Latest / Cocaine Willie / Can K-State Slow Down TCU’s Explosive Offense? 💥💨 (S4//E23)

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Can K-State Slow Down TCU’s Explosive Offense? 💥💨 (S4//E23) · Cocaine Willie

0:01
You actually have to be on cocaine to
0:20
A great day. What is up, everybody?
0:34
You're listening to yet another edition of Cocaine Willie, the
0:36
official K State representative on the college huddle.
0:40
I am your commissioner Bob Trollsby, and as always I'm
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joined by my Co host the good chef Andre Napier and fireball
0:47
Matt Marchesini. Tonight we are joined by TCU
0:51
Insider for Horned Frog Blitz IN247 sports as well as Dave
0:56
Campbell's Texas Football. Jamie, is it Plunkett or
0:59
Plunkett? Plunkett Plunkett right the
1:02
first time. Yeah, Jamie, how is the how's
1:04
the golf game treating you lately?
1:06
Bad. Really bad, as always, yeah.
1:09
Short games in shambles. Driver never goes straight.
1:11
The putter is dialed, though. The putter is dialed.
1:14
It's the hardest thing. Yeah, I, you know, I, I don't
1:17
know what to tell you. I don't know what to tell.
1:19
You We love when when the putter is dialed real quick.
1:22
Before we dive into the preview, we want to give a shout out to
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our sponsor, Auntie Maze Parlor and this beer crack.
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It is brought to you by Auntie Mae, which is located at 616 N
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by Auntie Maze. It's the best bar in Aggieville.
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And just a quick PSA for those who maybe aren't aware or Horn
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time or first time in a while. They've got a ton of
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construction outside of Auntie Maze right now.
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So much so to the degree that Jeff told me, it's almost as bad
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as it was during COVID for them. So make sure you go in to Auntie
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Instructions been bad, but they're very much looking
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So they'll have some outdoor seating at that point.
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2:59
Matt. Nice work.
3:00
That was great. TCU horn frogs.
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Let's talk about them. Let's talk big, big picture
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here. So four in one.
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Honestly every TCU game I feel like I've watched this season
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they've looked pretty good if not better.
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Even the Arizona State game which they did have a 17 point
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lead in that game but Arizona State did did come back to to
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beat him in in Tempe. K State is like the complete
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opposite. I feel like a team that has
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really not look good for the most part in the majority of
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their games. Albia can be dangerous at some
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points but also dumbfounding at others.
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I I think for a lot of us who, you know, maybe listen, but
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haven't necessarily been able to watch a ton of TCU this season,
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Why don't you give us a little bit of kind of an idea of what
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their identity is going into the sixth game of the season?
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Are they this dangerous balance team that I feel like that I've
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seen? Or is it one that's still maybe
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grappling with some lapses or or some things that they're really
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struggling with and maybe some others who maybe don't watch a
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ton of TCU have seen so far? Yeah, I think they tend to fall
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into that second category a little bit more than than you'd
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think if you just watched the North Carolina game and the SMU
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game. Really just because while they
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the offense is fantastic as far as Josh Hoover and the wide
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receivers are concerned, the running game has struggled quite
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a bit. That Arizona State game, they
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got out to the 17 point lead like you mentioned, Matt, and
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couldn't run the ball to put it away.
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And that's part of why Arizona State was able to chip back and
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chip out, chip away, chip away, get it back into that game and
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ultimately come away with the win as TC ran for 10 yards in
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that game .4 yards of carry just isn't that ain't going to get it
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done right. Big 12 play, they were much
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better this past week against Colorado.
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They ran for 2 1/2 yards of carry, barely reached 90 yards.
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And so that's the struggle for the offense right now is when
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they get these big leads, which they've managed to do in pretty
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much every game. How are you going to put teams
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away when you're clearly the better team?
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And defensively, they're kind of bend, don't break this year.
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They're giving up a bunch of yards in between the 20s, but
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they kind of bear down in the in the red zone a little bit, which
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is nice. But they got to figure out
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something on the ground offensively if they really want
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to truly be a competitor in the Big 12 and beyond, I think.
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Chef, you got next. I'll try my best.
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The Internet is fighting me like George Foreman.
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I'm against the ropes right now. Let's talk to offense.
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It's, it's probably the hallmark of this team.
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Josh Hoover LED. They're scoring points left and
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right, 41 points per game. I mean, that's that's going to
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get you a lot of wins throughout the season.
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Can you tell me about this offense and really what they're
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going to plan on doing in Manhattan at 2:30 versus the
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Wildcats? Give me the flow, the give me
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the game script of what they're planning on doing.
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I. Think they're going to come out
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and try to get the quick game going, quick pass game going
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early, some screens, some slants.
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Just get some of the wide receivers involved.
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Specifically Eric McAllister. He's the number one guy out
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wide. He's a stud.
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He's probably going to be playing on Sundays next year.
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And then you've got guys like Joseph Manjak, the 4th, who's in
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his fifth year college football, also his fifth offensive
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coordinator in college football this year, which is just insane
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to me. But he's been great for TCU in
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Year 1. You'll know him I immediately
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because he doesn't wear gloves. He's a psycho and he had a
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touchdown against Colorado late to give TC the lead in the
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fourth quarter in in Saturday's game.
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And then you got Jordan Dwyer on the outside as well.
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A transfer from Idaho who was 1000 yard receiver last year for
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for them has come in. He had a breakout game against
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North Carolina has been really consistent for Hoover over the
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first five games of the season. So they're going to try and get
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those guys involved quickly, some quick passing game and then
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they're going to start to test out that deep ball a little bit,
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taking some deep shots over the middle.
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Eric McAllister and Dwyer are both really big targets down the
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sidelines as well, and if Hoover starts to get into a rhythm and
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get his feet under him in the passing game, he's going to be
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able to dial it up a little bit and throw for a bunch of yards.
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He's on pace for 4000 passing yards this year, which would set
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the single season record for TCU, which he set last year in
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his first full year as a starter with a little over with like 39,
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three 1994 yards or something like that.
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He was 6 yards off 4K last year. So, but he's been Wheeling and
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dealing all year. He's been great.
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But again, that run game, if they're one-dimensional and if K
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State's pass rushers can get some pressure on him, you know,
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that could stall out the offense a little bit.
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And TCU's missing their left tackle, Ryan Hughes.
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He went down with a knee injury against Colorado.
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He's going to have surgery later this week.
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He's out for the year. So they've got a backup, Quinton
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Harris, who's going to be playing left tackle.
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They might move right tackle Ben Taylor Whitfield over the left
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tackle because Harris is a better right tackle than he is
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left tackle, but they're still figuring that out.
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The tackle positions are not in great shape for TCU and that
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could undo everything with this offensive.
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Hoover doesn't have time to throw.
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I'm glad you mentioned the offensive line because that's
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the first position group we'll get into here.
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So you mentioned missing the starting left tackle, maybe some
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shuffling going on there. So so maybe not the most
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solidified unit, but track record they they've protected
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relatively well on Josh Hoover so far this year.
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Kind of middle of the pack in the Big 12 right now.
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I think 9th in sacks allowed with with 10 sacks for 79 total
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sack yards. But the run blocking consistency
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is maybe what we're going to need to look for in this game
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for TCU, especially in a hostile, I don't know how
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hostile it's going to be, but a hostile traditionally Rd.
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environment for Homecoming AK State.
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How confident are you that TCU's offensive line can hold up under
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K State's front? Which has been hit or miss, but
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but the edges have been generally pretty solid this
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year. One thing I know is that it will
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be a more hostile environment than Baylor was for Y'all on
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Saturday. So don't tell Chris Klein that.
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Don't tell Chris Klein that. That's terrible.
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What's Baylor doing down there? They got to fire that man.
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Anyways, that's not this podcast.
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That's a different one for somebody else to talk about.
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Interior of TCU's offensive line has been pretty solid,
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especially the left guard, Kate Bennett.
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He's a San Diego State transfer who missed last year with the
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back injury. So he's off of a year off of
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football, but he's looked really good.
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He's probably been TCU's best offensive lineman.
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Second, two, TCU center Colton Deary, who was CC's left guard
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last year, moved to center this year when James Brockermeyer
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transferred to Miami. He's the worst created offensive
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lineman on Miami's offensive line this year, but that's
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neither here nor there. But yeah, so those two guys on
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the interior kind of shore up some of the interior offensive
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line. TC's got two guys at right guard
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that have been rotating in Carson Bruno and Remington
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Strickland. Bruno gets more of the snaps,
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he's a little bit more consistent, especially in pass
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pro then Strickland is. Again though, those tackles,
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that's the big question mark for TCU.
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They gave up six sacks against Arizona State.
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You mentioned the 10, six of them came against ASU and that's
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really what tanked TC's offense in the second-half.
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That's why they were only able to score 7 points after halftime
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and it it feels like the last couple weeks have been get right
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games for the opposing defensive line.
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So there might be some opportunity there.
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You mentioned KSU's D line is a little inconsistent, but you've
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got some guys that can get after the quarterback in and this
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might be an opportunity for them to do that.
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If TCU's line can hold up well enough, if they get the tight
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ends involved in the blocking game, if they chip with the
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running backs, that kind of thing, then then Hoover might be
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able to get into a rhythm. But I think you're going to see
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a little cat and mouse game there in the trenches on that
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front. Pat VS Frog, I had to had to
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let's talk about Josh Hoover. I mean man, really, really good
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quarterback for TCU. I've been very impressed with
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him and how he's developed in the position for for a little
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bit now. He's over 1500 yards, 15
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touchdowns, 4 interceptions through the first five games.
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Really solid stats. Been very efficient from an
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interception perspective. If you look back at some of
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them, maybe some, some tough ones, you know, some tough,
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tough plays that you know, didn't go his way.
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But I I just want to get a little bit of an idea, thinking
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about from 2024 to 2025, how has Josh Hoover developed and gotten
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better this season? I think making the right reads
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and making them quicker is probably the biggest way.
