TCU Horned Frogs vs BYU Cougars Football Recap

TCU 31, BYU 3

It's quite odd to say or even suggest such a thing, but could it really be true that a 28-point win just doesn't seem to involve very much impressiveness for the TCU Horned Frogs?

A team that's undefeated didn't exactly trip up or embarrass itself on Saturday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas. Yet, it's hard to shake the sense that this TCU season is not quite progressing according to plan.

Sure, coach Gary Patterson's club still owns an unblemished record after seven games, but in the Mountain West Conference - let alone the national championship chase and the BCS competition that frames it - it seems that TCU's place atop the heap really isn't very secure at all... at least as long as the purple people fail to get quality, step-up performances from their key offensive players. Yes, TCU has one hell of a defense, a fire-breathing group under coordinator Dick Bumpas that is maxing out in 2010, but there are two components to any good football team, and right now, the Frogs are a one-trick pony that can only defend with distinction. Scoring big bushels of points just isn't part of the TCU profile right now.

On October 2, TCU's offense failed to score a touchdown in the first half of a 27-0 win at Colorado State. Yes, the shutout win was nice, but TCU's manifest offensive struggles took some of the shine off the performance. A 6-0 halftime lead doesn't inspire supreme confidence heading into the teeth of a Mountain West schedule that will only get tougher for the Frogs as the season continues. Two weeks after that CSU misadventure, the Horned Frogs' offense remained stuck in neutral for most of a first half.

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Indeed, with only two minutes remaining before halftime on Saturday against a BYU team that's about to leave the Mountain West for independent (football) status, TCU hadn't yet scored a touchdown. The Frogs led the Cougars by a mere 3-0 count, and the natives at Amon Carter Stadium were getting restless. It's true that TCU finally unwrapped some big-play magic, as quarterback Andy Dalton hit Josh Boyce for a 35-yard touchdown to finally make the locals breathe easier with 1:30 left before the break. It's also true that the Frogs  - mentally liberated following their score - surged in the final 90 seconds of the first half and added yet another touchdown with 26 seconds left on the clock, as Dalton found Jimmy Young on a 14-yard scoring toss. TCU eventually did establish complete superiority on the scoreboard, but one late-half flourish did not and could not mask the fact that this is a slow-starting offense which could kill Patterson's pupils against Air Force or Utah.

If TCU doesn't get its offensive problems ironed out, the Frogs will lose both the Mountain West title and a chance to play in another top-tier bowl game, a BCS extravaganza in the January spotlight. This is why a team can win a game by 28 points over a team it despises and still feel powerfully unfulfilled. It's time for TCU's offense to insist on a top-shelf performance and back up a defense that's playing at an otherworldly level right now.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer