Fort Worth, Texas -It is the final home game for the TCU Horned Frogs as they take on Texas rival Baylor. There is a lot on the line for this game. If TCU wins, they still have a chance at becoming bowl-eligible, but a loss would end their postseason hopes.
TCU played an unreal fourth quarter in their comeback against the Texas Longhorns, leaving Head Coach Sonny Dykes optimistic when looking at the remainder of the season. TCU has yet to play a complete game, but after making massive stops on third down and scoring three touchdowns in one quarter, it brought some life to this team.
Quarterback Josh Hoover has done decently well when he has had protection in the pocket so far this season. Last weekend against Texas, he went 24 for 36 with 302 yards and 2 touchdowns. If he can get pass protection, the TCU offense will be in good shape this weekend, and I do not think that will be a problem after looking at Baylor’s defensive stats. Baylor has only 17 sacks and 49 tackles for loss on the season. The biggest issue Josh Hoover has had this entire season is his interceptions. It’s the timing of interceptions, not just the subtle act of throwing them. He threw into double coverage with 1 minute left in the first half against Texas to give the Longhorns the ball back in good field position to then go down and score before the end of the half to give them an even bigger lead going into the locker room. These types of turnovers can’t happen, but the beauty is that he is earning and getting better each game. Hoover has stated that football is all about reps under center, and every game he keeps getting more reps and learning more.
As far as TCU’s defense goes, we saw great improvement across the board for this unit last game. Their secondary did their job, and they were also very successful in stopping the run. Baylor’s starting quarterback, Blake Shapen, just recently received the starting position, and although Baylor has been getting blown out by most teams, Shapen is putting up pretty good numbers, leading you to believe that it’s Baylor’s defense that struggles. In last week’s 59-25 loss to Kansas State, Shapen threw for 253 yards and 4 touchdowns. Shapen has had an interception in the past 3 games, so if TCU can get pressure on him early and force him to make bad throws, they should be able to pull away.
