DMN: 5 reasons TCU will go bowling in 2020: Freshman QB Max Duggan will only get better

[Froggish]

So not a tragic death spiral from which there is no escape? I would agree with anyone who says it’s very important that we win 7 regular season games next year at an absolute minimum.

I would imagine a lot of heads will explode around here if we are teetering on the edge of missing a bowl game for the 3rd year in a row. I think we got to get to 8 reg season wins.

 

[Dogfrog]

I agree.
Plus, there is always the worry about injury. Our S&C and nutrition program is sorely lacking. If Max goes down, we could be toast. And that does not include the existing poor passing game factor which is getting worse by the season.

Will you expand on what we need to change with our nutrition program?

 

[PO Frog]

Will you expand on what we need to change with our nutrition program?

More veggies

 

[ShadowFrog]

DMN does a better job of covering TCU than does FWST...although it seems to always be in a back-handed complimentary way....

And sadly that’s exactly the way it should be. When the Star-T goes belly up next week or next year I hope there isn’t some lame “new” Fort Worth section of DMN that’s 4 pages of wedding announcements & obits. Let it die & be done with it.

 

[Volare]

I predict I will have a whole lot of company on the right side of the 2020 Regular Season Prediction chart.

If that happens, it will be the first time. 2018 TCU was 6-6 (regular season). 97% of predictions for 2019 were for a performance better than the previous year.

By summer it will all be Unicorns and purple rainbows and the only question for many posters will be who the Frogs will be playing in the CCG.

 

[toadallytexan]

If that happens, it will be the first time. 2018 TCU was 6-6 (regular season). 97% of predictions for 2019 were for a performance better than the previous year.

By summer it will all be Unicorns and purple rainbows and the only question for many posters will be who the Frogs will be playing in the CCG.

Ah the future...that period in which all our plans bear fruit, all our friends are true, and our lovers are steadfastly faithful.

 

[Limp Lizard]

I never predict on that thread. I think that we should expect a minimum of 8 regular season wins on a bad year. 7 on a disaster year.

However, if the status quo remains on offense, 8 wins will be a miracle year. And as what other people think about what a good offensive staff means to a team, I have read a couple of sites that in their prediction of the 2020 Heisman winner, they just say a candidate will be whoever plays at OU.

And as far as what the media thinks of our offensive staff, once again:

No receiver in the country has suffered more from his situation the past couple of seasons than Reagor. It's not simply the shoddy quarterback play at TCU but also the offense around him. Defenses knew where Reagor was lining up snap after snap, as 653 of his 786 snaps last season came at right outside wide receiver. From there, TCU coaches made no effort to get the ball into their most dynamic playmaker's hands; Reagor was targeted on only 11 screens. In fact, 162 players in college football have seen more screen targets this year than Reagor. For a receiver who will almost surely run in the 4.3s and have a vertical jump around 40 inches, that's difficult to believe.

 

[ShreveFrog]

^^^ What media wrote that? I knew our misuse of Reagor this year was bad. But, if true, 11 targets for screens is borderline criminal, as well as not moving him around the formation. A screen to Reagor would probably be our best play outside a Max scramble.

 

[Wexahu]

^^^ What media wrote that? I knew our misuse of Reagor this year was bad. But, if true, 11 targets for screens is borderline criminal, as well as not moving him around the formation. A screen to Reagor would probably be our best play outside a Max scramble.

But don't we generally hate WR screens? Now we're complaining that we didn't run enough of them?

The problem with this offense is that so little of it worked, no matter what we tried to do. Had we run a bunch more WR screens to Reagor I'm confident about 4 out of 5 of them would have been blown up at the line of scrimmage. Not to mention it seemed like about half of them we threw it backwards to him which brings a fumble squarely into play. People complain about the play calling but that wasn't the problem because IMO there weren't many plays to be called that would have been successful. The whole thing just needs to be scrapped and thrown into the trash because it simply doesn't work anymore.

 

[Moose Stuff]

I never predict on that thread. I think that we should expect a minimum of 8 regular season wins on a bad year. 7 on a disaster year.

However, if the status quo remains on offense, 8 wins will be a miracle year. And as what other people think about what a good offensive staff means to a team, I have read a couple of sites that in their prediction of the 2020 Heisman winner, they just say a candidate will be whoever plays at OU.

And as far as what the media thinks of our offensive staff, once again:

The key is waiting for me to make my prediction and then predicting the opposite of that.

 

[Moose Stuff]

But don't we generally hate WR screens? Now we're complaining that we didn't run enough of them?

