2011 TCU Football Predictions

Written by Steve Janus

The TCU Horned Frogs capped off their 2010 season with a 21-19 win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl to finish with a perfect 13-0 record. While the Horned Frogs are 36-3 over the last three seasons, they will have their work cut out for them in 2011, as the Boise State Broncos are now a part of the MWC.

Head coach Gary Patterson has done a great job of reloading each season, but will have just eight starters back in 2011, and must replace the school’s all-time leading passer in Andy Dalton. To give you a better idea of what the Horned Frogs will look like this season, here is a quick breakdown of who they will be sending to the field on both sides of the ball.

Offense:

Replacing Dalton is going to be a difficult task for the Horned Frogs. Dalton threw for 2,857 yards with 27 touchdowns to just eight interceptions in his final season. Heading into the fall it looks like sophomore Casey Pachall will be the 2011 starter. Pachall attempted just nine passes as a freshman, and figures to go threw some growing pains in his first full season as a starter.

With a new starting quarterback in the mix, look for TCU to really focus on moving the ball on the ground. They return their top three backs, who helped the Horned Frogs average 247 yards a game. Junior Ed Wesley led the way with 1,078 yards and 11 touchdowns, but they also got 709 yards and seven touchdowns out of junior Matthew Tucker and 513 yards and five touchdowns out of sophomore Waymon James.

Making things even harder on Pachall is the fact that TCU loses three of their top four receiving threats from 2010. They do bring back sophomore Josh Boyce, who had 34 catches for 646 yards and six touchdowns as freshman, but will need others to step up and play well. senior Antoine Hicks and freshman LaDarius Brown figure to be the two new starters alongside Boyce.

The Horned Frogs biggest concern has to come on the offensive line, where they return just one starter from 2010 in senior left guard Kyle Dooley. While the big guys up front don’t get much of the credit, this unit usually decides the success on this side of the ball. If they struggle to fill in the holes, the offense could take an even bigger hit than expected without Dalton.

Defense:

The Horned Frogs have had one of the best defenses in the country over the last three seasons, and are going to need this unit more than ever in 2011. The problem is much like the offense the Horned Frogs are at their weakest in the trenches. Sophomore defensive end Stansly Maponga is the only starter back. Juniors D.J. Yendrey and Jeremy Coleman are expected to start at the two defensive tackle spots, while senior Braylon Broughton takes over at the other end spot.

There is no question that the strength of the defense comes in the middle of the field at linebacker. Senior middle linebacker Tank Carder and junior strong-side linebacker Tanner Brock are two of the best linebackers in the country, and will be counted on heavily to make big plays all season long. Both of these players have to stay healthy for TCU to have any shot at winning the MWC this season.

In the secondary the Horned Frogs lose star free safety Tejay Johnson, and a couple of solid players in corner corner Jason Teague and safety Alex Ibiloye. The unit returns senior corner Greg McCoy and senior safety Tekerrein Cuba. Overall this unit still figures to be one of the top units in the MWC, but will likely struggle to match the numbers of 2010.

2011 Projection: 3rd MWC - Not only do the Horned Frogs have just eight starters back, but they lose 26 lettermen from their incredible 2011 season. While the defense figures to remain solid, I think it will struggle against the top teams in the MWC. I look for TCU to lose both road games at Air Force and Boise State, which has me slating them in third, and could drop even farther down if the offense struggles to put up points.

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