TCU Faces Unparalleled Pressure for Program in 2015

By Tyler Brett
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Kevin Jairaj – USA TODAY Sports

The TCU Horned Frogs ended the 2014 season as one of the hottest teams in the country and ended up as the team with the best argument for being snubbed by the College Football Playoff. While Gary Patterson was able to sneak up on people last season and finish as the No. 3 team in the nation, the Frogs now must deal with unprecedented expectations in Fort Worth and the daunting pressure that comes with that.

That isn’t to say that TCU has never had to deal with success before. For a decade, Patterson and the Frogs were one of the premier mid-major, BCS busting football programs out of the Mountain West Conference. In 2010, they started the season with a top-10 ranking and finished the year unbeaten after upsetting the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl. They certainly understand what it means to play under the pressure of being a top-10 team.

But this pressure is completely different. While many considered the Horned Frogs one of the best teams in the country during their run in the Mountain West, nobody considered them legitimate National Championship contenders at any point. They were perennial underdogs who were constantly trying to prove themselves by rising up and defeating a bigger program that was almost always favored. If they didn’t win games like the Rose Bowl, that was fine because they really shouldn’t have won that game if you’re looking just at the size and prestige of the programs involved.

Now, they’re going to be the ones with the target on their back. They aren’t going to enter the 2015 season just with a shot at being competitive in the Big 12, they’re going to be EXPECTED to dominate in their conference and punch a ticket to the College Football Playoff. If they don’t, it won’t be dismissed simply by them being the “little guy” anymore. They’ve arrived at the big boy table, by way of their Big 12 co-championship in 2014, and have to transition from rising up to meet a challenge a couple times a year like they used to and become the favorite who takes everyone’s best shot.

TCU should know better than anyone that these kinds of transitions can be difficult. When the Horned Frogs made the move to the Big 12 for the 2012 season, the step up in competition proved be a difficult challenge for them that they struggled with quite a bit. In their first two seasons as a member of the conference, TCU went just 11-14 overall and just 6-12 in conference play. Their 7-6 campaign in 2012 snapped a string of seven straight seasons with at least eight wins, including six with at least 11 wins, and the 4-8 campaign in 2013 was just the second losing season ever under Patterson since he took over in 2001.

But patience prevailed for TCU in 2014 when they finally got their legs underneath them as a member of the Big 12. The Horned Frogs stormed to a 12-1 overall record and an 8-1 record in conference to play to earn Big 12 co-champion honors with the Baylor Bears and finishing the season with an emphatic 42-3 win over the Ole Miss Rebels in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Their No. 3 ranking in the postseason polls was their highest finish since their undefeated 2010 Rose Bowl season when they finished the year ranked No. 2.

The window of opportunity this time, however, is much smaller. They won’t have two seasons to figure out how to play as favorites and still be in the thick of the College Football Playoff conversation. This team has put itself into a position to make a run now and they may never get a better shot.

Looking at the current landscape of the Big 12, TCU is clearly in the best position to dominate next season. 2014 co-champion Baylor is replacing their quarterback and there’s no telling how Seth Russell will step into the starter’s role. The Oklahoma State Cowboys appear to be on the rise under budding star Mason Rudolph at quarterback, but have much to prove after needing a miraculous rally in Bedlam to get bowl eligible last season. The Oklahoma Sooners had the wheels fall off in the second half of last season and are facing major questions about their ability to contend. The Texas Longhorns are still searching for a quarterback, while the Kansas State Wildcats and West Virginia Mountaineers are looking to reload after losing a ton of talent off their 2014 rosters.

The Horned Frogs, meanwhile, return the talent to win now as they are fortunate to have a number of seniors ready to lead in key positions, particularly on offense. With their experience and talent in place, TCU faces fewer questions than most of the Big 12 rivals and can capitalize on it to press their advantage in 2015.

That’s not to say that the rest of the conference won’t have the talent to make a run at the conference title because the conference is loaded with superstars for the 2015 season. But each program faces uncertainty at key positions, most often at quarterback, that threatens to undercut their run to the top of the conference. TCU is fortunate to not have to deal with that kind of uncertainty.

One of the biggest reasons for their position of power heading into this spring was the emergence of quarterback Trevone Boykin in 2014. After bouncing from QB to receiver in the TCU offense for a couple of years, Boykin broke out last fall, throwing for 3,901 yards while rushing for 707 yards and accounting for 41 total touchdowns. His 354.5 yards of total offense per game sparked the Horned Frogs to the No. 2 total and scoring offense in the conference behind only Baylor, which led the entire nation in both categories. And he apparently did it with a broken bone in his non-throwing hand, which he had surgery on this spring to fix in time for fall camp.

After that kind of season, and a clean bill of health for next fall, Boykin has all kinds of momentum for his Heisman Trophy campaign, which brings its own set of expectations and pressure with it. He’ll be helped out by the return of several key playmakers for the Horned Frogs in 2015, including running back Aaron Green and the top three receivers from last season including Josh Doctson. Green stepped in for an injured B.J. Catalon (now off to the NFL) late in the year and ended up leading the team with 922 yards rushing and scoring nine touchdowns. Doctson set the TCU single-season touchdown reception record in 2014 with 11 scores as he hauled in 65 receptions for 1,018 yards.

But it’s already getting more complicated for TCU than just lining up their guys and going. This spring, in addition to having Boykin on the sidelines with his surgery, the Horned Frogs had already lost Deante Gray, the team’s third leading receiver in 2014, to a non-contact injury a couple of weeks ago and Emmanuel Porter, who enjoyed a promising freshman season last fall, to a finger injury that will keep both out of spring practice. On top of that, the team announced on Friday that Doctson would be out the rest of the spring as well after breaking a bone in his hand. Missing that many key pieces during the spring could create some chemistry issues for the Horned Frogs’ offense early next season.

Further complicating matters for TCU is the defense, which has been a staple of Patterson-led teams in Forth Worth, is facing a serious rebuilding effort for 2015. Defensive coordinator Dick Bumpas retired following the 2014 season and key contributors like Sam Carter, Paul Dawson, Kevin White, Marcus Mallet, Chris Hackett, and Chucky Hunter are all gone. That’s a major chunk of the No. 1 defense in the Big 12 for 2014 that has to be replaced by some young, inexperienced players. How well they step into featured roles will play a huge part in how successful the Horned Frogs are next season, particularly early on.

That will put the pressure on Chad Glasgow and DeMontie Cross, promoted to co-defensive coordinators this season, to develop the talent that TCU has stockpiled on the defensive side of the ball. They will be helped by the experience of their defensive front which returns every contributor from last season minus Hunter, including James McFarland who led the team with seven sacks last season, and Davion Pierson, the team’s most experienced defensive player with 31 career starts.

With two early tests on the road next season at the Minnesota Golden Gophers September 3 and at the Texas Tech Red Raiders September 26, TCU can ill afford to start the season slowly as they find their footing. They will most likely be ranked inside the top-5 next season in the preseason polls, and possibly as high as No. 2 behind the Ohio State Buckeyes, with a clear path to the College Football Playoff next season if they can handle the pressure of being front-runners.

TCU has not won a national title since 1938 and narrowly missed an opportunity to play in the inaugural College Football Playoff in 2014. They will be put in a position to add to their trophy case and redeem themselves in the CFP in 2015 but will have to deal with a completely new kind of pressure that this program has not encountered before.

Do they have what it takes to stand tall and run the table?

You can follow Tyler Brett on Twitter @ATylerBrett, on Facebook and on Google.

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