2011 TCU Preview

[ClarkHallThird Floor]

Another preseason preview to last us till the season starts. Nothing really ground breaking, but a good read. Thoughts anyone?

2011 TCU Preview

By Pete FiutakCollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Jun 22, 2011


It's time to stop thinking of TCU as the little guy. After several great years, a Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin, and two straight seasons of coming within an eyelash of playing for the national title, the Horned Frogs are red hot just as they're about to bail to the Big East. However, can the program stay at the same high level and reload at the same time? Check out the 2011 CFN TCU Preview.

No, TCU isn't one of the little guys.

It was an easy storyline to help along the narrative when the Horned Frogs were slipping by big, bad, bruising Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl – helped by the Badgers inexplicably going away from their power running game for long stretches – but it's time to acknowledge that this is a real, live, national title level superpower at a school with an enrollment of less than 10,000 students.

Unlike Boise State, who couldn't get any respect or any credit whatsoever playing in the WAC, TCU was right there for the big crystal football in each of the last two seasons, and no, the Rose Bowl victory wasn't the culmination of a great run. It might have been just the beginning.

 

[jkobs]

TCU has a pair of Velociraptors who hunt down and destroy ball carriers.

Very true statement

 

[jake102]

O-Line is the key this year.

If they play well we will run the ball with our 4 or 5 barn of running backs, and that will allow Pachall to show off his arm and make big plays to Boyce, Dawson, Carter, Brown.

If they can't open up the running game, then Pachall is going to have a fun year.

 

[fdub]

Pete Fiutak clearly pays a lot more attention to TCU these days than he used to. Instead of a few truths in a sea of faleshoods, he now has a few untruths in a sea of accuracy. It's a night-and-day difference.

 

[talor]

I find it odd that OT Dunbar is listed as our 7th best player

 

[Metropolis777]

However, unlike Miami, who got better and sharper and more confident by going anywhere to play anyone, TCU has already flinched a bit by not taking the offer to go play Wisconsin in the 2011 opener. While athletic director Chris Del Conte turned down the game because the Badgers wouldn’t make a return trip down the road to TCU, he also said he would’ve taken up an offer to play Ohio State after school president E. Gordon Gee’s “Little Sisters of the Poor” comment.

Was this a case of TCU not wanting to ruin the memory of the potentially transcendent Rose Bowl win? Not necessarily. Big time football programs can do what they want, and now, especially with the move to the Big East coming next year, TCU gets to call its own shots.

That’s what college football superpowers do.

This is a total lie that needs to finally be addressed. Everyone acts like Miami was an anyone, anytime, anywhere team. FALSE!

Yes they did travel to places like Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Florida, Florida St, Iowa, etc. However, IN EVERY CASE, Miami was playing home & homes. They got equal return trips from all of those schools.

From 1978 to 1990, Miami only scheduled 5 games that were disadvantageous from a return game standpoint:

Nov 17, 1979 at Alabama
Sept 26, 1981 at Texas
Sept 8, 1984 at Michigan
Sept 17, 1988 at Michigan
Nov 19, 1988 at LSU

That's it. Every other series was even or in favor of Miami. Hell, they did a 2 for 1 with BC in the late 70s/early 80s. They did a 1 and done with KU. Thev even had a 1 & 1 with Wisconsin.

Bottom line: It is a complete myth that Miami would go anywhere to play anyone. Aside from Bama, Texas, Michigan, and LSU, they demanded return games.


Compare that to our run since 1998: we've played at Nebraska, at Texas, and at Clemson. It's fairly similar. The big difference is that the big boys won't come to our house.

 

[Gunner]

Doak Walker award is held in Fort Worth, if I'm not mistaken. It has nothing to do with where it is located(he's an idiot), as voters are from all over the country. Just one of his "untruths".

And did you get we're "starting to be bigtime" stuff. He relives all the great things we've done and then makes that comment. Idiot!

 

[Cougar/Frog]

Why promote the idea of TCU ducking Wisconsin this season? TCU had nothing to gain by going to Madison after just defeating Wisconsin at the Rose Bowl. TCU still had Boise St at home and Tech coming to TCU at the time. An OOC schedule that had SMU, Tech, and Baylor already did not need Wisconsin getting a do-over at their place.... What was TCU to gain out of the game, especially without a return? Wisconsin has gone to UNLV many times over the last several decades, so the story should have been that Wisconsin refused a home-and-home with the team it just lost to at the Rose Bowl....