The problem with this offense is that so little of it worked, no matter what we tried to do. Had we run a bunch more WR screens to Reagor I'm confident about 4 out of 5 of them would have been blown up at the line of scrimmage. Not to mention it seemed like about half of them we threw it backwards to him which brings a fumble squarely into play. People complain about the play calling but that wasn't the problem because IMO there weren't many plays to be called that would have been successful. The whole thing just needs to be scrapped and thrown into the trash because it simply doesn't work anymore.

Yep. The main issue with the screens was we never had any decent blocking for them IMO.

 

[Wexahu]

Yep. The main issue with the screens was we never had any decent blocking for them IMO.

That, and the defense knew what was coming as well. I didn't study it enough to know our tendencies, but I'd guess that our personnel groups and alignments tipped off quite a bit to our opponents because I thought FAR too often they just seemed to have a bead on exactly what we were doing. I look at some of the motion and deception that other teams use and just see almost none of it from our offense. It's nothing too complicated either, just get defenders to pay attention to areas you aren't attacking.

 

[Moose Stuff]

That, and the defense knew what was coming as well. I didn't study it enough to know our tendencies, but I'd guess that our personnel groups and alignments tipped off quite a bit to our opponents because I thought FAR too often they just seemed to have a bead on exactly what we were doing. I look at some of the motion and deception that other teams use and just see almost none of it from our offense. It's nothing too complicated either, just get defenders to pay attention to areas you aren't attacking.

They didn’t really even work against Pine Bluff.

 

[LSU Game Attendee]

That, and the defense knew what was coming as well.

I'm hopeful that 2020 is the year the frogs change their signals.

 

[Froggish]

But don't we generally hate WR screens? Now we're complaining that we didn't run enough of them?

The problem with this offense is that so little of it worked, no matter what we tried to do. Had we run a bunch more WR screens to Reagor I'm confident about 4 out of 5 of them would have been blown up at the line of scrimmage. Not to mention it seemed like about half of them we threw it backwards to him which brings a fumble squarely into play. People complain about the play calling but that wasn't the problem because IMO there weren't many plays to be called that would have been successful. The whole thing just needs to be scrapped and thrown into the trash because it simply doesn't work anymore.

This offense has been a work in progress and revamped every year for the last 3. It’s not that it doesn’t work anymore...It’s has never worked..

 

[BrewingFrog]

I'm hopeful that 2020 is the year the frogs change their signals.

If we were bright, and knew that an opponent was stealing signals, wouldn't signaling something in that you knew would result in a particular defensive set and then running a play designed to take advantage of that set be smart?

Evidently, we're not smart.

 

[Froggish]

Funny on the Solid Verbal podcast they rattled off literally 10-12 defense first coaches that can’t find a lick of offense. GP of course was mentioned. What’s clear when you dive deep, is that most teams take on the identity of their HC and those coaches have to work extra hard to find a pulse on the other side of the ball. I would wager that most of those coaches approach offense from a defensive mindset. Protect the ball, be physical, don’t beat yourself.....etc. You can find this with offensive minded guys also who struggle to put decent defenses on the field. They tend to lean toward gambling blitzing styles.

The reality is that for TCU to be a great offense GP is going to have to find an innovative play caller and let that guy press the gas as much as he wants.

 

[texas_sicilian]

1) OL play/protection
2) In game adjustments
3) WR routes, blocking, & drops
4) Play calling creativity/efficacy
5) QB experience/growth

Knock all those out in 2020, and we roll.
Knock 2-3 out, we’re 2-3 games better.
Knock none of them out, and I’m out.

 

[jake102]

1) OL play/protection
2) In game adjustments
3) WR routes, blocking, & drops
4) Play calling creativity/efficacy
5) QB experience/growth

Knock all those out in 2020, and we roll.
Knock 2-3 out, we’re 2-3 games better.
Knock none of them out, and I’m out.

I think if you knock out #1 we will be 8-4 or better. Knock #1 and #3 out and we are 10-2 or better.

If there are no substantial changes on the offensive staff, I probably won't make the effort in 2020 to attend any games from Houston. It took a ton of effort to make the WVU game just to watch our OL collapse every single play

 

[Limp Lizard]

That glass is not half full. I mean is the water even drinkable? Its probably too alkaline and you know they're not gonna put ice cubes in it right? They never take the time to ensure the correct temperature. I mean....how are we even supposed to THINK about drinking water when everyone else is getting to drink FIJI water?!?!?

That's what some people sound like.

As a team that has regularly been ranked in the top 10, records of 6-7, 7-6 and 5-7 in a 4 year span are totally unacceptable. And apparently no effort to improve a bad offense, except for "grow up", "work harder", "make the plays" makes the fans very unhappy. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.