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If you look back towards the beginning of 2024, he was making
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some kind of gunslinger decisions, trying to create too
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much, taking, taking too many risks.
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And that's why he had so many turnovers in the first six games
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of 24 this year. First of all, he's healthier.
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He missed spring ball in 24 with a back injury.
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He had back surgery at May of 2024.
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People maybe don't realize that, but full health this spring,
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full health this fall and I think that's helped with his
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timing with his receivers, his decision making, being able to
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get through his reads. And then the other big thing
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that he's been doing this year that he had hardly any of last
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year is his mobility. He doesn't now he's not Avery
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job like he's not Avery by any sense, the imagination.
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His career high in a single game for rushing is like 27 yards,
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but he's mobile in the pocket and he can get out of the pocket
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now and that's something that we didn't see from him last year at
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all. And so he's able to extend
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plays. Receivers are doing really well
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in scramble drill and he can kind of just extend things and
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let the play come to him a little bit more this year than
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he was able to last season. So you'll see him, even if there
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is some pressure on him, be able to get out of it a little bit,
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move around. He won't run as much.
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He's just not that kind of guy. But he will keep his eyes
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downfield and get the ball out if he sees an opportunity to do
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so. Now let's talk about the people
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that are actually designed to run the football and this
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running game. You mentioned that.
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Sorry. Is it bad?
13:00
No. I don't know if it OK, I'm
13:02
sorry. No.
13:03
You're just Bob, just you're a comedian.
13:06
I. I Bob just laughs at me and I
13:07
just assumed that my Internet is jumping all over the place.
13:12
So I really wanted to get the vibe for this running game
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because it seems like it's it's pretty efficient, but it's they
13:21
just don't lean on it enough. On a scale of what Damien
13:25
Tomlinson to the kid that transferred to Colorado, where
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are we at in terms of running game for TCU?
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Well, it's certainly not Lt. it's not the record setter, not
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the guy who finished fourth in the Heisman, guy with the gold
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jacket. We're not there.
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But I'll say it's improved from 2024 from when the lead back who
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is now at Jacksonville State, is having a great season.
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That was a that's a good move for Cam Cook.
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I'm happy for him. That's the level of football he
13:57
needs to be playing now. They got a couple different
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guys. Jeremy Payne, who was a freshman
14:03
last year, dealing with a little bit of turf toe.
14:05
He's TC, second leading rusher right now.
14:08
We're thinking he'll play. We got an update from Sunday
14:11
Dykes today that said that he's hopeful that Pain will play.
14:15
But the big guy is Kavorian Barnes.
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He was at UTSA last year, riddled with injuries in 2024.
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So if you look at his 24 numbers, they're terrible.
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But if you go back to 22 and 23, you can see he's running about 5
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yards of carry, had about 750 yards each of those years.
14:30
Really efficient back, bigger body.
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He's about 5-9 to 25. He's he's built, he's a big boy
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and he likes to get downhill. He's the guy who had I think 125
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rushing yards against North Carolina, including that 75 yard
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touchdown to open the second-half.
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He's been the the best runner for TCU this year.
14:50
And Colorado was his first game back after missing 2 games with
14:53
a hamstring injury. So he was out against SMU and
14:55
Arizona State or TCU might be 5 and O right now if they were
14:58
able to lean on him against ASU and Tempe.
15:01
So and look for him to get the lion's share of the carries.
15:04
Trent Battle will be another guy who's in the mix there as well.
15:07
He's a kid who came in as a quarterback out of high school.
15:10
The case he's coaching staff immediately looked at him and
15:12
said you're never playing quarterback here.
15:14
You're going to be running back now and handed him the number
15:16
six and he's been great at it ever since.
15:18
So five year guy who scored his first touchdown this year who's
15:22
just kind of been a grinder, which is a little bit odd in
15:25
this day and age. So the Vorian Barnes, Trent
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Battle are going to be the two main guys unless Jeremy Payne is
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is healthy. He's the pass catcher.
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So that's kind of what TCU might be missing if Payne isn't
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playing. But really truly they're going
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to lean on the run just to kind of make you pay attention to it.
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I don't think it's going to have a major impact on the outcome of
15:44
this game. On the other hand, there are
15:47
some other guys who will have a tremendous impact on the game.
15:50
That's going to be the pass catchers, the wide receivers,
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the tight ends. In the Colorado game, Hoover
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alone throw into those targets had he was 23 of or 23 of 33 for
16:00
270 yard, 275 yards passing with four touchdowns.
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Eric McAllister, he was one of the guys you've already
16:07
mentioned. He caught one of those
16:08
touchdowns. But TCU has really shown the
16:10
ability to stretch defenses vertically with three receivers
16:15
having more than 300 yards on the season through five games,
16:18
which is incredibly impressive, including Houston transfer Joe
16:21
Manjack, the 4th. We've already mentioned which
16:24
receiver or maybe even a better question would be which passing
16:28
Game Match up against K State's defense do you expect TCU to
16:32
lean on versus K State and and what makes that threat or that
16:36
match up dangerous? I mean, really, it's kind of a
16:41
pick your poison situation with K State's secondary, right?
