Frog Mailbag: Are TCU fans growing confident after the win over Kansas?

We take questions from Facebook and poll our Twitter audience in this week’s mailbag.

TCU fans are feeling slightly more positive this week after the Horned Frogs scored a 38-27 road win over Kansas on Saturday afternoon. While turnovers and a slow start on defense raised some alarms, TCU allowed only 10 points in the second half and found success on the ground, where running backs Cam Cook and Jeremy Payne combined for over 100 yards. The Horned Frogs are 17-point favorites heading into this Friday’s Big 12 matchup against Houston, but how are TCU fans feeling at the moment? We took questions from Facebook and polled our Twitter audience for another edition of the Frog Mailbag.

Savion Williams has been productive over his first five games this season, catching 27 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 10.7 yards per reception. But the 6-foot-5 senior has been overshadowed by both Jack Bech and Eric McAlister, who each had 100 or more yards against Kansas over the weekend. From what I’ve seen, there seems to be some sort of slight disconnect with Williams, who had a few dropped passes earlier this season and was on the route when Josh Hoover tossed his second interception against the Jayhawks. This isn’t to say that Williams has been bad, as he’s hauled in three or more catches in every game so far. But most of his impact has been in the short-to-intermediate routes, whereas Bech and McAlister have been more effective beating defenses down the field. McAlister is averaging 20.1 yards per reception and Bech is averaging 18.5. Savion is still a very good player and will continue to be effective as the season progresses, but from what I’ve seen so far, Bech and McAlister have generated more separation and are getting open more frequently down the field, where Hoover likes to do most of his damage.

Some of the credit for TCU’s success running the football goes to the offensive line, which finally managed to create some holes for Cam Cook and Jeremy Payne during the fourth quarter. It was nice to see the Horned Frogs run down the game clock with a successful ground attack that was mostly sparked by the true freshman Payne, who had a season-high 65 rushing yards to lead all TCU backs. With Cam Cook fumbling early on and struggling until the fourth quarter, Payne got extended run and capitalized on his opportunities, averaging just over eight yards per carry. I think TCU has found an answer to its rushing woes with Payne, who deserves to be at least the No. 2 running back going forward. I even think Payne could take over as the starting back if Cook’s inconsistent play continues. The sophomore has six touchdown runs this season, but he’s averaging just 3.5 yards per carry.

At this stage of the season, the odds of TCU making the new 12-team playoff are extremely low. I’m more worried about getting through the Houston game and getting healthy over the bye week before facing Utah on the road. With that said, should the Horned Frogs beat the Cougars and then somehow upset the Utes in Utah, TCU would enter the second half of the season with a lot of positive momentum. There’s still so much football to play and anything is possible, but I’d hold off on any playoff talk until at least late October.

As I stated at the top of this article, I think TCU fans are only slightly moved by the team’s win over Kansas on Saturday. With that said, most of our voters agreed that both the run defense and the run offense were the areas TCU showed the most improvement. In my Frog Recap article, I discussed how the Horned Frogs held Kansas to 73 rushing yards in the second half and how players like Johnny Hodges and Jamel Johnson have stepped up with their tackling. It will be paramount for both the linebackers and safeties to make stops in the run game, as I think the Horned Frogs generally lack the talent and experience on the defensive line right now. Offensively, TCU ran for a season-high 151 yards on the ground. Hopefully that serves as a launching pad for future games, beginning with Houston.

This is the most the Horned Frogs have been favored to win since hosting the LIU Sharks in Week 2 of the season. Although TCU will be playing at home and the Cougars are arguably the worst team in the conference at the moment, I’m still surprised how favorable TCU is for this matchup. I think the Horned Frogs should beat Houston fairly easily, but I’d still find it difficult to take the over here, as there are still some concerns with TCU’s run-stopping ability as well as the recent trend of turnovers on offense.