FWST: TCU football coach Sonny Dykes said it: ‘I don’t know how good we were last year’

[TopFrog]

TCU football coach Sonny Dykes said it: ‘I don’t know how good we were last year’

By Big Steaming Pile

This falls in the category of, “Well, you said it.”

On Tuesday, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said what a loooooooot of people thought about his team last season, when they marched all the way to the national championship game.

“We are a couple plays away from being 5-0, and being in the top 10,” Dykes said in his weekly press conference. “We would be sitting here talking about how good we are, which we’re really not.

Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/mac-engel/article280074959.html#storylink=cpy

Also at https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nc...t-know-how-good-we-were-last-year/ar-AA1hEg1E

 

[Hoosierfrog]

love the honesty, we were very fortunate in close games

“But I don’t know how good we were last year. We were good enough to make it to the national championship game but we weren’t a dominant football team. We are in the same vein this year but haven’t made plays down the stretch.”

 

[ShreveFrog]

Max, QJ, DD and Kendre. They made the clutch plays last year. With help from a good o’line with pieces that have also moved on. That’s the difference.
Nothing against the guys that have replaced them. But Max & Co. were next level.

 

[Wexahu]

love the honesty, we were very fortunate in close games

“But I don’t know how good we were last year. We were good enough to make it to the national championship game but we weren’t a dominant football team. We are in the same vein this year but haven’t made plays down the stretch.”

This is all very true, but also very hard for people to accept.

I think we were better last year, but not by as much as what it seems right now IMO.

 

[4 Oaks Frog]

First of all, DNR his [ Finebaum ] show article based on one off-the-cuff presser remark. With that being said…of course last years team was a great team. Just ask Michigan!
Were we the best team…of course not! Just ask Georgia!
What kind of filthy snake just lies around waiting for a throw-away remark so he will have some [ Finebaum ] to spread about the home team? The filthy [ "illegitimate Baylor boy" ] Muck does. God! What a piece of [ Finebaum ] mother scheisser he is!
I sure wish TCU would cut him off from all access…
GO FROGS!
BEAT IOWA STATE!
Spit Blood ~~<~<and frogk baylor and scheiss muck!!

 

[Diehard]

Max, QJ, DD and Kendre. They made the clutch plays last year. With help from a good o’line with pieces that have also moved on. That’s the difference.
Nothing against the guys that have replaced them. But Max & Co. were next level.

......As many were saying preseason, but a lot of purple shaded folks (like me) felt "they" were wrong. That we had replaced that talent. We have some great players, but not the experience the above mentioned had.

 

[Fred Garvin]

Last year I felt our team definitely got its share of luck and that they were not as good as some of our recently highly successful teams (2010 and 2014 for sure). Last year we had a QB that was very good, but had the leadership and heart that refused to lose coming up with clutch plays when needed. He had a great O-line and skill position players as well who could make HUGE plays out of ordinary gains or defensive mistakes. While we have a few skill players that meet that criteria this year, we don't have the other pieces to the puzzle.

 

[Limey Frog]

I don't think TCU fans were collectively as unrealistic last year as the FWST's pot-stirring revisionist-in-chief wants to pretend. We were all pretty well aware that the team was scrapping its way into games we could easily have lost, and that players like Max, QJ, Kendre, and Dee Winters don't come along very often (at least not at TCU and at the same time).

I think the month-long discussion leading up to the Fiesta Bowl focussed on all of the many things that would have to fall our way for TCU to win, and that's how it played out. I don't know that many of us were too surprised to see how utterly overmatched we were vs. Georgia.

I don't know about anyone else, but my frustration right now isn't because I thought TCU was a genuine world-beater last year and has dropped off massively. If anything, my current frustration springs from a knowledge of just how tenuous our success last year was. Sometimes you need to be both lucky and good; last year we were both. But luck can give you an opportunity that you can leverage into a place where you don't need luck anymore. Last year TCU football achieved some things that cracked the door on a new level of long-term success. I'd like to see us follow up on that opportunity and establish ourselves at the top of the new Big 12.

 

[Wexahu]

I don't think TCU fans were collectively as unrealistic last year as the FWST's pot-stirring revisionist-in-chief wants to pretend. We were all pretty well aware that the team was scrapping its way into games we could easily have lost, and that players like Max, QJ, Kendre, and Dee Winters don't come along very often (at least not at TCU and at the same time).

I think the month-long discussion leading up to the Fiesta Bowl focussed on all of the many things that would have to fall our way for TCU to win, and that's how it played out. I don't know that many of us were too surprised to see how utterly overmatched we were vs. Georgia.

I don't know about anyone else, but my frustration right now isn't because I thought TCU was a genuine world-beater last year and has dropped off massively. If anything, my current frustration springs from a knowledge of just how tenuous our success last year was. Sometimes you need to be both lucky and good; last year we were both. But luck can give you an opportunity that you can leverage into a place where you don't need luck anymore. Last year TCU football achieved some things that cracked the door on a new level of long-term success. I'd like to see us follow up on that opportunity and establish ourselves at the top of the new Big 12.

I don't really remember it the same way. I think most people thought we'd at least give Georgia a good game. At least that's what they were saying publicly.

The "we had a lot of luck last year" narrative wasn't really allowed to be talked about on here until fairly recently. We had to stick our chests out and act like we absolutely were the second best team in the country, because that's what fans do (fwiw, in my opinion we definitely deserved a playoff spot so no need to go there).

Funny how many of the people who criticize for not sunshine pumping enough in the "good" years are the same ones who call you out for suggesting we aren't as bad as the record shows in the "down" years. It's like you've got to buy into the extremes.

