The TCU Horned Frogs escaped Minneapolis with a 6-point victory after a sloppy performance, especially offensively.
Heisman candidate Trevone Boykin had a solid night statistically posting a 26/42 clip for 246 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Boykin also ran for 92 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Josh Dotson had eight grabs for 74 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Green added 88 yards rushing on 18 carries.
Offensive Miscues
TCU was challenged by the Minnesota defense that posed a good pass rush and secondary. That being said, the Frogs were able to move the ball. TCU simply just shot itself in the foot. Two turnovers inside the Gophers 30-yard line, a missed 29-yard field goal and a pair of overthrown balls on wide open touchdowns by Boykin held the Frogs' attack back.
TCU has to be able to finish drives if it wants to make a run at a second consecutive Big 12 Championship and perhaps a National Championship. Were tonight’s miscues a result of week 1 jitters? Probably. But TCU won’t get away with this amount of miscues against the likes of Baylor, Oklahoma and even a few other conference foes.
Positive Signs of Offense
Boykin said all throughout the offseason that he wanted to work on throws over the middle. The best balls he threw all night were on passes in that area. Boykin showed off his arm strength on several occasions as he hit receivers in tight windows over the middle of the field. Expect Boykin to clean up some of the easier throws he missed on tonight. If he does, he will be even more dangerous then he already is.
Several young players showed off their skills in this Air Raid offense. Sophomore receiver Desmon White had a career-high 5 catches for 61 yards. Redshirt Freshman running back Shaun Nixon hauled in 5 grabs for 43 yards and made several Gopher defenders miss in open space. Freshman receiver Kavontae Turpin also showed off his elusiveness on a few end-arounds and a couple of punt returns.
Defense Answers Questions
While Minnesota isn’t exactly an explosive offensive team, especially in the passing game, TCU was very impressive defensively. The Frogs had several unknowns with losing six starters. Perhaps no bigger question was how the secondary would perform after losing Kevin White, Chris Hackett and Sam Carter.
Nick Orr looked very good as the second corner to Ranthony Texada. He got beat on a couple underneath plays, but he was lock down on plays down the field. Safeties Denzel Johnson and Kenny Illoka were solid as well.
At the linebacker position, freshman Mike Freeze was all over the place. After losing Paul Dawson and Marcus Mallet, Freeze has been tasked with starting as a true freshman. Game 1 was an A+ as he made several tackles and filled in gaps in the Minnesota run game. Ty Summers, Sammy Douglass and Montrel Wilson all saw time at linebacker as well. Summers and Douglass had several strong tackles at the point of attack.
The defensive line was very impressive especially off the edge. Terrell Lathan and Mike Tuaua were able to get consistent pressure on Mitch Leidner throughout the game. Lathan forced a fumble early in the game which led to a TCU score. Defensive tackles Aaron Curry and Chris Bradley filled in nicely for Chucky Hunter (graduated) and Davion Pierson (injury). Add in the fact that James MacFarland didn’t play due to injury and Josh Carraway was limited. The defensive front could be explosive all year if injuries don’t pile up.
TCU Head Coach and defensive guru Gary Patterson raved all throughout fall camp about this group’s athleticism and speed compared to last year’s defense. It was on full display as the Frogs gave up very few big plays. Patterson has to be pleased with his defense’s first test.
Overall Grade
B-
TCU has all the tools to be even better offensively then it was a year ago. Boykin and Co. will clean up the miscues and put up huge numbers. Don’t expect this game's sloppiness to be a trend.
Tonight showed that Patterson could have another special defense if some of the young starters continue to develop. By the time the November gauntlet of Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Baylor comes, this defense could be firing on all cylinders.
When it’s all said and done, TCU did what it was supposed to do: beat a quality Big Ten team on the road. It wasn’t pretty, but the Frogs got it done.