TCU Horned Frogs vs Oregon State Beavers Football Recap

It wasn’t Boise State over Virginia Tech, but it will certainly have to do.

The very Texas Christian squad that came up short in last season’s Fiesta Bowl wants to have a shot at another BCS bowl, and possibly the BCS National Championship Game. That last goal might not be attainable, but the BCS bowl is. Therefore, quality wins are great for the Frogs, and they certainly gained one Saturday night, deep in the heart of Texas. Then again, TCU also needs to go 12-0, and if the Frogs are to be perfect, they have a lot of work ahead of them.

Therefore, from a TCU perspective, this is a somewhat significant win, but a win that shouldn’t quite create euphoria in Fort Worth. It should put smiles on the faces of TCU fans, but it could either become a benefit or a curse for head coach Gary Patterson’s team.

This game could be a blessing if it enables quarterback Andy Dalton to display greater ball security. Dalton turnovers hurt TCU in the Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State last January, and they were the only thing which prevented the Horned Frogs from sealing this game a lot earlier in the proceedings at Cowboys Stadium. TCU had momentum – clear and substantial momentum – on each of the two occasions when Dalton threw a crippling interception. If Dalton realizes that his team’s superior athleticism will carry the day as long as the Frogs don’t give away the rock, Big No. 14 will make TCU that much better. The only times TCU loses are when unforced turnovers – nervous errors – hijack their larger plans.

This win will be something of a curse, though, if it creates a false sense of security or if it marks the continuation of ball-security problems for Dalton.

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Well, no matter what you think, one thing that’s certain is that TCU is 1-0 and the owner of a win over the No. 24 team in the United States. Playcalling had a fair amount to do with the outcome of this tussle, held inside the same stadium that will host Super Bowl XLV.

TCU’s Jarrett Anderson and Justin Fuente might have struggled to find the right mix of plays for Dalton in the first half, but they settled on a good formula in the second half of Saturday’s game. The two co-coordinators are overshadowed at TCU by defensive coordinator Dick Bumpas, who is considered an elite mind in college football. On Saturday, it was really TCU’s offensive minds who stole the show, due to what they did at (and after) halftime.

Anderson and Fuente spent their offseason time to good effect, because inside Cowboys Stadium, they unleashed of the more creative running plays that’s been seen in the evolution of modern-day college football. The two-headed TCU playcallers didn’t just draw up a quick-hitting option play. They did so from a shotgun look. They had the TCU center snap the ball on a slanted line… but not to a running back, which you will sometimes see from the shotgun. Dalton – as soon as the ball was snapped – began moving to his right, which basically started the flow of an option play before Dalton even touched the ball. Oregon State’s defense was late in chasing down this play to the strong side of the gridiron, and Dalton gained clusters of yards without too much resistance. TCU’s second-half execution, minus one Dalton interception, was very fun to watch, and it explains why the Frogs racked up 278 rushing yards, with at least three different players picking up 64 yards and workhorse Ed Wesley – the main man in the second half – rumbling for 134 of those yards... yards that enabled TCU to start its season off right.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer