Who: TCU Horned Frogs 5-5 (3-4) vs. Texas Longhorns 5-6 (3-5)
When: Friday, November 25th, 2016 at 2:30 p.m. CT
Where: Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium (Austin, TX)
Odds: Texas (-2.5)
The Good
Gary Patterson can usually field a solid defense but this year, both sides of the ball have been lackluster for the Horned Frogs. The good news for Patterson, however, is that the TCU defense has been fairly stout against the run. If Texas is going to win this game, D’onta Foreman must have a big day. TCU has allowed 3.76 yards per carry from opposing runners this year. The bad news for Texas? Gary Patterson loves to bring pressure. The Horned Frogs have 36 sacks this year, coming just 2 behind Texas’ 38, which ranks 6th nationally. This is not welcoming news for freshman quarterback Shane Buechele, who is coming off of his worst performance of the year against Kansas. On offense, TCU will continue to give the rock to their top rusher in Kyle Hicks. In late October, Hicks suffered an injury that kept him sidelined until mid-November. With Hicks and KaVontae Turpin in the lineup, the Texas defense will have its hands full. Although the positive aspects of this TCU squad have been limited this year, it is certainly enough to cause concern for the ‘Horns on Friday.
The Bad
As good as the running game can be with Hicks, the passing game has suffered horribly this year in the absence of Trevone Boykin. Minus a few games on the bench to backup QB Foster Sawyer, Kenny Hill has been the Frogs’ starter all year. Hill has thrown for 2,860 yards, totaling 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Frogs’ offense has plenty of weapons in the backfield and at receiver, but Hill has not lived up to the hype thus far. Even though Gary Patterson is known for putting stellar defenses on the field, that has not been the case this year. If anything, his defensive unit has been extremely inconsistent. This is a squad that started the downward spiral of an explosive Baylor offense, but also gave up 41 to South Dakota State. Basically, it’s a toss up which TCU team will show up on Friday. If “the bad†side shows, anything can happen.
The Uncertain
This is a tough game to prognosticate, plain and simple. These two teams have been extremely inconsistent all year, and to be honest, neither team is very good. Gary Patterson will live to see another year as head coach for the Horned Frogs regardless of the outcome, but Charlie Strong is a different story. The Longhorns have never suffered 3 straight seasons with at least 7 losses. Texas is in danger of doing so on Friday. If Charlie Strong loses, the nail is in the cofffin. If he wins and notches victory #6 on the season, will public pressure begin to wear on the Texas administration? Undoubtedly, Strong is an incredible human being and mentor to his players, but I am of the opinion that he shouldn’t be coaching the Longhorns in 2017. It is possible to develop young men the correct way while focusing on winning games. It’s been done many times. Unfortunately for Strong, the winning aspect never came and I don’t believe it ever will during his time in Austin. Regardless, the build up to this game is going to be huge. After the regular season finale against TCU, Longhorn fans everywhere will be waiting to see what University President Greg Fenves decided to do. Whatever the decision is, hopefully it is the correct one for the Texas football program.
