TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

[da_coach]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Guess I missed the joke. Meant walk up to any tailgate if that makes a difference. Anyway, does anyone wonder about TCU, football-wise? I mean, you guys are big underdogs, but they play the games to see who wins, and it could be SDSU.

Not Bloody Likely.

TCU is a great program, with perhaps one of the top 5 coaches in College Football. I don't think it will be close.

[old scribe]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Sorry, SDSU recently put out some new tailgating rules that have been heavily ridiculed on here. One of them being that you can't just walk around the tailgate area, you are supposed to know someone and be headed to that specific tailgate area. In the end, they are measures to prevent drunk students from loitering and causing problems, but they come off the wrong way.

Aha! I lacked the local knowledge! And, as da coach says, TCU has become a top program, but they also have fallen victim to some supposed walkovers at times, and I gather SDSU does have some really quality players. If your QB is agile and can throw well, it could be very close. TCU is still a bit unsettled in the secondary, with totally untested players at CB (other than Texada, who was good in 2014) and a refurbished DL. That said, you may have heard about the rash of injuries in 2015. That meant a lot of young guys played a lot last year, and other good ones (Texada, DE McFarland, WRs Gray and Slanina, safety Iloka,LB Douglas) missed a year with injuries but now are back a year older and stronger. So the defense is basically strong and deep with the exception of CB. The D is a 4-2-5 alignment, which is Patterson's baby. It looks like something designed for pass defense, but it is actually a stop-the-run-first scheme. Patterson's safeties can wind up all over the field.
Offensively, much depends on Kenny Hill, version two (well behaved on and off the field), as the new QB. No one expects him to be Trevonne Boykin(now with the Seahawks), but the offense coached by Meacham and Cumbie will benefit Hill. The OL lost four starters,but may be very good. And big. Look for the Frogs to run quite a bit. There is a covey of very good, very fast WRs, some of whom got a lot of experience as freshmen last year, including against Oregon in the Alamo Bowl. Watch for Turpin, a waterbug scooter, and Gray, a sprint champ,but actually 6 or 7 guys can kill you catching passes. Overall, this is a fast team...Patterson will have it no other way.

[Nidaros]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Aha! I lacked the local knowledge! And, as da coach says, TCU has become a top program, but they also have fallen victim to some supposed walkovers at times, and I gather SDSU does have some really quality players. If your QB is agile and can throw well, it could be very close. TCU is still a bit unsettled in the secondary, with totally untested players at CB (other than Texada, who was good in 2014) and a refurbished DL. That said, you may have heard about the rash of injuries in 2015. That meant a lot of young guys played a lot last year, and other good ones (Texada, DE McFarland, WRs Gray and Slanina, safety Iloka,LB Douglas) missed a year with injuries but now are back a year older and stronger. So the defense is basically strong and deep with the exception of CB. The D is a 4-2-5 alignment, which is Patterson's baby. It looks like something designed for pass defense, but it is actually a stop-the-run-first scheme. Patterson's safeties can wind up all over the field.
Offensively, much depends on Kenny Hill, version two (well behaved on and off the field), as the new QB. No one expects him to be Trevonne Boykin(now with the Seahawks), but the offense coached by Meacham and Cumbie will benefit Hill. The OL lost four starters,but may be very good. And big. Look for the Frogs to run quite a bit. There is a covey of very good, very fast WRs, some of whom got a lot of experience as freshmen last year, including against Oregon in the Alamo Bowl. Watch for Turpin, a waterbug scooter, and Gray, a sprint champ,but actually 6 or 7 guys can kill you catching passes. Overall, this is a fast team...Patterson will have it no other way.

Thanks for your thorough analysis. Only an old sports writer can be that thorough. The week following TCU, we open our brand stadium, its going to be classy for us, but not quite the facility that TCU has. It appears that Coach Patterson is destroying our only chance and that is the element of surprise. With the weather being nice and warm down there, its going to be all we can do to keep it close. I think after TCU, our guys will be looking forward to the non-scholarship Drake Bulldogs.

