What Did We Learn From TCU's Preventable Week 0 Loss

TCU left Dublin with a loss that felt largely self-inflicted. So what did the Horned Frogs show us, both good and bad, in a frustrating Week 0 opener?

TCU Horned Frogs head coach Sonny Dykes in the second half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Aviva Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Welcome back to another season of What Did We Learn? Now in its third year, this weekly column looks beyond the box score at what TCU fans can take away from each weekend.

College football is back around the country, and for fans of the TCU Horned Frogs, as eager as they were to watch the program kick off the year, some are already wishing for it to be over, or that it never even happened.

A week 0 loss to the Bill Belichick-led North Carolina Tar Heels, which featured messier play than the weather, left a bad taste in the mouths of fans, and surely the players as well.

With two weeks to stew on the result and ponder where the team goes from here, what was learned from the Dublin derailment?

Everything Stinks After TCU’s Week 0 Loss

The TCU Horned Frogs enter the field at Aviva Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

That was one of the worst games I have seen the Frogs play.

Sure, there have been other games that were perhaps worse losses, and there have certainly been head-scratching losses, but this loss is up there on its own.

The Tar Heels were practically begging the Frogs to win throughout that game.

The Frogs just couldn't get out of their own way. Costly penalties, miscommunication, failed execution, and in rainy weather that felt like a field devoid of energy, were also devoid of good football play for both teams.

For all intents and purposes, Sonny Dykes defended his team after the game, as any coach would, claiming this will still be a good football team, and this isn't the team he saw all camp, with no indications this result was coming, and not to play Devil's advocate, he isn't wrong.

I talked during fall camp and genuinely waited two weeks to get a full scope of the roster, the talent, and the level, before giving them some hype. Speaking with people close to the program and seeing it firsthand, it felt like the direction the program was heading this season matched with everything the coaching staff wanted.

Then the game came, and the Frogs finished with 11 penalties, more than they had in all live scrimmages that featured refs this camp. They had botched snaps, which didn't feature Will Terry, the long-snapper who was working with the group all camp.

There were drops by receivers. There were 11 total penalties on the Frogs, a far cry from their average of seven a game last year, which ranked 103rd in college football. There were so many small things that popped up, but those were supposed to be fixed this year.

They weren't, and an uphill battle quietly turned into an impossible situation.

The Tar Heels were offering the win on a silver platter, and the Frogs just kept slamming it down, refusing to help themselves.

Everything that was worked so hard to achieve this fall seemed to have been left in Fort Worth. This wasn't the team from camp; that certainly wasn't the quarterback seen during fall camp, and that certainly wasn't the discipline that was the focus of the past month.

Jaden Craig had a disastrous debut in a game that was on for the entire world to see. There were plays he didn't use his legs, and after the game, he spoke on wishing to trust his legs more throughout the game, but it didn't happen.

Reflection matters. The Frogs have plenty of time for that and will certainly fare better against their next two opponents, but everything that was seen in Ireland, hopefully, stays there. If not, the Big 12 slate won't be kind to the Frogs, and for a team that has such high expectations, this was a less-than-ideal start for the season.

Well, Maybe Not Everything Stinks

TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver Jeremy Scott (6) drops a pass in the end zone in the second half at Aviva Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jeremy Payne was a definite highlight for the Frogs, and in an offense devoid of play-making ability, he and Ed Small were a legitimate threat that the Tar Heels struggled to stop. Payne finished with 142 rushing yards on 25 carries, his third 100-yard-plus rushing game after having two last year. He showed exactly why he was talked about all camp, and then some.

He looks like the best pure running back the Frogs have had in a few years, including being a legitimate threat in the passing game with five receptions for 27 yards. His ability to bounce after a running lane gets clogged gives him explosive ability that the offense has sorely missed the past few seasons.

Small was great, and was the No. 1 target the offense desperately needed in the passing game. He has shown what he can do, and with Dozie Ezukanma and Jordan Dwyer coming back, and the depth options still there, the receiving core looks to be in a decent spot.

Of course, that all depends on how the passing game looks. Craig, for as much as he struggled, did have his flashes, including a nice rollout play to find Small for a first down, and a dart over the middle to find Ka'Morreun Pimpton for a 40-yard gain.

Defensively, Gil Jackson is great, and he had a fantastic game. Max Carroll is the clear leader of the defense, and his time learning under Kaleb Elarms-Orr definitely shows. Ansel Din-Mbuh generated a sack, and Paul Oyewale had a win percentage of 23 percent pass rushing, according to PFF.

There were small wins. New offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis stuck with the run, but his play-calling was made tougher based on the fact that the passing game was non-existent. Craig's average depth of target was 7.1 yards, which would have been the fourth shortest last year, while having a time to throw of 2.59 seconds, which would have been the 19th fastest as well.

There were certainly more negatives than positives, and frankly, it's hard to look at anything from that result positively, but I do offer this.

The next two games should serve as giant confidence boosts for the team, and hopefully Craig finds some rhythm there. This wasn't the team from camp, and if the Frogs can find them over the next two weeks, they are still in fair shape, with plenty of opportunity to make noise in front of them still.

What did you learn from TCU’s season-opening loss? Join the conversation with Horned Frogs fans on the KillerFrogs.com forum as TCU heads into the bye week and begins the work of putting Dublin behind it.