2008 Mountain West Coference Football Preview: #3 TCU Horned Frogs

Do not sleep on TCU which is actually what the team wants so they can sneak up on teams.  Last year was a down year for TCU who had an 8-5 record last year.  Coach Patterson always has his teams ready to play, and even when they do lose they rarely get beat by a lot of points.

Offense: The quarterback situation was a mess last year between Andy Dalton and Marcus Jackson both split time and one never had a firm grasp on the job.  In 2008 Andy Dalton is named the starter and with one year behind him he should be able to prosper, especially since he is not going to be looking over his shoulder.

Running back will be a strong position with Aaron Brown who is a very talented back.  Last year he was injured in the mid to late part of the season which also hurt the Horned Frogs success.  With Brown fully healthy he could be the best back in the league who was the preseason 2007 player of the year.  Brown also is featured in the return game in certain situations.  The offense will go through Brown and if he plays well then the team will play well.

Receivers was another low point in TCU’s offense who had no experienced receivers to bail out the offense who was with out Aaron Brown.  This year the receiving corp should be better with their leading receiver in Ervin Dickerson returning.  If Dickerson can become a better receiver then the opposing teams defense will be unable to focus on just the running game.

Defense: The defense is usually the strong point at TCU and this year is no exception.  Even with the loss of Tommy Blake and Chase Ortiz this defense has the chance to be special.  The defense will be lead by future NFL player Daryl Washington at linebacker who is a stud.  Last year the defense ranked  top 15 nationally in scoring defense (18.7), run defense (103.5), pass defense efficiency (107.8 rating), sacks (41) and total defense (323.6 yards).  This year Gary Patterson believes this team can be better then last years team.  If they are better then TCU has a shot to win the Mountain West this year.

8/30	@ New Mexico
9/06	Stephen F. Austin
9/13	Stanford
9/20	@ Southern Methodist
9/27	@ No. 4 Oklahoma
10/04	San Diego State
10/11	@ Colorado State
10/16	No. 16 Brigham Young
10/25	Wyoming
11/01	@ UNLV
11/06	@ Utah
11/22	Air Force

Not a chance… @Oklahoma

50/50… @New Mexico, @ Colorado State, BYU, Wyoming, @Utah, Air Force

Lock it Up… Stephen F. Austin, @SMU, San Diego State, @UNLV

Projected Record: 8-4