 

[Gunner]

TCU made it clear, we play them, one there, one here. They said no, so who backed out?

It wasn't TCU. We even offerred to play up there first.

 

[Delmonico]

Doak Walker award is held in Fort Worth, if I'm not mistaken. It has nothing to do with where it is located(he's an idiot), as voters are from all over the country. Just one of his "untruths".

You are mistaken. The award ceremony is held at the Hilton Anatole (the one in Dallas), and the award is sponsored and presented by SMU Athletic Forum.

 

[Dtx_Frog_Fan]

You are mistaken. The award ceremony is held at the Hilton Anatole (the one in Dallas), and the award is sponsored and presented by SMU Athletic Forum.

Dallas, Ft Worth. It's basically the same place.

 

[Delmonico]

Dallas, Ft Worth. It's basically the same place.

I wouldn't let anybody in either town hear you say that, if I were you. :biggrin:

 

[froginaustin]

TCU made it clear, we play them, one there, one here. They said no, so who backed out?

It wasn't TCU. We even offerred to play up there first.

I thought Del Conte told the press he took a phone call from a third party (ESPN?) trying to arrange TCU@Wisco as a season opener, to get UNLV off the hook for a return game of a 1-and-1 with Wisconsin.

The caller asked if TCU would play a one-and-done in Madison on Labor Day Weekend (when we have @ Baylor scheduled).

Del Conte said: "No."

End of conversation. The caller hung up. No bargaining from TCU's side of the table happened. No chance.

No?

A lot of fan board posters thought TCU should have countered with an offer to play a one-and-done at the JerryShack, or a one-and-one. But according to Del Conte IIRC those possibilities were never discussed.

Then bloggers asked Coach Bulemic for his comment, and the Coach got the press. :dry:

 

[Delmonico]

I thought Del Conte told the press he took a phone call from a third party (ESPN?) trying to arrange TCU@Wisco as a season opener, to get UNLV off the hook for a return game of a 1-and-1 with Wisconsin.

The caller asked if TCU would play a one-and-done in Madison on Labor Day Weekend (when we have @ Baylor scheduled).

Del Conte said: "No."

End of conversation. The caller hung up. No bargaining from TCU's side of the table happened. No chance.

No?

That's how it supposedly went down, yes.

 

[Dtx_Frog_Fan]

I wouldn't let anybody in either town hear you say that, if I were you. :biggrin:

I know, i know. I can say that because I grew up in fw less than two blocks from ACS

 

[FeistyFrog]

I am not commenting on this until Top posts it tomorrow, its official KFc release.

 

[sous vide]

This is a total lie that needs to finally be addressed. Everyone acts like Miami was an anyone, anytime, anywhere team. FALSE!

...

I read Pete's statement--

Was this a case of TCU not wanting to ruin the memory of the potentially transcendent Rose Bowl win? Not necessarily. Big time football programs can do what they want, and now, especially with the move to the Big East coming next year, TCU gets to call its own shots.

That’s what college football superpowers do.

--180 degrees different: To me he's saying TCU has earned the right to call its own shots.

Any pedantic English teacher types out there???

 

[Houston Frog]

The moral of this thread.... don't ever write anything about TCU unless you want it ripped to shreds by people looking for any reason to feel disrespected

 

[Metropolis777]

I'm sure y'all misunderstood me. I was surprised to see Fiutak write that we're a big time program now. But he did.

My point was dispelling the myth of Miami's 1980s scheduling.

The Wisconsin thing has become a sore subject thanks to the scheduling fiasco that Tech & the MWC created in 2011. So we all jump on it anytime we have to hear about it.

 

[West Coast Johnny]

Its a nice, mostly complementary piece about TCU, but it has many flaws:

-The analogy between TCU / Miami is OK with me. We're both small schools with great high school football in our backyard. Miami didn't start getting 5 star tallent until after they won their first national championship. The author says that Miami had to compete with FSU & Florida, which is nonsense because those schools were college football afterthoughts at the time.


In looking at the author's oppinion as to our top ten players, I don't agree with his list, but listed among the players are several that don't have any college experience at all. I'm just not buying into all this hype around this team. 10-2 would be a great season for us and we only get ten wins because our schedule is easy as pie. If we get to ten wins, I'll be happy about this season and yes the goal should be to "do it now" but I'm not going to be crushed if we don't make a BCS bowl