TCU Football: Takeaways From The Nicholls Game

Week Two was the week for the Frogs to get back on track and show some fight out on the field. It happened, somewhat. TCU walked away with a 41-6 victory against Nicholls. Last week, I talked about the positive and negative takeaways from the game, as I will continue to do every week. This week, though, will be shorter due to our opponent being FCS, and there isn't quite as much to take away from a team where the spread was -41.5.

The Negatives

The Effort

Watching this game, and I have now sat through watching it twice as I do every game to ensure I have enough time to catch everything that happened, seemed like an off-game to me. Last week, Coach Dykes talked about how the team didn't seem energized or excited for the game, and while they came out excited and fired up this week, it seemed to fizzle quickly.

The defense lacked effort in the second half, and the offense seemed to lack effort from the second quarter until the end (minus Chandler Morris). They seemed to be going through the motions too many times, like they were playing to get to the end of the game and not making a statement that last week's loss to Colorado was just a fluke.

Maybe it was just an off-game; perhaps it was just that they knew they didn't have to play as hard because they were playing a lesser opponent. But it seems to be two games in a row now that the team doesn't seem to have that fire lit under them like they had last year.

Next week, they have their first away game and first conference game against Houston. It's a game they should win if they don't come out flat like they have been.

The Positives

The Defense

Saturday's defense had a heck of a performance, holding Nicholls to 263 yards of total offense and out of the red zone. The tackling was much better overall, and the secondary had no busted coverages. That was a performance that fans and the team needed to see happen.

Last week left a lot of doubts about just how good the Horned Frog defense was, and this week answered those questions. While there is room for improvement on the D-Line, they played a much better game this week, and Damonic Williams had a sack. Overall, I think the defense is in a good spot.

Also this week, we saw Shedeur Sanders throw for over 400 yards against a highly touted Nebraska defense, which should put some ease into swallowing last week's defensive performance.

Chander Morris

TCU's quarterback's performance was nothing less than a statement from him proving he's the guy. Morris finished 26-30 with 263 yards in the air. More importantly, he finished with 63 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown.

I know he doesn't have Duggan's rushing attack, but if Morris can scramble even just a little, it opens up our offense much more. Morris talked in his post-game media presser that last week, he seemed to have a mental block on his ability to rush using his legs, but with help from a sports psychiatrist and Briles, he overcame that. Morris doesn't need to become a dual-threat quarterback, but if he can take off when a play breaks down like last night, it puts him and the team in a better position to win games.

This game didn't tell us a lot, but what it did was answer essential questions that we, as fans, had. The effort is still something I'd like to see more of last week, and I believe we will, but other than that, the game was an overall positive. Next week, the Frogs go to Houston and take on a team that shouldn't be too much trouble for the boys unless they come out flat. After getting the first win of the season, the team doesn't have a team they aren't favored for four more weeks. This should be the positive momentum they need to get going.

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