TCU Horned Frogs vs LA-Monroe Warhawks Football Preview

TCU heads into week three with a much more positive feeling than it had heading into week two. After its traditionally strong defense gave up 50 points to Baylor in week one, the Horned Frogs bounced back to post a solid 35-19 conference win over Air Force. The Frogs held the Air Force option attack to 249 rushing yards—a respectable number against a formidable run game—and forced two lost fumbles in the win.

Not only did the defense bounce back, but TCU’s offense kept going as well. A perfect balance of 206 passing yards from Casey Pachall combined with 204 rushing yards from TCU’s talented crop of running backs churned out 35 points for TCU in three quarters.

In this game, it appears that the Frogs will be without experienced back Ed Wesley once again; the team’s leading rusher from last year is out with a shoulder injury. However, with Matthew Tucker and Waymon James still in the stable as more-than-serviceable replacements, TCU’s run game should still be fine. Tucker and James combined for 150 yards last week in Colorado Springs, powering the Frogs to a conference conquest that alleviated a lot of the worries and doubts created by the Baylor loss.

The Frogs will be hosting Louisiana-Monroe in Fort Worth. The Warhawks are coming off a 35-7 win over Grambling State last week after taking their lumps in a 34-0 loss to Florida State in week one. Louisiana-Monroe will have to try to get its ground game going against the physical TCU defense to stay in this game. The Warhawks have struggled in the passing game this season; quarterback Kolton Browning has thrown for only 246 yards in two games, completing only 52 percent of his passes. The men from Monroe have not been a model of offensive efficiency. Recent history bears this out: ULM has never made a bowl game in its relatively short history as a program. The team did stun the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa in November of 2007, registering what was by far the biggest and most impressive win in program history. However, Charlie Weatherbie – the coach who engineered that upset – was fired in 2010 and replaced by current coach Todd Berry, who formerly put in time as the head man at Army.

> Find a great selection of TCU Horned Frogs apparel & merchandise online as well as the MWC Football Scoreboard!

Expecting a win here from Monroe would be quite unreasonable, but this game is extremely important for the Warhawks because it needs to establish solid habits and tendencies that will enable ULM to thrive in its upcoming Sun Belt Conference season. If TCU and coach Gary Patterson can’t teach an opponent some new and valuable tricks, Louisiana-Monroe’s trek to Fort Worth will be all for naught.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer