Frog Mailbag: How will TCU move forward after win over Stanford?

We poll our fans on Twitter and answer questions from Facebook in anticipation of TCU’s game against LIU on Saturday night.

The TCU football team will return home victorious after a 34-27 win at Stanford on Friday evening. The Horned Frogs are slated to face the Long Island Sharks in an FCS tune-up game at Amon G. Carter Stadium on Saturday night in Week 2 of the college football season. In the second installment of our new Frog Mailbag series, we polled followers on Twitter and took questions from Facebook as TCU transitions to its second game of the season this coming weekend. Here are a few of the top questions and poll results.

For those who didn’t watch or follow the game on Friday evening, TCU true freshman Hauss Hejny made his debut for a very limited series during the second quarter. The four-star recruit from Aledo rushed was in the game for just two plays, rushing for an 8-yard gain before taking a big hit from the Stanford defense on a 1-yard loss. Hejny didn’t return to the field after that and was eventually spotted on the TCU sideline on crutches and in a boot. I’m a little confused as to why the Horned Frogs used Hejny in this game, as the No. 2 quarterback, Ken Seals, didn’t see any action. It could be that Hejny entered the game as some sort of wrinkle in the offense to expand the running game, as Cam Cook recorded 20 carries while Trey Sanders and Dominique Johnson combined for only three carries. Players can compete in up to four games before burning their redshirt, so perhaps head coach Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles believed this was a game Hejny could earn some experience. Regardless, Hejny’s current injury status remains unknown.

One of my biggest takeaways from the win was that the TCU offense I saw on Friday night was largely the same offense we saw during the 2023 season. We saw an offense that leans heavily on throwing the football and an offense that can rally off chunk plays quickly, but struggles in short-yardage scenarios and finishing in the red zone. It was nice to see TCU close the game with a rushing touchdown from Cam Cook, but that final set of plays inside the Stanford 10-yard line began with an incomplete pass and roughly a minute to play. I also didn’t like the call on the fourth-and-4 play where Josh Hoover threw underneath in what was ultimately a failed attempt to convert. Moreover, like last season, TCU didn’t take many deep shots down the field against Stanford and my fear is that teams will eventually play more of their linebackers and defensive backs closer to the box in an attempt to slow down the quick passing game. My hope is that this changes given TCU’s surplus of weapons.

The penalties were another glaring issue during Friday’s win over the Cardinal. TCU finished with seven penalties for 100 yards after averaging 6.2 penalties for 53.6 yards during the 2023 season. Three of those penalties on Friday directly led to a scoring drive for a Stanford offense that didn’t pose much of a threat coming into the game. Sonny Dykes said to the media after the game that the team played tight and got frustrated at times, but ultimately it falls on him as the head coach and his staff to instill discipline during the week so that the players are ready to handle the ebbs and flows of the game. As far as the red zone woes are concerned, I really think that establishing the run down there is the answer. Whether it’s installing some sort of goal-line package with the bigger backs like Dominique Johnson or Trey Sanders or targeting tight ends like Drake Dabney or D.J. Rogers, who combiend for only two grabs on Friday, it’s clear that TCU’s red-zone offense still has work to do.

The overwhelming sentiment from our followers on Twitter was that wide receiver Jack Bech was both the breakout star and the MVP for the Horned Frogs on Friday night. It’s hard to argue against that, as the former LSU transfer totaled six catches for 139 yards and one touchdown in his 2024 debut after reportedly impressing during both spring and fall camp. I was pleased to see fans recognize cornerback JaTravis Broughton, as he was matched up against Stanford star Elic Ayomanor for most of the night and did a good job of covering him. While fans showed favor for TCU’s improved pass rush and largely agreed that the offense has room to improve, voters also agreed that the final result on Friday night was not up to expectations. Fans will be watching closely as TCU faces LIU this coming weekend. The Horned Frogs will open as heavy favorites and need to demonstrate improvements to their weaknesses with their Big 12 Conference opener against UCF lurking in the future.