 

[Longhorn from Aledo]

I like it when Sonny yells at the refs.

Just like Tom Cruise running in a movie, they're guaranteed to happen at least once.

 

[vicarfrog]

Here's a time waster thought exercise:

2017 TCU overachieved with a trip to the Big 12 Championship and a bowl win over Stanford. 2022 TCU overachieved with an exceptional win over Michigan and settling as national runner-ups. Both overachieving teams were humiliated by more dominant level teams: 2017 was OU and 2022 was Georgia.

If you were to line up 2017 TCU vs. 2022 TCU in a purple vs. white classic, who would win?

2017 Defense was solid but offense was ok to better than ok.

2022 Defense was "ok" but offense was solid.

I'd say 2022 TCU 28 vs. 2017 TCU 17

 

[Limey Frog]

I don't really remember it the same way. I think most people thought we'd at least give Georgia a good game. At least that's what they were saying publicly.

The "we had a lot of luck last year" narrative wasn't really allowed to be talked about on here until fairly recently. We had to stick our chests out and act like we absolutely were the second best team in the country, because that's what fans do (fwiw, in my opinion we definitely deserved a playoff spot so no need to go there).

Funny how many of the people who criticize for not sunshine pumping enough in the "good" years are the same ones who call you out for suggesting we aren't as bad as the record shows in the "down" years. It's like you've got to buy into the extremes.

I don't know, maybe my memory is skewed by the fact that I live in Michigan. I spent the whole month telling everyone who asked that TCU had a good team but would need to get some help from Michigan failing to take us seriously and make a bunch of mistakes; if we didn't get that we might be in trouble. I still think if we played a ten game series Michigan would probably win it no worse than 7-3. If we replayed the whole season a hundred times how many times would we go 12-0? Not many. But who cares? It happened once and we went 13-2. We had a good team; we rode our luck. Both these things can be true.

Inevitably we won't be as lucky this year--again, I think everyone acknowledged that coming in to this season. We could have had a team this year that was just as good and yet finished no better than 9-3 because you're not going to get that much luck two years in a row. Or you could be both less lucky and nowhere near as good. We're going from lucky and good to ... what? Five weeks in I'm still not sure, but I'm less hopeful today than I was this time last week.

 

[tetonfrog]

This sounds like Sonny is making excuses for this year's team and assistant coaches.

Yes, the 2022 TCU team won a bunch of close games. But Max and Dee and their teammates made the big plays week after week to win them. They played with heart and guts and willed themselves to wins. Period.

This year's team is not doing that. In particular, Chandler has had the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game in the 4th quarter against CU and WV. He did not deliver and the Frogs lost those games. I know a lot of posters here who blast Garrett Riley about some things, but our new OC (Briles' boy) has not called the right plays in the key moments. Worse, we have looked unorganized in key moments of our losses. That is on him and Sonny. They should fix those late-game issues instead of making excuses.

Remember when the Frogs rallied to beat KSU at home last year? Does anyone believe that this year's team has the guts and will to come back and get a tough win now?

 

[Fred Garvin]

Here's a time waster thought exercise:

2017 TCU overachieved with a trip to the Big 12 Championship and a bowl win over Stanford. 2022 TCU overachieved with an exceptional win over Michigan and settling as national runner-ups. Both overachieving teams were humiliated by more dominant level teams: 2017 was OU and 2022 was Georgia.

If you were to line up 2017 TCU vs. 2022 TCU in a purple vs. white classic, who would win?

2017 Defense was solid but offense was ok to better than ok.

2022 Defense was "ok" but offense was solid.

I'd say 2022 TCU 28 vs. 2017 TCU 17

I think 2022 was significantly better than 2017, but they both would have been whacked by 2010 and 2014.

 

[LSU Game Attendee]

Last year I felt our team definitely got its share of luck and that they were not as good as some of our recently highly successful teams (2010 and 2014 for sure). Last year we had a QB that was very good, but had the leadership and heart that refused to lose coming up with clutch plays when needed. He had a great O-line and skill position players as well who could make HUGE plays out of ordinary gains or defensive mistakes. While we have a few skill players that meet that criteria this year, we don't have the other pieces to the puzzle.

I think 2014 was the best team- just done in by Randy Christal and Barry Alvarez.

 

[Fred Garvin]

I think 2014 was the best team- just done in by Randy Christal and Barry Alvarez.

I agree. They were crushing power 5 teams toward the end of the season.

 

[Wexahu]

I agree. They were crushing power 5 teams toward the end of the season.

I would rank them:

2014
2022
2010
2017

I think 2017 was a good notch below the other three, and that the other three are pretty close.

The 2014 team was very good but those P5 teams they were crushing weren't near as good as what the 2022 team faced. Not even close.

 

[Virginia Frog]

I think 2014 was the best team- just done in by Randy Christal and Barry Alvarez.

I was looking to push the "middle finger" icon to respond to your post. I couldn't find it.

 

[vicarfrog]

I would rank them:

2014
2022
2010
2017

I think 2017 was a good notch below the other three, and that the other three are pretty close.

The 2014 team was very good but those P5 teams they were crushing weren't near as good as what the 2022 team faced. Not even close.

I can totally get your thought process here. I would say for me

2014
2010 (Even though 2009 lost to Boise State, I actually think they were slightly better)
2022
2017

 

[vicarfrog]

I think 2014 was the best team- just done in by Randy Christal and Barry Alvarez.

I would have loved to see them play last year's Georgia team. Not saying we would have won, but Georgia would have had some serious butt puckering.