TCU Blog

September 6, 2010

Oregon State vs. TCU @ Cowboys Stadium
By Julie Traxler
www.jumponthefanwagon.com

A large percentage of the games played during week 1 of the college football season aren’t competitive enough to warrant watching.  The Oregon State vs. TCU (Texas Christian University) was NOT one of those games.  This game offered four quarters of excitement, and it was a great college football experience for all who attended.

 

Me and a couple of my very good friends decided sometime near the end of the 2009 college football season that we were going to embark on what we consider to be the “ultimate college football roadtrip” during the 2010 season, and we began planning shortly thereafter (you can follow our journey at www.jotfw.com  and find us on FaceBook by “liking” Jump on the FanWagon), the first game we decided on was Oregon State vs. TCU (well, technically the first game we decided on was “a TCU game week 1” - but we didn’t know until after our schedule was final that Oregon State would also be involved in the adventure).

 

We did know that the game would be played at Cowboys Stadium, and that was a big factor in swaying us towards this TCU game in particular. 

 

A large part of what makes college football so amazing is the history that is associated with it.  Fans love the traditions and the rivalries.  They love to hate certain teams as much as they love to cheer for their own teams.  There isn’t history between Oregon State and TCU, and their really isn’t any history at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX either.  The Stadium itself has only been open for a year, and this was only the 6th college football game played in this venue.

 

It is almost impossible to describe this stadium.  I know millions of words have been written to describe it, but I still find myself sitting in awe a full 24 hours later.  You cannot mention the stadium without addressing the video screen, which hangs from the 20 yard line to the 20 yard line.  It is amazing.  It’s not possible to have a bad seat in the stadium because of this video board.  We had amazing seats (lower level, TCU side, 25 yard line, 12th row) and we didn’t miss a second of the action.  One thing this video board provides is the ability to sit and stand as you please.  At most sports events, when the person in front of you stands to cheer, you have to stand to cheer.  This isn’t true in Cowboys Stadium.  You can sit and just shift your focus to the video board when everyone in front of you is standing.

 

The stadium is over the top in luxurious.  The seats are leather, the roof was open and the stadium has perfect acoustics for a sporting event.  The food was great and the beer was cold.  The prices for everything - well, that’s an entirely different story.  For more on the stadium experience check out the Venues section at www.jofw.com  

 

The game itself was a fast-paced chess match.  Andy Dalton of TCU is going to be in the Heisman chatter all season long, and he should be.  He’s got a laser for an arm and he can run the ball when he can’t find an open receiver.  He has a lot of poise, and he’s fun to watch.  The Horned Frogs should be looking forward to a season ranked in the top 10.  They deserve it.

 

Oregon State looked impressive as well.  I liked the control they showed when on offense.  The Beavers surprised me a little, in that I hadn’t expected them to come out gunning like they did, and honestly didn’t think the game would be that close.  They made TCU work for every point they got (with the exception of the safety that occurred in the second half).  Oregon State could make some noise in the PAC 10 this season, and TCU is hoping that they do just that.  Oregon State winning helps TCU, because it gives more validity and weight to this win for the Frogs.

 

One thing that has to be noted about Oregon State fans is that they travel well. There was a lot of orange in that stadium.  I was impressed by the number of fans there for the Beavers when the game could almost be considered a ‘home’ game for for TCU.

 

I have to address the TCU uniforms.  I think we commented no less than 20 times during the game on the uniforms.  It seems unusual to reference them so often, but there were two things that played into this.  The first thing is that they were so easy to see thanks to the giant video board.  You could literally see every detail of the uniforms, and that aided the discussion a lot.  The second thing is, TCU’s uniforms were cool as hell.  I have friends who told me that the first thing they did when watching this game (or checking out highlights) was look at the uniforms.  That’s great marketing.

 

Monday we are heading to Landover, MD to check out the Boise State vs. Virginia Tech game at FedEx field.  I expect that game to be a nail-biter, given the BCS implications that are already in play.

