2008 TCU Horned Frogs
Written July 18, 2008 by Jason Lowry
To help you get a good idea on the upcoming football season, Jason Lowry is ready to bring you his 2008 TCU Horned Frogs football predictions. The Horned Frogs put together a respectable season last year going 8-5 including a 20-13 win over Houston in the Texas Bowl. This year the Frogs got 15 players back from a team that finished 4-4 in the Mountain West for 5th place in conference play. This year head coach Gary Patterson will have to take this team to a new level and try and bring them another Mountain West title. To get a better idea at just how good the Horned Frogs will be lets take a look at who they will be sending to the field on both sides of the ball this season.
Offense:
With 8 players back on this side of the ball, the Horned Frogs have to think that they can improve slightly on one of the better offenses in the Mountain West. The reason we say improve is sophomore quarterback Andy Dalton should be much better this year after going through the struggles of being a freshman quarterback thrown into the spotlight. Helping take some of the pressure of his arm is the very strong duo at running back in senior Aaron Brown and junior Joseph Turner, who combined for over a 1,000 yards last season. While the team only brings back one starter at receiver in senior Donald Massey, senior Walter Bryant and sophomore Jimmy Young both seen plenty of action last year, so they should have no problem stepping in as starters. The team should be pretty set on the offensive line as 4 starters come back, and senior Preston Phillips is set to take over at the left guard spot.
Defense:
With 7 guys back for this unit, the Horned Frogs could also improve on this side of the ball as well. Up front the team brings back 3 starters on the defensive line, and got a guy by junior Jerry Hughes who should have no problem moving to a starting role. The team has some senior talent at linebacker and leading tackler from last year Jason Phillips will be the main guy again this season. The secondary brings back plenty of talent as well, including senior strong safety Stephen Hodge, who recorded 8 sacks a season ago. The team also brings back the starting duo at corner in juniors Nick Sanders and Rafael Priest. Look for sophomore Tejay Johnson and senior Steven Coleman to see plenty of action at the safety spots this season.
Prediction: 3rd in the Mountain West
There is plenty to like about this team as it seems to be loaded with seniors all over the football field, 14 to be exact. If this team improves on defense like it should it could easily be right up there with BYU and Utah for the title. If the Horned Frogs can take care of business against BYU at home they might be able to jump up to No. 2 in the conference, but for now we will keep them at 3rd.
For those of you looking for a great place to get going on the upcoming football betting season, head over to BetUS.com and get an account started today. Also be sure to check out all of our NCAA team preview and predictions, and check back soon for our NFL predictions.