[CappinHard]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Aha! I lacked the local knowledge! And, as da coach says, TCU has become a top program, but they also have fallen victim to some supposed walkovers at times, and I gather SDSU does have some really quality players. If your QB is agile and can throw well, it could be very close. TCU is still a bit unsettled in the secondary, with totally untested players at CB (other than Texada, who was good in 2014) and a refurbished DL. That said, you may have heard about the rash of injuries in 2015. That meant a lot of young guys played a lot last year, and other good ones (Texada, DE McFarland, WRs Gray and Slanina, safety Iloka,LB Douglas) missed a year with injuries but now are back a year older and stronger. So the defense is basically strong and deep with the exception of CB. The D is a 4-2-5 alignment, which is Patterson's baby. It looks like something designed for pass defense, but it is actually a stop-the-run-first scheme. Patterson's safeties can wind up all over the field.
Offensively, much depends on Kenny Hill, version two (well behaved on and off the field), as the new QB. No one expects him to be Trevonne Boykin(now with the Seahawks), but the offense coached by Meacham and Cumbie will benefit Hill. The OL lost four starters,but may be very good. And big. Look for the Frogs to run quite a bit. There is a covey of very good, very fast WRs, some of whom got a lot of experience as freshmen last year, including against Oregon in the Alamo Bowl. Watch for Turpin, a waterbug scooter, and Gray, a sprint champ,but actually 6 or 7 guys can kill you catching passes. Overall, this is a fast team...Patterson will have it no other way.

This is really good insight. I appreciate the respect, but I just think the speed and depth of TCU will eventually wear us down. I'm feeling a 7-10 point game at half, then a 28-31 point game by the end.

[old scribe]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Thanks for your thorough analysis. Only an old sports writer can be that thorough. The week following TCU, we open our brand stadium, its going to be classy for us, but not quite the facility that TCU has. It appears that Coach Patterson is destroying our only chance and that is the element of surprise. With the weather being nice and warm down there, its going to be all we can do to keep it close. I think after TCU, our guys will be looking forward to the non-scholarship Drake Bulldogs.

Yeah. Don't guess Drake still has Johnny Bright (anybody old enuff to remember him?) .....I AM an old sports writer if 80 is considered old.

[Nidaros]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Yeah. Don't guess Drake still has Johnny Bright (anybody old enuff to remember him?) .....I AM an old sports writer if 80 is considered old.

I am only 5 behind you in age. You are not old. Johnny Bright? Will google

[Nidaros]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

I am only 5 behind you in age. You are not old. Johnny Bright? Will google

Quite the story on Johny Bright. He was a first round draft pick for Philedelphia Eagles but being the first black he was not sure of personal safety, he choose to go to the CFL. This was after a Ok State guy purposely broke his jaw in a college game. No they don't have any Johnny Bright's .

[jackmd]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Maybe I missed it....Do we know what the viewing options will be for this game? I think we are likely to be out at the campground but would come to town to watch if that's an option.

[NWHSUandSDSU]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Maybe I missed it....Do we know what the viewing options will be for this game? I think we are likely to be out at the campground but would come to town to watch if that's an option.

On midco I'm seeing on channel 639 a fox sports channel.

[jakejc795]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Maybe I missed it....Do we know what the viewing options will be for this game? I think we are likely to be out at the campground but would come to town to watch if that's an option.

Game's on FoxSportsNet: http://www.gojacks.com/schedule.aspx?path=football

[thumper_76]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

Yeah. Don't guess Drake still has Johnny Bright (anybody old enuff to remember him?) .....I AM an old sports writer if 80 is considered old.

You and nidaros should get along just fine

[old scribe]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

every forum needs one or two guys 75 or older!

[Theee Catrabbit]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

This is confusing. You're just allowed to walk to any tailgate???

Can we consider this an open invitation? they certainly do it different down there....

[old scribe]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

I should fit in here....I once wrote a column (oped, not sports) questioning whether there really was a North Dakota. It got a lot of notice up Fargo way and led to my visit to ND. Much fun. Picked ND because EVERYONE knows there is a South Dakota....

[Nidaros]

Re: TCU Season Opener Sept 3rd

I should fit in here....I once wrote a column (oped, not sports) questioning whether there really was a North Dakota. It got a lot of notice up Fargo way and led to my visit to ND. Much fun. Picked ND because EVERYONE knows there is a South Dakota....

Who was the guy from TCU who either won or came close to the Heisman about 1957? His picture was on the front of Street & Smith football preview. His name total escapes me, but I am sure its on the tip of old scribe's tongue. It seems like the old North Central Conference got mention in this magazine and they even picked the winners of this conference. Also TCU was part of the Southwest Conference, as I recall.

Never in my day would I have thought I would I see SDSU playing TCU, so its a historical marker no matter how the game turns out.