TCU Football: What Did We Learn Against UCF

The Horned Frogs suffered their first loss of the season after a second-half collapse, but what can fans take away from the game?

TCU Head Coach Sonny Dykes during the UCF game / Tony Beblowski KillerFrogs

Well, that completely sucked. If you were a fan who left the stadium or even turned off the game at halftime, you were utterly shocked to find out Sunday morning that TCU lost. It wasn't all bad. However, there are some positive takeaways that we will discuss below.

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TCU vs. UCF - The Bad

The Defense's Failure to Adapt

We all knew that UCF was going to run the ball; that is their entire offensive identity. The Frogs knew that. Look at the first half; the defense was able to contain it and make UCF QB KJ Jefferson beat them. But something happened in the third quarter, completely changing the game's outcome. I wish I could pinpoint what it was. Even TCU Head Coach Sonny Dykes says that the Knights showed nothing different in the second half compared to the first. THEY SHOWED NOTHING DIFFERENT. When you start getting gashed for 8+ yards at a time, you have to adjust; whether that is stacking the box with eight defenders or switching up the personnel, you must try something.

The Lack of a Running Game

When you play a team that wants only to run the ball, you have to give your defense time to recover on the sidelines. This is especially true when you are up by three touchdowns, and the easiest way to do that is by running the ball and draining the clock. The Frogs had only 50+ rushing yards in the game 50! Let's say you don't trust the offensive line to move the chains through the ground game. That's a problem we can deal with later, but that means on plays when the clock is running, the ball should never be snapped until there are under 10 seconds on the game clock. With that said, however....

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TCU vs. UCF - The Good

The Passing Game is Better Than We Give it Credit For

The passing attack of the TCU offense is absurdly good and fun to watch. The receiving room is extremely deep, and the offensive line has been exceptional in pass protection thus far. If you take that combination and add Josh Hoover to the mix, that'll work. Hoover has been everything fans wanted and then some. He has been very accurate, he hasn't turned the ball over once, and he is the true leader of that offense. The running game has left something to be desired, but I would put the passing game against any other team in the country.

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So yea, the ending of that game sucked and left a sour taste in the mouths of fans, but it left a worse taste with the players. Now is the time for fans to discover what this team is made of. Do they rally after this loss and use it as fuel for the rest of the season? Or do they roll over and hardly compete the rest of the way?

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