 

Next weekend we will be in South Bend, Indiana for the Michigan @ Notre Dame game.  So, we will go from the most glamourous stadium with the worlds largest video board to a stadium (Notre Dame Stadium) that doesn’t even show replays in the stadium because they don’t have a video board, but they do have history, and lots of it.

 

Happy Tailgating!!!

August 29, 2010

TCU Football Schedule - In Depth
by David Peterson

One thing I always like to look at is the dynamics of a schedule. Every year, Coach Patterson makes a point to prepare for Air Force before the season begins because their option running attack is so difficult to prepare for. He always hopes to have a bye the week before the Frogs face the Falcons or at least to have a home game prior to it, so they have a full week of practice to prepare. But looking at the schedule, there are a lot of complex teams to prepare for heading into the 2010 season.

Starting with Oregon State seems like a very positive thing for the Frogs. In a game where the Frogs are replacing a few key guys up front, one thing that TCU has always been good at is stopping the run. The Rogers brothers should certainly be feared in the same way CJ Spiller and Jacoby Ford were from Clemson, but the Frogs have always been resilient against speed and the running game. But with Tennessee Tech representing game #2, the Frogs will be about as prepared as you can be by the time this game rolls around.

Obviously, Tennessee Tech will be less of a concern, which allows the Frogs to focus on preparing for 2 very different offenses. First up is Baylor who returns one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the NCAA. Bowl hopes are high for Baylor this year now that Robert Griffin is back at quarterback. Griffin can beat you with his legs and his arm which makes him one of the most difficult players to prepare for.

But to follow that up with SMU on a short week is a tough task. On the surface, June Jones calls a pass happy offense that seems pretty simple, but I assure you that is not true. Under Jones, his teams have always shown a consistent trend of flourishing in year 3, largely because that is the year when his players begin to understand his complicated offense. Make no mistake, much like Boise State, SMU offers a very tricky offense and this is a difficult match up on a short week.

With 8 days to prepare for Colorado State, the Frogs should be aptly prepared. The Rams tend to run a pro-style offense with a lot of running and play action passing. The Frogs have always struggled with the play action against Colorado State, but they have done more than enough in other fronts to make up for it.

The three game home stretch of Wyoming, BYU, and Air Force offer 3 fairly different teams. Wyoming would like to run more, but they tend to be a pass heavy offense. BYU is widely considered a pass heavy offense, but they have become more of a running team in recent years than passing. And finally, finishing this stretch with Air Force will be difficult for the aforementioned reasons. Wyoming and BYU are not considered tricky teams and they should be very similar to years past. Nothing jumps off the page to think that the Frogs would not be prepared for any of these games, especially being at home with a full week of practice.

The next 2 weeks will be tough ones as the Frogs hit the road for trips to Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. While UNLV should be less of a test than other conference teams, they do have a brand new coach and will implement a brand new
system. The positive thing is we play them so late in the season that the Frogs should have enough film to adequately prepare for the Rebels.

The Frogs will likely return to Fort Worth around 6AM or 7AM on Sunday night and will have to turn around 5 days later and take another flight back to Utah. The Utes run a complex offense that is hard to prepare for, primarily because they run so many plays out of so many different formations. The Utes are another team that you would like a lot of time to prepare for, especially because they have similar talent to match up against the Frogs. This will be an extremely hard game to prepare for late in the season.

A week later the Frogs face San Diego State at home which could be a tougher game. In year 2 under Brady Hoke, the Aztecs are expected to take a big jump. This could be a more difficult game, but preparation should not be a problem. The only concern is regrouping mentally after a tough week against Utah.

Finally, there is the New Mexico game. The Frogs will have their first bye week of the year before heading to face the worst team in the conference and they should be adequately prepared. The only concern for that game is whether the
Frogs eat too much on Thanksgiving Day.

So the 2 areas of concern for me are the SMU and Utah games. Not only are these 2 of the trickiest weeks to prepare for, they may also be 2 of the better teams we will play all year.