Frog Mailbag: Has TCU’s win over LIU changed our view of the team?

We asked our followers on Facebook and Twitter to give their questions and thoughts.

TCU football had no trouble during its tune-up game against the Long Island Sharks on Saturday evening, with the Horned Frogs cruising for a 45-0 shutout victory to remain unbeaten on the season. Josh Hoover turned in an efficient outing, completing 20-of-25 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns, while Cam Cook rushed for 53 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Savion Williams remained a clear No. 1 target at wide receiver, catching five balls for 69 yards and completing a 15-yard pass on a trick play.

Johnny Hodges and Richard Toney Jr. each finished with seven tackles to lead the TCU defense, which shut out an opponent for the first time since 2017. Namdi Obiazor had an interception and 1.5 tackles for loss, while Nana Osafo-Mensah and Zach Chapman each recorded sacks. Kyle Lemmermann went 1-for-2 on field-goal attempts on special teams. As TCU prepares for its Big 12 Conference opener against UCF this weekend, we asked our fans on Facebook and Twitter to give their thoughts on where the Horned Frogs stand with a 2-0 record and a tough conference opponent on the horizon. Here’s this week’s mailbag.

The vertical passing attack was an integral part of the Garrett Riley offense TCU ran during the 2022 campaign, but the Horned Frogs have definitely shifted away from that in favor of more speed and more quick passes under Kendal Briles. While I do believe Josh Hoover has a good deep ball and is more accurate down the field than Chandler Morris was in his time at TCU, I don’t believe the vertical passing game is much of a priority in this new offense, which emphasis playing fast and using quick passes as an extension of the run game. It’s theoretically possible that the Horned Frogs could take more deep shots as the year progresses, but I wouldn’t expect very many unless they find themselves trailing big.

My thoughts on the offensive line are pretty mixed right now. One thing to consider is that the Horned Frogs brought in multiple players through the transfer portal, including center James Brockermeyer as well as left tackle Bless Harris and right guard Carson Bruno, who are playing alongside each other for the first time. TCU lost four starting offensive linemen from last year including Andrew Coker, Brandon Coleman and John Lanz, who had all been in Fort Worth for a minimum of four years. Another thing to consider is that the TCU offense under Kendal Briles tends to lean toward passing the ball as opposed to leading with the running game, so there could be more emphasis on pass protection during practice. With that said, TCU’s run game seems to be in a feast-or-famine state right now, as Cook gained nearly all of his 53 yards against LIU on only a few carries. The run game was pretty hit-or-miss last year as well, as Emani Bailey had four games with an average of 3.5 yards per carry or loss despite rushing for 100 or more yards on six separate occasions. There are many factors to consider as far as the offensive line is concerned, but I do believe that TCU needs to be more consistent in the run game moving forward, particularly outside of the red zone.

I thought TCU threw the ball a bit too much against Stanford, particularly later in the game, but I was pleased to see the Horned Frogs running the football early against LIU on Saturday. It’s no secret that this team will be looking to throw the ball a lot under Briles, but I think it’s important to stay within the 50/50 to 60/40 range in terms of pass vs. run. This balance can obviously be influenced by the game script, as TCU will likely run the ball more with a big lead or pass the ball more with a deficit. Regardless, I thought TCU showed better balance against LIU, but I’m slightly concerned that the Horned Frogs will regress to leaning heavily on the passing game against UCF this weekend. The area to watch will be the red zone, where TCU rushed for four touchdowns against LIU.

With the Big 12 opener against UCF coming this weekend, most of our followers on Twitter agree that Saturday’s win over the Sharks didn’t move the needle much in terms of how we’re viewing the Horned Frogs right now. Moreover, nearly all of the voters agreed that TCU should finish in the top half of the conference this season, with a small percentage favoring a top-8 position as opposed to a top-4 position. It’s noticeable that most fans appear to have tempered their expectations after the letdown season in 2023, which is fair given how high our expectations were after the national championship appearance in 2022 and the strong recruiting cycle that followed. A win over UCF would put TCU in the right direction, as the Golden Knights were picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 preseason poll.

TCU fans took notice of three transfers who made an impact during Saturday’s game, while true freshman running back and former four-star recruit Jeremy Payne was the young player who caught eyes against the Sharks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Payne eventually becomes the No. 2 running back for the Horned Frogs, who haven’t received much production from Trey Sanders or Dominique Johnson so far this season. The two veterans have combined for just 54 rushing yards and one touchdown on 14 carries over TCU’s first two games. Finally, I expect TCU will further utilize Eric McAlister as the year moves forward. While the Horned Frogs have plenty of mouths to feed at outside receiver, McAlister is too talented to keep on the bench, as he went for over 800 receiving yards at Boise State in 2023.