Hello Celebritys

I hope you are ready, because it’s time for Angry Trey’s much anticipated TCU Season preview for 2010. If you remember correctly, I absolutely hit the nail on the head with last year’s preview. Let’s see what I can do this season. The Horned Frogs get their march towards the BSC underway Saturday night against Oregon State at Cowboys Stadium, and it could be another special season for Gary Patterson and the Frogs.

TCU returns 16 of 22 starters who made a run to the Fiesta Bowl last season, and the most important of the group is quarterback Andy Dalton. I said it last year, and I am saying it this year, Andy is the key to this offense. Dalton is currently the winningest QB in college football and is only one win away from passing Sammy Baugh on the all-time TCU win list. It is crucial that Dalton plays well and stays healthy if TCU hopes to have success. I think having a senior quarterback in college football is such an advantage, and there shouldn’t be many situations on the field that he hasn’t seen or experienced already.

“The Rooster” won’t be able to do it all by himself, luckily TCU has a great offensive line, solid WR’s, and a deep stable of running backs to go along with him. To put it in simple terms, the TCU offense is NASTY!!

Starting up front on the offensive line, there are a few changes but nothing to be worried about. Marcus Cannon is moving from right tackle to left tackle and senior Zach Roth will now hold down the right tackle spot. Anchoring the o-line is first team pre-season All-American center Jake Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick is on the Outland and Rimington Award Watch Lists, and is ranked third in the nation among centers according to Lindy’s.

The Frogs return all but one WR from last year’s team. Jimmy Young, Antoine Hicks, and the electrifying Jeremy Kerley all are poised for big seasons. There was the thought that Jimmy Young would be moved into the slot, but that is no longer the case and will return back outside. A guy to keep your eye on is redshirt freshman #82 Josh Boyce.

I don’t know if this is the deepest Coach Patterson and TCU has ever been at running back, but I can’t think of a time where he has had more talent in the backfield. Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley are expected to get the bulk of the carries, but watch out for Aundre Dean. Dean sat out last season after transferring from UCLA, but he has nice size and good speed and could make his presence known. Those guys will also have completion from Waymon James, and possibly Dwight Smith, but I expect Smith to get red shirted this season.

Now, onto what TCU is known for and that’s the stingy and fast 4-2-5 defense. TCU lost some key pieces from that top ranked defense last season. Defensive end Jerry Hughes and linebacker Daryl Washington were lost to the NFL Draft and corners Rafael Priest and Nick Sanders to graduation. TCU no longer has to retool though, they now just reload and I have faith in the guys stepping into those positions. You could make the argument that this year’s CB tandem of Greg McCoy and Jason Teague are better than Sanders and Priest, but the key will be who can get pressure on the quarterback. We know the pre-season MWC defensive player of the year Tank Carder and safety Tejay Johnson will be right in the thick of things once again, but what about the left defensive end position? Will Braylon Broughton or Stansly Maponga be able to get to the quarterback? That is yet to be seen.

I think you will see the Horned Frogs defense take a small step back this season, but it won’t be drastic. Instead of being in the top 5, they might be more in the 10-15 range. The good part about this is that TCU no longer has to rely solely on the defense since they now have an explosive offense to go along with it.

Here is where things get tricky. It’s time for a prediction and this makes me nervous. I am confident in this team, and I think they have what it takes to go on an undefeated run again, but is that reasonable? It is SO hard to go undefeated once, much less two seasons in a row. Factors like weather and injuries play such crucial roles in the season and you never know how it’s going to play out. I’m going with what my gut tells me though. There is not one team on TCU’s schedule that they cannot beat. The hardest game will be in Utah, but the game that worries me the most is Oregon State. If TCU wins the Oregon State game this Saturday, they will go undefeated in the regular season for the second straight year and appear in another BCS game. If they lose to Oregon State, they will go 11-1 and play in the Poinsettia Bowl or something. Call me a homer, or call me what you want, but I only speak the truth.