16:44
Like, I, I know that it hasn't been the strength of Kansas
16:47
State's defense this year. We just watched Sawyer Robertson
16:50
kind of go crazy on that secondary a little bit.
16:52
Obviously TC doesn't have a guy as big as Trig, but they've got
16:57
a lot of talent like you mentioned.
16:58
And so this year defenses have had to kind of pick their poison
17:03
and say, well, we're really going to just we're going to
17:05
play over the top of of McAllister.
17:07
You're not going to beat us with McAllister.
17:09
That's fine. You're going to have Joseph
17:10
Manjak open over the middle. He's kind of a first down, 8 to
17:14
10 yards downfield kind of guy. Not, not the quickest guy, not
17:17
lightning speed. He's not going to get behind the
17:19
secondary. It's on, but he's going to catch
17:21
the football. He's got great hands.
17:22
You've got Jordan Dwyer, who can get behind the secondary a
17:24
little bit. He and Hoover missed some
17:26
connections in that Arizona State game that might have
17:28
changed the outcome there. Hoover had a drop that led to a
17:33
red zone interception, which was really tough, or Dwyer did.
17:37
But at the end of the day, you've got two really consistent
17:40
guys who can get you. The Hoover can get the ball to
17:43
like 5 to 10 yards down field. Chef, I don't know what the
17:45
Hell's happening with you, man. You're bouncing all over the
17:48
place. Yeah.
17:48
If we had a nickel, if we had a nickel.
17:52
I just see, I just see him popping in and popping out.
17:54
Anyways, it's those three guys for the most part.
17:58
But then they've got a freshman in Ed Small as well, who was a
18:02
baseball commit to the University of Texas until Sonny
18:06
Dykes finally convinced him you can play Division One football
18:09
at TCU if you want to. He flipped his commitment.
18:12
He's playing football at TCU. He had a great game against SMU
18:17
and with a couple other injuries to the wide receiver room, he's
18:20
going to get some opportunities as well.
18:22
So you really go 4 deep in the wide receiver room without even
18:25
trying. And at that point, it's just,
18:27
hey, Kansas State, who are you going to try and stop?
18:30
And then we're just going to throw the other direction.
18:33
Best of luck to K State's defense.
18:34
Let me let me tell ya. Well, let's flip it around.
18:38
Let's talk about TCU's defense. This is a has been a pretty good
18:41
defense so far this year, only giving up 27 or fewer points in
18:47
every game so far this year. Teams averaging about 2122
18:51
points a game against this TCU defense really good at, you
18:56
know, containing explosive drives, getting stops on 3rd
18:59
down primarily against the run, though, we're seeing this this
19:04
TCU defense 23rd nationally in success versus the rush.
19:09
But it seems like the passing defense leaves a lot to be
19:12
desired. This team's about 108th
19:14
nationally and giving up giving up passing on the offensive
19:20
side. So give us a little bit of an
19:22
idea on TCU's defense, what their consistency has been like
19:26
and trying to, you know, keep these teams from scoring points
19:30
and, and what do you think they're going to need to do to
19:33
really disrupt K State's offensive flow?
19:36
So I think the biggest thing for TCU that maybe gives them a
19:39
little bit of an advantage coming into this game
19:41
defensively is the fact that they've played three mobile
19:44
quarterbacks in a row coming into this game.
19:46
You had Kevin Jennings at SMU, you had what's his face, Sam
19:54
Levitt at Arizona State, and then you had Kaden Salter at
19:57
Colorado this past week. And all three are are not quite
20:02
as fast as Avery Johnson. He's probably the fastest out of
20:05
that group. But they're very mobile guys who
20:07
are capable of creating with their legs.
20:10
And TCU did a pretty good job of containing them on the ground
20:13
and forcing them to be passers. Now, Sam Levitt got away from
20:16
them a couple times there that that impacted the game, but
20:19
really, truly. That's kind of the game plan for
20:22
TCU against these mobile quarterbacks is, hey, you're
20:24
going to have to throw the football to beat us.
20:26
Now. They don't have a great
20:28
secondary. And so that's kind of a tempt
20:31
us, you know, call you call your bluff situation because those
20:34
corners for TCU have given up quite a few passes this year.
20:37
Jamel Johnson, who has been a great safety coming up into the
20:41
box and stopping the run, he's been heavily targeted in the
20:45
passing game and has given up quite a few passing yards this
20:48
year as well. So TCU's really going to have to
20:51
work to a slow Avery Johnson down on the run game and then B,
20:55
get to him when he has to stand up and be a passer.
20:58
Because if they can impact him and keep him from getting the
21:00
ball out on time, they're going to give those safeties a little
21:03
bit more of an opportunity. Especially Bud Clark, who's
21:06
climbing the ranks of TCU's all time interceptions list.
21:09
And he will probably try to cut off a route and jump a route.
