a season this year as he did last year. Only four defensive starters return from this outstanding unit. Besides Hughes, all returnees play in the secondary. Corners Rafael Priest and Nick Saunders, and safety Tejay Johnson return. This will provide stability for a secondary that ranked 11th in the nation last year. Both Priest and Saunders have started every game in the last three years for the Horned Frogs.

The biggest question mark (and that's a relative term) for this defense is the play of the defensive lineman not named Jerry Hughes. But the adjustment period may not be as long as some may think. The crew of Braylon Broughton, Ross Forrest, Wayne Daniels, and Kelly Griffin all have experience playing on the line. Also, the sure-fire double team of Jerry Hughes will aid the rest of the linemen. That is the obvious advantage of having a player as good as Hughes on your team.

The linebacker core has depth, so don't worry about defense. TCU will be just fine, even with the lack of returning starters.

Offense is where the problem areas may lie for TCU. But don't expect it the problems to be under center. Quarterback Andy Dalton may not have the most spectacular stat line, but he's nothing if not efficient. In 307 throws last season, only five of them were caught by the other team. That's the definition of efficiency. Dalton only threw for 2,242 yards and 11 touchdowns, but with a defense like TCU's, gaudy numbers are not a necessity. Those close to TCU expect Dalton to have a breakout year because of his improved decision making skills.

Dalton's favorite target will once again be Jimmy Young. Young had 59 catches for 988 yards last season. But for the offense to be more successful than it was last year, Bart Johnson and Jimmy Kerly will need to have better years. The two had 26 combined receptions last year. As great as this defense is, they will have to score more points than they did last year to win a Mountain West Title.

While the points may not be their, they may not have to be. If Dalton continues to take care of the football and the defense continues to preform, TCU should be right in the thick of things as the season winds down.

(Interesting Side note: On College Football Tonight, Jeff Call from the Salt Lake City Desert News picked TCU to win the conference. CFT premieres tonight at 10pm only on wcwpsports.com)

3 Games to Watch

Septeber 12- @ Virginia- Virginia is nowhere near the top of the barrel when it comes to out of conference opponents, but its still a chance to make a early national statement against a BCS school.

October 24th- @BYU- BYU is the first of the two other MWC "big three" that TCU will see. Because BYU appears to be the worst of the three, TCU will be able to use this game to put some much needed distance between themselves and BYU in the Mountain West race.

November 14th- Utah- This game will decide the Mountain West confrence. Period. But the implications of this one could go deeper. If one of the two are undefeated, which I think is quite likely, the game could have national implications as well.

Jordan Lauterbach