Quick Thoughts: TCU 13, Utah 7

The Horned Frogs escaped Salt Lake City with the win to move to 4-3 on the season

Empty Calories

The TCU offense gained 395 yards, yet could only muster 13 points. As has been the case since the beginning of 2023 with the hire of Kendal Briles, we again saw the Horned Frogs turn into a pumpkin in the red zone. In five trips to the red zone, the Horned Frogs only got points on three of those visits, with only the one touchdown. TCU opened the game with three drives inside the five yard line which only produced a total of three points thanks to a blocked field goal and a Josh Hoover lost fumble – his fifth of the season, the most in the country. The situation became even more dire in the second half as the Frogs not only weren’t scoring, but were no longer even picking up those empty yards. Outside of the opening drive of the 3rd quarter, which would produce only a field goal, TCU gained only 96 total yards in the second half, punting five times. Fortunately for the Frogs, the defense brought the heat to SLC.

Dominant Defense

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The TCU Defense returned from the Bye week hungry, angry, motivated, and ready to hunt. On a night when the offense couldn’t create points, the defense did it’s job to keep the Frogs’ head above water. Yes, Utah was forced to roll with a true freshman behind center, but that takes nothing away from the performance the Andy Avalos-led unit delivered on Saturday night. The Frogs had Isaac Wilson in a blender all night, sacking him four times among eight tackles for loss. Marcel Brooks & Devean Deal were havoc monsters. Namdi Obiazor had the fire back in his eyes, Channing Canada made some game-saving stops, Kaleb Elarms-Orr, Jamel Johnson, and Abe Camara were heat-seeking missiles, Scud James pass break-up ended Utah’s final drive. It was a team effort and showed an attacking promise the unit hadn’t shown since the season opener at Stanford. There was one bad lapse in the defense, allowing the 71 yard touchdown strike to Money Parks, but outside of that play, Utah gained only 196 total yards.

The Utes did have its 6th year senior superstar running back in the backfield, who entered the game averaging 129 yards per game vs. FBS opponents; TCU held Micah Bernard to just 55 yards. It’s a very encouraging performance for a defense that has been much maligned this season after getting roasted the last few weeks; here’s hoping this showing becomes the standard going forward.

Execution Lapses

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TCU had plenty of opportunities to have made this a blowout victory, but too often had critical failures of basic fundamentals that kept this game in the balance until the final minutes. TCU was whistled for six penalties, giving away 38 yards, not including a running into the punter penalty was declined that the Frogs were extremely fortunate to have not been ruled as a 15-yard roughing the kicker foul and an automatic first down when the defense had the Utes pinned deep in its own territory. Just before halftime, TCU had an opportunity to grab some points headed into the break, but ended up in a 4th and 2 situation at midfield; the offense remained on the field looking to keep the drive alive. It had no intention of actually running a play, instead going with the hard count hoping a Ute would take the cheese, which one actually would, but instead of snapping the ball or otherwise securing the defensive encroachment foul for a first down, the Frogs just sat and watched, unable to take advantage of the mistake and giving Utah an extra opportunity for points before half that luckily the defense was able to stifle. In a similar situation in the 4th quarter with the game very much in doubt, TCU was set up at the Utah 34 yard line with a 3rd and 2 situation. TCU burned a timeout to strategize the perfect play and decided to pull its starting QB off the field for this critical moment, sending its own true freshman behind center; Hauss Hejny took the snap and was immediately swarmed for a loss of three, pushing the Frogs out of viable field goal range and making a 4th down conversion significantly more difficult. TCU then was forced to call another timeout, sending the offense out again, only to intentionally take a delay of game penalty and ultimately end the drive with a punt. It was a series of inept coaching decisions that again the Frogs were lucky to have not eventually resulted in a loss. On multiple occasions on Saturday, TCU was forced to take a timeout or delay of game because it was running offensive substitutes on late, allowing the defense to slow-play its in-turn subs, showing a damning lack of awareness and attention to detail from the offensive coaching staff, especially as this was a major problem in the loss to Houston and was clearly not remedied following the bye week.

Savion Williams, Wild Frog Superstar

Savion Williams was unquestionably TCU’s best offensive player on Saturday night. He led the team in receiving (5 catches for 27 yards) and rushing (7 carries for 72 yards) including the moment of the game converting the 4th down that sealed the TCU victory. Coming into this game, the senior wide receiver had 74 total career rushing yards, nearly doubling that with the effort in Salt Lake City. TCU brought out the Wild Frog formation that in the past had produced big success with Jeremy Kerley and somewhat less success with Sewo Olonilua, where a skill player takes the direct snap and takes it for a run. It was the most effective the TCU run game has looked all season. The return of RB Trent Battle to the lineup did produce quite well, with him gaining 45 yards on 8 carries. We’ll see if this is just what the Frogs saw as the best way to attack this stout Utah defense or if the direct snaps are a feature going forward, but for tonight it got the Frogs the win.