21:12
That's kind of his MO. He's a little, he's gotten a
21:15
little bit more risky with it this year, much to the chagrin
21:18
of his coaches. But I think that's going to be
21:22
the game plan is keep everyone dimensional and then just hope
21:26
that your secondary holds up and that your pass rush can get to
21:29
them. My God, why is it not working?
21:37
I swear, God. It's it's on.
21:39
You're, you're on. You're on.
21:42
OK, OK. So we're we're talking about
21:46
Avery Johnson and keeping him contained and not giving him
21:50
enough time. And we're talking about the D
21:52
line. Can can they get to him?
21:54
And who specifically is the guy to do that?
21:57
Is it just one pass rusher or is it a multitude of guys that
22:01
really can torment this K State offensive line that's been kind
22:05
of struggling this year? And who?
22:07
Who's the Who's the main guy? There are a couple, so TC will
22:12
do a lot of simulated pressure, and one of the ways they do that
22:15
is with a hybrid defensive end linebacker position.
22:18
They called the stud position. So #11 Devin Deal plays that
22:22
position probably about 75% of the time.
22:25
He's rushing the passer. Other than that, he's dropping
22:28
back into coverage. He's covering the running back
22:29
or a tight end, and they're sending Caleb Beelarms or one of
22:32
the linebackers in on a pressure.
22:34
He's been really good at getting to the quarterback.
22:36
He had a couple sacks against Arizona State.
22:38
He had another sack against Colorado, so he's one of those
22:42
guys to really look for from the second level of the defense that
22:45
can get into that backfield and and create some havoc for Avery.
22:49
But on the defensive line, Paul Oyey Walley #97 is another guy
22:53
to keep an eye on as well. He missed all of last year with
22:55
an injury with an Achilles injury, came back this year has
22:58
been dominant. He you'll notice him when you
23:01
see him number 97. He's built like a Greek God,
23:03
like he looks like a freak and his play is starting to reflect
23:07
that as well, which is really nice.
23:09
So he's a guy who can take a tackle one-on-one, push that guy
23:12
into the backfield, kind of disrupt the flow of the offense.
23:15
So those 297 and three are kind of the big guys to watch out for
23:18
in the pass rush. And with with the linebackers, I
23:21
know you already mentioned Caleb, Caleb Elerms or make sure
23:25
I got that that pronunciation right.
23:27
We, we are also really familiar with the guy Nandi OB Isor
23:30
because his brother plays for K State.
23:32
So he's a guy we've gotten familiar with.
23:34
He's 3rd on the team in tackles right now across the the entire
23:38
defense. He's got a pick and a force
23:40
fumble. When you think about the
23:41
linebacking core, how did they match up in space and
23:45
discipline? And are they capable of keeping
23:47
up with K State's scheme? That I don't even know if K
23:50
State is capable with keeping up with their own scheme at this
23:52
point. Well, that's a good point.
23:55
If Dylan Edwards is healthy, I think we have a sample of what
23:59
he's capable of doing against TCU from when he was still with
24:03
Colorado because he absolutely torched the Frogs when he was a
24:06
true freshman with the Buffs back in 2023.
24:09
Namdi is not the best in coverage.
24:11
He struggles sometimes to get out to the flats.
24:13
Caleb doesn't have as much of a problem with that.
24:15
He's far more athletic and capable.
24:18
But the way TCU makes up for that is Jamelle Johnson at that
24:21
safety position. They'll drop him down, drop him
24:23
into the flats quite often and let him be the one to kind of
24:26
patrol that area and let Namdi kind of be your main stay in the
24:30
middle of the box, drop back if necessary, straight back into
24:34
that cover one situation and then let Jamel patrol the, the,
24:39
the field or the boundary, whichever, whichever side he's
24:43
on. Because they do run sort of a
24:44
hybrid 423. So they always have 5 DBS on the
24:48
field. And so they'll allow Jamel to
24:50
kind of creep up and play closer to the line at times as well.
24:55
Defensive backs. So you mentioned Bud Clark,
24:57
which he's a name that we have heard for a long time.
25:00
He's been, yeah, he's been at TCU since 2020.
25:05
Crazy to think about. But again, he's a guy at the
25:10
safety position that has played really well over his career.
25:14
Thinking about the entire secondary as a whole.
25:17
Jamel Johnson is a guy who has done a really good job of making
25:22
some really good plays. He has three interceptions on
25:24
the year, but this is a secondary that has given up some
25:27
some yards and given up some big plays.
25:29
So how do you think the the secondary is going to hold up
25:35
against the key state offense that had times in the passing
25:38
game has shown some really big explosiveness in their games.
25:44
Yeah, I mean, the way to do that is cover, cover the two guys
25:49
that have been killing people all year, right.
25:50
Brown has been phenomenal outside for for Kansas State and
25:53
he showed that again against Baylor.
25:56
I don't, I think the helmet ripping off your face rule is
25:59
kind of ridiculous. I think that should have been 7
26:01
for Kansas State because he was behind everyone.
26:03
Baylor made a cheap play, right? That's a rules thing.
26:05
But anyways, he's he's very capable.
26:08
And so I think you're going to see 26 Vernon Glover kind of
26:10
trail him most of the night. He's been TCU's most consistent
26:14
corner. He's gotten hit with a couple
26:15
Pis here and there, but overall he's been the most consistent
26:18
cover corner that TCU has. Chain in Canada is the one that
26:21
they tried to match up against Jordan Tyson.
26:23
And if you just look at Jordan Tyson stat line from that game,
26:25
you know how that went a for 1/26 and two touchdowns, right?
26:29
So Vernon Glover's the guy and Chain in Canada.
26:32
They're going to give him a little bit of help over the top,
26:34
especially from Austin Jordan and Kylan Jackson and kind of
26:39
play that free safety spot. But then they're going to have
26:42
to work hard in man for most of the night if they're going to
26:45
want to slow down this run game as well.
26:46
So it's kind of that, you know, pick your poison situation for
26:49
the defense. And I think they're still going
26:51
to try and load up the box a little bit, send some simulated
26:53
pressures at Avery to confuse him and and get him off of
26:56
rhythm. But that's going to mean that
26:58
they're going man at that corner spot.
27:00
And there's definitely going to be an opportunity, I think, for
27:02
Kansas State to take advantage of that.
27:05
Now, everybody's favorite segment when it comes to these
27:09
previews as special teams. I mean, K State traditionally
27:14
rich in special teams, but this year we kind of stink.
27:19
It's it's not a secret really to anybody.
27:21
But TCU on the other hand, field position kind of been, you know,
27:25
in your favor. I mean, one of the best in the
27:28
nation when it comes to field position, starting field
27:31
position. But kicking.
27:33
I'm looking at the stats. You got 2 kickers on there?
27:37
I don't know. They've got a great, great set
27:39
of names. Mick, Cashland and Lemmerman.
27:42
I mean, come on now, I love those names, but are they
27:45
consistent enough to be good kickers and are they going to be
27:48
a factor if it comes down to the nitty gritty of the game?
27:52
So great questions they do have. They do win the name race.
27:59
That's about all they win at this point.
28:01
Kyle Lemmerman it was a apparently kickers can be rated
28:05
up to six stars in high school. I don't know if you guys knew
28:07
this but Kyle Leimerman was a six star sticker 6 star kicker
28:11
coming out of high school. He's been wildly inefficient in
28:14
two years at TCU. Really struggled I think with
28:17
the mental aspect of kicking more than anything else cuz he's
28:19
got a great leg on him but he injured his thigh a couple weeks
28:23
ago and is out for the season so he's not going to be a factor in
28:27
this game. Kyle or Nate Mccashland has been
28:31
handling kicking duties. He made a 27 yarder against
28:34
Arizona State that kind of eked through.
28:37
He missed a 30 yarder against Colorado.
28:40
Not great. So TCU is going to go for it a
28:42
lot when they're in plus territory.
28:44
If if they've got fourth and five or less, you're probably
28:47
going to see the offense stay on the field.
28:49
For the most part, Mccashland is fine on kickoffs, but I mean, he
28:54
kicked one out of bounds against Colorado when TC would already
28:57
gotten an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a touchdown.
29:00
So that started Colorado's drive at the 50 in the fourth quarter,
29:03
right? So special teams hasn't been
29:05
great for TCU. At the end of the Arizona State
29:09
game, a freshman returner brought one out from about 7
29:13
yards deep in the end zone with 45 seconds left in the game and
29:16
TCU down a field goal right. It's like, let's make some
29:19
better decisions. He wasn't on kickoff last week
29:22
after that. But really inconsistent, which
29:25
is disappointing cuz DCU does have kind of a tradition of
29:28
really good special teams. The field position thing is more
29:32
related to turnovers, force and defense really than anything
29:36
else. You know, you win the turnover
29:37
battle against Colorado 4 to nothing and you're going to end
29:41
up in pretty good field position from there.
29:42
So that has less to do with special teams and more to do
29:45
with the defense, I think at this point, because the special
29:47
teams has kind of been a train wreck.
29:50
And don't we know all about that in Manhattan right now?
29:53
All right, so we that might be the fastest preview we've ever
29:56
done. I know we had kind of a time
29:58
limit on this, on this preview. So we appreciate you doing this.
30:02
Jamie, what's your what's your pick for this game?
30:04
What's your read on this game? And if you had to determine, you
30:08
know, what are these two or three things that that could
30:10
determine the outcome, position, group matchup, whatever it might
30:13
be a what what's kind of your read on this game?
30:16
Yeah, I mean, TC just struggles so much in Manhattan, right?
30:19
I haven't won there since 2017. Kansas State beat the brakes off
30:22
of them in 2023 to the point where I just turned the game
30:25
game off. It's like, I have to write about
30:26
this thing, but there's no way I'm going to watch the rest of
30:28
this. It was bad, right?
30:30
And I mean, TCU has been circulating the Cooper BB clip
30:33
from that game of yeah, we just, we beat them until they they
30:38
quit, right? And they were laughing on the
30:40
field and, and that whole clip that he said after that game.
30:43
So they've been circling that around, reminding folks of what
30:45
happened the last time TCU was in Manhattan.
30:48
But this feels a little bit like a revenge tour season for Sonny
30:52
Dykes. And I'll say why. 2023, they
30:55
opened the game against the first time head coach with a lot
30:59
of hype. Deon Sanders lost that game as
31:02
21 point favorites last year, Got whooped by.
31:07
Or two years ago, got whooped by Kansas State.
31:09
Lost to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship back in 2022.
31:12
Y'all won't let TCU fans forget that one.
31:16
And you got a chance here to get your get back like you did
31:20
against Colorado, like you did against North Carolina in the
31:23
first game of the season against the first year head coach where
31:25
you weren't talked about it all because it was all about the
31:27
other team, right? They've got Baylor on the
31:29
schedule next week. They got, they got whooped by
31:32
Baylor last year. It's time for that get back as
31:34
well. So there's there, they lost to
31:36
Houston in 2024. They get Houston again this
31:38
year. So he's setting this this up to
31:42
he's setting people up to knock him down.
31:43
And so far he's set up all of these games where TCU had some
31:47
bad taste in their mouth and they've gone and they've gotten
31:49
the job done and they've knocked it down.
31:51
Kansas State's going to be a really tough test.
31:53
I don't care what the record is. I don't care how poorly y'all
31:56
played against Army or North Dakota or what happened in
31:59
Ireland. I don't care about any of that
32:00
because TCU plays poorly in Manhattan Kans.
32:05
That being said, I think this is a deeper and more mature team
32:08
than TCU's had since 2022, and I think Josh Hoover is talented
32:13
enough to score enough points in this football game for TCU to
32:17
win. So I think they rely on the
32:19
passing game. I think they keep Josh Hoover
32:21
just upright enough, and I think the defense does enough to
32:24
disrupt Kansas State and Avery Johnson to come away with the
32:27
win. I don't think it's going to be
32:28
as high scoring as people maybe suggest that it is.
32:32
So give me TCU somewhere around 28 to 24/28/21 in that range.
32:40
I like it. I like it.
32:41
I don't like it, but I like it. I'm I'm going I, I, I, I don't
32:47
know, I just I feel like TCU does score a lot of points are
32:51
secondary can be so hit or miss and and often times a miss.
32:56
I just think Josh Hoover is going to torch the K State
32:58
secondary And I think it I think the the morale of this team has
33:03
already been pretty up and down this season.
33:06
I don't see them getting back up off the mat after what happened
33:10
last weekend in Waco. And it's funny you it's funny
33:13
you make the joke about Waco not being an intimidating atmosphere
33:17
because Coach Kleiman went to the post game press conference
33:20
and said it was a really tough place to play.
33:23
And I'm sorry that just that left a really bad taste in my
33:26
mouth. I think it's 4230 Frogs.
33:29
OK. Wow, I I've been kind of back
33:34
and forth here because for the fact that we lost in at Baylor,
33:39
you're up by 14 points. You know, a lot of it I feel is
33:45
on the coaching staff last week as much as the not as much as
33:49
the players. I thought the players like I,
33:53
the team played well enough to win the game, but I do think
33:56
this was a game that the coaching staff didn't do enough
34:00
to help their players win the game.
34:02
And that I, I admit, I will say compared to some other games
34:06
this season, I, I've looked back on Saturday and I'm a little
34:11
more optimistic with what type of performance we could put
34:14
together on on Saturday. I do Despite that I do have us
34:19
losing, but I think it's 3834. I think it is a close game it
34:25
we're going to see some similarities to last week.
34:27
I think TCU is going to have some quick drives.
34:31
They're going to get some points on the board.
34:34
I think K State is going to come out and look pretty good on
34:38
offense. They'll get into this little low
34:40
like we've seen and you're going to get into the fourth quarter
34:43
and it's who's going to make who's going to make a play for
34:46
their team, But which coaching staff is also going to get their
34:51
team ready for that last drive that they're going to have to
34:54
try and win the game. And that is where I think our
34:57
coaching staff has failed us in certain aspects, especially on
35:01
Saturday. So I think it's I I was back and
35:05
forth, I was actually debating about picking K State to win
35:08
this game because I really think they played well enough to win
35:12
last week, but the coaching staff let them down in some
35:14
situations. And in those cases, I feel like
35:18
the coaching staff is going to be a little bit more up their
35:21
ass ready to try and like prove that, you know, last week wasn't
35:25
necessarily, you know, something we're expecting to see the whole
35:29
season. So I think it's going to be 3834
35:31
TCU, but I honestly could see it either way.
