By Daniel Durany, Dfwfootball.net
TCU will be starting the upcoming football season ranked #6 according to the Associated Press. The top 5 teams from the AP Polls are Alabama, Ohio State, Boise State, Florida and Texas. This is the highest pre-season ranking in school history. TCU’s previous pre-season high was #7 during the 1956 AP polls. Last year, the Horned Frogs became the Mountain West Conference champions as they finished 12-1 overall, 8-0 in the conference. Their only loss coming to hands of the Boise State Broncos in Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. They finished in top-10 for second straight season and third time in the last five years.
With all the accolades accomplished last year by the Horned Frogs, they still know there is unfinished business to get done. This year’s unfinished business is to win the national championship. The Horned Frogs average over 450 yards a game ranking them in top 10, while averaging nearly close to 240 rushing yards a game ranking them fifth nation, and averaging over 38 points a game. What scary about this offense is number of players returning for this year. TCU’s returns four lineman, three receivers, two running backs and quarterback. Balance is the key to the success on offense. They had four players who rushed for over 500 yards which includes quarterback, Andy Dalton rushing 512 yards. Dalton’s 29 wins ties Sammy Baugh for the most school wins in school history. He threw for 2,756 yards, completing nearly 62 percent of his passes with 23 touchdowns.
When Dalton isn’t throwing the ball, he has tremendous supporting cast at the running back position with Matthew Tucker & Ed Wesley returning this year to continue the strong running game from last year. Both of these running backs rushed for over 600 yards last season while averaging six yards per carry. If defenses decided to stack the box with eight or nine men on the line scrimmage, Dalton has three wide receivers with speed, steadiness and swagger about themselves to help spread the defense. The Frogs have Antoine Hicks who bring a deep threat to the team with 20.8 yards per catch and six touchdowns. Last year during the second half of the season, he became more involved in the offense with two 75-yard touchdown receptions and 100-yard receiving game against New Mexico with 132 receiving yards for the first time in his collegiate career. They also have steady receiver, Jimmy Young who was second on the team with 33 receptions and 517 yards last year. Young has averaged 46 receptions in his last two seasons.
The third receiver for the Frogs is Jeremy Kerley who brings an X-Factor and intangibles to the team. He led the team with 44 receptions and 532 receiving yards. His contributions aren’t just sold on the receiving side as Kerley brings an X- Factor in special teams with electrifying kickoff and punt returns. He led the nation with 563 punt return yards and average 14.4 yards per punt return. Kerley became one of eight NCAA Division I players to return two punts for touchdowns in 2009. The play that Horned Frog fans will remember is Kerley’s 69-yard punt return against Colorado State University became an absolute highlight when he did five stutter step moves to get into end zone.
While almost all the starters are back from TCU’s offense, at the same time, the Frogs will lose some key players on defense that ranked them #1 in the nation. Defensive End, Jerry Hughes who had 11.5 sacks last year will be missed especially in the third down situations to the Indianapolis Colts who drafted 31st overall in last year’s NFL draft. Then sixteen picks later, the Arizona Cardinals drafted Linebacker Darryl Washington whose 109 tackles and three interceptions led the team. He will especially be missed when it comes to his abilities to cover from sideline-to sideline. Defensive players who are coming back from last year’s #1 ranked defense are safeties Tyler Luttrell and Tejay Johnson, defensive end Wayne Daniels, and linebacker Tank Carder. These players are likely going to be the leaders who will keep this defense as one of nation’s best.
Overall, the Frogs should continue to stay strong in 2010 as they return most of their starters from last year’s Mountain West Conference Champions. If the Frogs can play at the high level this year like they did from last year, then the opportunity to play for the national championship game in Glendale, AZ needs to be considered by the people from the Harris Poll, USA Today, and six computer rankings from Jeff Sagarin, Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, and Peter Wolfe.
