Hello Celebritys

The 2011 TCU spring game is in the books and there is a lot to talk about. This was the public’s first opportunity to see the 2011 Horned Frogs in person, and I hate to say it, but can we have Andy Dalton back?? Kidding…kind of… Anyways, let’s get to the good stuff.

- The quarterback position has a long way to go. I thought Casey Pachall looked much better than Matt Brown, but neither QB was spectacular. I would say Brown is the better runner, but Pachall made better throws and reads. Don’t get me wrong, both QB’s made some nice plays, but there were also a couple bad throws and a tendency to hold onto the ball for too long.

- I love TCU’s stable of running backs. Ed Wesley was held out, but we got to see a good dose of Matthew Tucker, Aundre Dean, and Dwight Smith. Dean had a few nice, hard runs. I had questioned him last season since a lot of his yardage came in mop up duty, but he can be a force for TCU this fall. I was also very impressed with Dwight Smith. His speed moving laterally is just as impressive as his straight on speed. On one play Smith juked left, and cut back right to leave a defender on skates.

- Skye Dawson seemed to be Pachall’s receiver of choice. Dawson made numerous catches and could easily be the replacement for Jeremy Kerley this season. Josh Boyce had a couple catches also. It was a rough day for Antoine Hicks. Hicks dropped a sure TD in the end zone and also got the wind knocked out of him after falling on the ball and fumbling.

- My biggest concern for the offense headed into this season is the offensive line. The defense was able to get pressure on both QB’s and every yard on the ground was hard earned. I don’t know if it had to do with how well TCU’s defense was playing, or if there are some concerns there.

- The defense looked outstanding. The first and second team were flying around the ball and delivering hard hits. Tank Carder didn’t participate, but as far as I could tell the rest of the first team defense was intact. At this point, the defense is light years ahead of the offense. That is to be expected though.

- Stansly Maponga is a beast. There is no other way to put it. We saw what he did last season, and 2011 should be ever better. It seemed like Maponga was in the backfield in almost every play. I was also impressed with nose tackle Ray Burns. I remember seeing Burns make a few good stops and a tackle in the backfield.

- I think Travaras Battle will be a good corner for the Frogs. He made a couple of good pass deflections and was also in the mix on running plays.

- The construction on the stadium is looking good. I can’t wait until it’s completely finished because it is starting to look extremely cool. I was surprised at how good the field looked considering all of the construction going on around it.

- If you didn’t check out the spring sale you missed a good opportunity to scoop up some jerseys.

Overall I would say it was a good spring game. Both sides of the ball have improvements yet to make, but all of that should be ironed out by the time September rolls around. This team is a work is progress, but I have no doubt Patterson will have the guys ready.