TCU Riff Ram Recap – Game 1 – TCU vs. Samford

There were many questions being asked before the Horned Frogs kicked off against the Samford Bulldogs on Saturday evening. Which Quarterback would start, Trevone Boykin or Matt Joeckel?

What can we expect out of the new offense? How will the Offensive Line hold up in a fast-paced scheme? Well, the Frogs new Air-Raid offense led by Trevone Boykin came out blazing, mixing up the run and pass all evening en route to the 48-14 win in front of 40,000+ at Amon G. Carter Stadium. The final stats don’t even tell the whole story. Let’s look at the different phases of the game.

The Horned Frogs ran 96 plays on Offense, 44 rushes for 200 yards and 52 passes for 355 yards, but Boykin was sacked twice for negative 16 yards and 4 penalties against the Offensive Line for 45 yards that eliminated other chances in this game. Trevone Boykin wasn’t great, still struggling on crossing routes and missing on deep throws down the middle; twice over-throwing Kolby Listenbee and not seeing a wide open Deante Gray in the 3^rd Quarter, but was a completely different Quarterback than the one we saw in 6 starts last year. He was confident and was out there having fun; and most of all, he didn’t turn the ball over. Boykin finished 29-41 for 320 yards and 2 TD’s and ran for another 29 and a TD. Matt Joeckel didn’t even make his TCU debut until the 4^th Quarter and threw a 2 yard fade route to Kolby Listenbee for a TD on his first attempt as a Frog. The Offensive Line was shaky at times but they ran 96 total plays on offense and only had 4 penalties on a humid night so it’s hard to complain when they churned out 555 total yards. 

You can’t talk about TCU and not mention the Defense. The Frogs held Samford to 143 Total Yards and only 9 First Downs in the game. 46 of the rushing yards were on scrambles by Samford Starting QB Michael Eubank. Both starting Linebackers, Marcus Mallet 10 tackles (1 for loss) and Paul Dawson (9 tackles, 1 Pass Breakup, 1 INT) were stellar in this one. All five Defensive Backs were around the ball and had great coverage which forced Michael Eubank to have to scramble more than he would have liked and Redshirt Freshman Cornerback Ranthany Texada nearly had an interception in the 2^nd Quarter. While the Linebackers and the DB's were great, the Star of the evening on defense was Mike Tuaua. The Junior Defensive End finished with 7 tackles (3.5 for loss), 2 Sacks, and 2 Forced Fumbles. 

The Special Teams were great as Jaden Oberkrom was perfect on the night (6-6 XP, 2-2 FG) and boomed the kickoffs through the end zone both with and against the wind. Ethan Perry averaged 48.2 yds/punt with two inside the 20 and the lone touchback was shown on replay to have been a bad call by the official. He was kicking deep and high, which is a dangerous combo when you’re the man waiting for it to come down and have players the speed of TCU barreling down on you.

The biggest takeaway from this game was the amount of big plays by the new offense. 6 players had runs of 10 or more yards for TCU (Boykin, Gray, Catalon, Hicks, Green, Johnson).  Kolby Listenbee and Deante Gray showed off their speed on deep balls, while Ty Slanina and David Porter were great in the slot. Also, 13 different players caught a pass for the Frogs including Kyle Hicks, Trevorris Johnson, Emmanuel Porter and Desmon White who caught their first career passes.

Defensive End Josh Carraway, Right Guard Brady Foltz, Wide Receiver Kolby Listenbee and Cornerback Ranthony Texada made their first career starts, while seven true Freshman played for the Frogs: Defensive Tackle Chris Bradley, Safety Travin Howard, Cornerback Nick Orr, Wide Receivers Emmanuel Porter and Desmon White, Center Austin Schlottman, Linebacker Ty Summers. The Horned Frogs played 68 total players including first career game action for Wide Receivers Daniel Walsh, Charlie Reid and Phil Taylor, Quarterback Zach Allen, Defensive Backs Steve Wesley and Cyd Calvin, Linebacker Paul Whitmill, Running Backs Kyle Hicks and Trevorris Johnson, Tight End Bryson Burnett, and Offensive Linemen Matt Pryor and Joseph Noteboom.

Up next for the Horned Frogs is Minnesota on September 13^th at 3 pm at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Remember to White Out The Carter and #AmpItUp.

See you there and #GoFrogs!

Geoff Craig

@geoffrey_craig