35:39
Yeah, For me, it's it's a similar spot to where I was at
35:45
with UCF where I just had this gut feeling that there was
35:50
something turning in terms of the players were finally
35:54
starting to get bought in. And I think they're completely
35:56
bought in. Whether it's for selfish reasons
35:59
or for the team aspect, because a lot of people want to get
36:01
stuff on tape for next season for a different team, I don't
36:05
know. But for me, I think in at home,
36:10
like Matt said, the the coaching staff need to get their head out
36:13
of their asses and I think a lot of it is going to is going to
36:16
turn this game. I got the Cats winning I think a
36:19
Luis Rodriguez field goal last second, 30 to 28 after TCU goes
36:25
for two to go up to have the lead going into the last
36:30
possession of the game. Give me the Cats 3028
36:35
Homecoming. On a.
36:38
On a. Scale of 1 to 10.
36:40
What's the vibe around Matt Wells right now?
36:43
0. Awful, awful bad. -0 it's bad.
36:48
You know, it's, it's funny because I, I will say, like
36:52
there are portions of the Baylor game that I thought that I
36:56
thought the play calling was actually pretty good.
36:59
Great. The 97 yard drive, I mean that.
37:03
Was methodical. That was great.
37:05
It was, yeah. Yeah, you just that's.
37:07
A couple of those. Yeah, yeah.
37:09
I mean, that's. Your drives I think over 70 or
37:11
or. 80 But there there's just some, some decisions that you
37:17
just have to look back and ask yourself like you're being too
37:20
cute with stuff. Rather, and I don't want to get,
37:23
I don't want to cut you off here 'cause I haven't been, you know,
37:26
completely connected this episode.
37:28
This was a subpar episode for me and I apologize to you Jamie,
37:32
for that. But I will say that this is
37:37
exactly what we signed up for. This is Texas Tech style
37:41
offense. This is what I was fearful of.
37:44
We Kansas State, you know, we are like meat and potatoes kind
37:49
of guys. We we should not expect any more
37:51
than that, but we are asking a guy that wants to be cute and do
37:57
funny stuff. We don't like that here and I
37:59
don't like it. I'm very brother, I'm, I'm
38:03
bleeding red over here and it's, it's tough to even see my
38:07
university and my offense fall into the hands of a Red Raider
38:12
style offense. And it's happening before our
38:14
very eyes and it's and there's nothing we can do about it.
38:17
This is what we've got to deal with for the next probably
38:19
couple seasons because we're just going to get funnier, we're
38:23
going to get cuter and we're going to do stuff that we don't
38:25
have the recruiting background to do and it it's unfortunate.
38:30
Well this is, you know, this is 2 Red Raider offenses going up
38:32
against each other because Dykes is from.
38:34
The You got the good one though, yeah.
38:38
This is true. This is true.
38:39
We've got the You never know. Freshman wild quarterback
38:43
offense. Colin Klein might be back sooner
38:45
than you think. You never know.
38:47
Yeah, yeah, we'll, we'll see about that.
38:49
Yeah, yeah. As long as, as long as we have
38:51
the true freshman in there, we need to call it Shake and Blake,
38:54
'cause that's that's the only thing I don't think of.
38:56
Yeah, yeah, that's good. That's really.
38:58
There. If only it actually worked in it
39:00
would be a good nickname, but it's just some dumb thing.
39:05
It's these armchair quarterbacks asking for it to happen week
39:09
after week. And then when it when we finally
39:11
get it and it don't work and we're like, oh, well, what are
39:14
we thinking doing this? Well, you ask for it because you
39:17
guys don't want Avery Johnson, who's the best quarterback we've
39:20
had in a while. I don't know, stink?
39:23
So things are going really well over here, if you can't tell.
39:26
Things are going well, yeah. Sounds a lot like TC with the
39:29
defense in 2023 where it's just like hey, 3 down lineman, no not
39:33
even going to think about blitzing, it's not even in the
39:35
playbook anymore. But we're just going to bang our
39:38
head against the wall with the same thing for an entire season
39:40
and hope it works. And guess what?
39:43
Definition of insanity. Definition of insanity.
39:46
Well, Jamie, we appreciate you coming on tonight.
39:48
Let the people know where they can find you and we'll get out
39:52
of here. Yeah, you can find all my
39:54
writing over at hornfrogblitz.com, part of 24/7
39:57
Sports Network. Been over there for a couple
39:59
years now. And then my podcast is called
40:01
Frogs Insider. I Co host it with Melissa
40:03
Treewasser. We are part of the Dave
40:05
Campbell's College Podcast Network.
40:07
You can find that wherever you get your podcasts.
40:10
Awesome. Thanks again, Jamie.
40:11
That's going to do it for us today.
40:12
Once again, we want to give a shout out to Auntie Maze.
40:16
Visit them at www.auntiemaze.com for full list of their upcoming
40:20
events. If you're stopping by, be sure
40:23
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And finally, we are the K State representative on the College
40:40
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Huddle on social media. Last but not least, you can
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individually. I'm at Bob Trollsby, chef is at
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Chef. Cocaine's a hell of a drug,
41:00
baby. We are all coke and no joke
41:02
Wildcat country. Let's ride.
41:06
Let's ride. Give us Flacco.
41:10
Oh geez.