BYU Cougars: Keys to defeating the TCU Horned Frogs

By Todd Erickson  |   Wednesday, October 15, 2008  |  Comments( 3 )

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The BYU Cougar offense will attempt to shake off two consecutive lethargic performances and hit its stride against TCU’s top-ranked defense on Thursday night in Fort Worth, Texas.

If the previous two matchups against the Horned Frogs are any indication, both teams will struggle to get on the board early in this contest. BYU led 3-0 after the first quarter two years ago in Fort Worth. Last year in Provo the Cougars held a 7-3 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Both teams return virtually every one of their offensive playmakers from the 2007 season. BYU holds a veteran advantage on the offensive line and the scales of experience tip in favor of TCU across their entire defensive unit.

Keys to defeating TCU

1. Protect the quarterback. The Frogs have 28 sacks and 62 tackles for loss this season in seven games. Defensive ends Jerry Hughes and Matt Panfil lead the team in sacks and TFLs, but if you’ve managed to see TCU play this year, the Frogs love to blitz their corners and safeties, too. Eleven different Frogs have registered sacks so far this season. By contrast, BYU’s defense has 16 sacks and 48 TFLs in six games.

The Cougar offensive line’s record of zero sacks is in serious jeopardy this week, although it only allowed one sack of Max Hall last year and John Beck was sacked only once in 2006 when former TCU defensive greats Chase Ortiz and Tommy Blake were still playing.

Hall had 305 yards passing last year as a sophomore against the Frogs. Beck had 321 passing yards the previous year. Give Hall enough time to read through his receiver progressions and BYU should be fine on offense. Oklahoma’s rushing game was held to 25 yards on 36 attempts by TCU, but Sam Bradford passed for 411 yards and four TDs. He was also sacked four times but the Frogs' first sack didn’t occur until after the Sooners were leading 28-3.

2. Win the turnover margin. The Cougars were plus-2 in turnovers against TCU when they won in Fort Worth, 31-17, two years ago. Last year, they were minus-1 at home in a narrow 27-22 victory. Oklahoma was plus-4 in turnovers against the Frogs earlier this season with three of the giveaways coming in the first two quarters, allowing the Sooners to build a 28-3 lead by halftime. TCU had only one turnover in the second half against Oklahoma -- on its final possession -- allowing the Frogs to play Oklahoma straight up, 7-7.

Remember the momentum boost BYU got two years ago when David Nixon sacked Frog QB Jeff Ballard and forced a fumble that Russell Tialavea recovered? Trailing 3-0 in the second quarter, TCU had driven inside the Cougars 20. Instead of tying the game up or taking the lead, the momentum shifted back to the Cougars and they marched down the field and extended their lead to 10-0. Yes, turnovers will be key in this game and BYU needs to go at least plus-2 against the Frogs.

3. Field position -- stretch the field. One of the reasons the Cougars have been successful on defense this year is thanks to their special teams stretching the field against opponents. Last week, Justin Sorensen and the BYU defenders held New Mexico’s league-leading kick return specialists to just two returns that were nearly 10 yards below their average. C.J. Santiago punted five times (three times inside the Lobos 20) and not one of his punts was returned.

Brigham Young needs to achieve similar success on special teams against TCU. The Horned Frogs’ Jeremy Kerley is averaging 14.5 yards per punt return -- nearly 8 yards more than the Cougars’ best output. TCU also sports two outstanding kick return specialists in Aaron Brown (28.3 return average) and Ryan Christian (22.3).

4. Bottle up the TCU rushing game. Andy Dalton (4.2 yards per carry) and Marcus Jackson (5.7 yards per attempt) are serviceable quarterbacks in the passing game, but they can be downright deadly when they tuck the rock and head upfield on the ground.

The Frogs also have a stable of running backs who platoon throughout the game; the group is led by Aaron Brown (4.9 yards per carry) and Ryan Christian (4.6 yards). In all, TCU’s ground attack is averaging 4.6 yards per carry. In the Frogs’ only loss this season, Oklahoma limited them to nearly 2 yards below their average (2.9 per attempt) and just 102 overall.

Prediction

BYU has much more to lose in this contest than the Horned Frogs do and its vaunted offense has been misfiring too often lately. The sheer pressure of this game could cause the Cougar 'O' to continue struggling, especially against one of the best defenses it will face this season. If BYU can achieve all four keys to the game, it will take this one, 34-17. That's a tall order for this Cougar team, so look for this to be a defensive battle that TCU wins by a slim margin. TCU 20, BYU 17.

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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl ...
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