The gauntlet begins now. This should be a very entertaining 4-game stretch for Big 12 football fans, and the colossal match-up in Stillwater on Saturday offers up the first volley in the 4-team championship push. I know people want to spend time talking about these games, so let’s start unpacking the game between Oklahoma State and TCU.
In this thread, I want to dive into the TCU defense and project some situations that could be more or less favorable to the Cowboy offense.
Much has been made about the rash of injuries suffered by the Horned Frogs this season on the defensive side of the ball, but things seem to be trending upwards in terms of both health and on-field productivity as young players are gaining much needed experience.
In regards to personnel, the strength of the Horned Frogs defensive unit is found on the defensive line and at FS. The starting linebackers are young, extremely inexperienced, undersized, and ultra-athletic. Weak Safety Rideau Issahaku is settling into his role and stabilizing the “away side” of the secondary. The corners are solid, but inconsistent. They show good ball skills, excelling in the short passing game and run support, but getting beat deep a few times every game (even though opposing offenses have not always been able to capitalize).
At Defensive Tackle, Davion Pierson is a 4-year starter who does a very good job of winning the point of attack and filling the A-gap while also generating decent upfield push on the pass rush. He is the type of anchor inside that every good defense needs. He missed three games this year, and it had a significant impact on the defense. He will be joined up front by Chris Bradley and Aaron Curry (Nebraska transfer) in what appears to be a predominant 3-man interior rotation. In watching recent game film, it would be shocking if Curry did not permanently supplant Bradley in the starting lineup as he has done a better job of getting off blocks and being disruptive. (Curry started eight games for the Huskers in 2013 before transferring and sitting out last year.)
Where things really seem to be trending upwards for the Horned Frogs is at Defensive End where Terrell Lathan is making a significant impact. He has similar size to Emmanuel Ogbah and gives TCU a physically dominant player on the edge. Although he lacks Ogbah’s speed rush ability, Lathan has demonstrated prowess as a power pass rusher. His return to health, along with Mike Tuaua’s return from suspension, has solidified the TCU front. Tuaua’s 3 game suspension coincided with Pierson’s time missed with injury, so the right side of their defensive line was vulnerable, and early opponents did a good job attacking it. Things are much improved for them now. This unit is not easily blocked and has the ability to create negative yardage plays for the offense. This front four possesses only above average athleticism, so the pass rush is reliant on a combination of blitz packages and inside pressures.
The key to TCU’s success defensively in November is going to be the play of the linebackers behind this front. Until this season, Coach Patterson had never started a freshman linebacker. That changed this year, first with Mike Freeze (who has since left the program) and now Montrel Wilson. Wilson is a classic hybrid safety/linebacker prospect that weighs about 205 pounds. He is a bit undersized inside and banged up his shoulder Thursday against West Virginia. Should he not be able to go, Ty Summers would replace him. Summers is a more stoutly built inside backer, but doesn’t have the same athleticism and versatility on the edge that Wilson brings. Bottom line is that TCU’s backers with Montrel Wilson and Travin Howard are very good in coverage and running laterally in pursuit. Their quickness has served them well, but their slight stature and inexperience has been a problem against the run, particularly the QB run game.
Like Wilson, Travin Howard is a former safety, weighing about 190 pounds. Kansas State did a great job of attacking Howard in the run game by not only running right at him, but also getting him out of position. Joe Hubener caught both inside linebackers out of position when they flowed to the play side and opened up cut back lanes inside, particularly in the “b” gaps when the linebackers did not blitz. Texas Tech found success in those inside cut back lanes as well. Kansas State, Texas Tech, and West Virginia were able to get yardage by running the quarterbacks. With the Cowboys having the option of a QB run element that does not expose our starting QB to hits, this becomes a very nice complementary piece of the offensive game plan this week. Although the Horned Frogs tackled well the past two games, they had some serious issues with tackling early in the season against elusive players and running quarterbacks.
In this thread, I want to dive into the TCU defense and project some situations that could be more or less favorable to the Cowboy offense.
Much has been made about the rash of injuries suffered by the Horned Frogs this season on the defensive side of the ball, but things seem to be trending upwards in terms of both health and on-field productivity as young players are gaining much needed experience.
In regards to personnel, the strength of the Horned Frogs defensive unit is found on the defensive line and at FS. The starting linebackers are young, extremely inexperienced, undersized, and ultra-athletic. Weak Safety Rideau Issahaku is settling into his role and stabilizing the “away side” of the secondary. The corners are solid, but inconsistent. They show good ball skills, excelling in the short passing game and run support, but getting beat deep a few times every game (even though opposing offenses have not always been able to capitalize).
At Defensive Tackle, Davion Pierson is a 4-year starter who does a very good job of winning the point of attack and filling the A-gap while also generating decent upfield push on the pass rush. He is the type of anchor inside that every good defense needs. He missed three games this year, and it had a significant impact on the defense. He will be joined up front by Chris Bradley and Aaron Curry (Nebraska transfer) in what appears to be a predominant 3-man interior rotation. In watching recent game film, it would be shocking if Curry did not permanently supplant Bradley in the starting lineup as he has done a better job of getting off blocks and being disruptive. (Curry started eight games for the Huskers in 2013 before transferring and sitting out last year.)
Where things really seem to be trending upwards for the Horned Frogs is at Defensive End where Terrell Lathan is making a significant impact. He has similar size to Emmanuel Ogbah and gives TCU a physically dominant player on the edge. Although he lacks Ogbah’s speed rush ability, Lathan has demonstrated prowess as a power pass rusher. His return to health, along with Mike Tuaua’s return from suspension, has solidified the TCU front. Tuaua’s 3 game suspension coincided with Pierson’s time missed with injury, so the right side of their defensive line was vulnerable, and early opponents did a good job attacking it. Things are much improved for them now. This unit is not easily blocked and has the ability to create negative yardage plays for the offense. This front four possesses only above average athleticism, so the pass rush is reliant on a combination of blitz packages and inside pressures.
The key to TCU’s success defensively in November is going to be the play of the linebackers behind this front. Until this season, Coach Patterson had never started a freshman linebacker. That changed this year, first with Mike Freeze (who has since left the program) and now Montrel Wilson. Wilson is a classic hybrid safety/linebacker prospect that weighs about 205 pounds. He is a bit undersized inside and banged up his shoulder Thursday against West Virginia. Should he not be able to go, Ty Summers would replace him. Summers is a more stoutly built inside backer, but doesn’t have the same athleticism and versatility on the edge that Wilson brings. Bottom line is that TCU’s backers with Montrel Wilson and Travin Howard are very good in coverage and running laterally in pursuit. Their quickness has served them well, but their slight stature and inexperience has been a problem against the run, particularly the QB run game.
Like Wilson, Travin Howard is a former safety, weighing about 190 pounds. Kansas State did a great job of attacking Howard in the run game by not only running right at him, but also getting him out of position. Joe Hubener caught both inside linebackers out of position when they flowed to the play side and opened up cut back lanes inside, particularly in the “b” gaps when the linebackers did not blitz. Texas Tech found success in those inside cut back lanes as well. Kansas State, Texas Tech, and West Virginia were able to get yardage by running the quarterbacks. With the Cowboys having the option of a QB run element that does not expose our starting QB to hits, this becomes a very nice complementary piece of the offensive game plan this week. Although the Horned Frogs tackled well the past two games, they had some serious issues with tackling early in the season against elusive players and running quarterbacks.
