Hello Celebritys

From TCU Media Relations: TCU linebacker Tank Carder has been named a second-team preseason All-American, while 10 Horned Frogs have received All-Mountain West Conference accolades from Athlon Sports.

Additionally, Athlon ranks TCU's duo of Carder and Tanner Brock as the sixth-best linebacker unit in the nation with the Horned Frogs holding the No. 15 position in the preseason poll.

Joining Carder as first-team preseason All-MWC picks are wide receiver Josh Boyce, offensive guard Kyle Dooley and defensive end Stansly Maponga. Representing TCU on the second team are Brock, safety Tekerrein Cuba, placekicker Ross Evans, cornerback Greg McCoy, tailback Ed Wesley and defensive tackle D.J. Yendrey.

A senior from Sweeny, Texas, Carder was a first-team All-American last season and the Defensive Most Valuable Player in TCU's 21-19 Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin. He has been instrumental in TCU leading the nation in total defense each of the last three seasons.

Carder posted 60 tackles last year, including 9 1/2 for loss. He totaled 3 1/2 sacks, five pass breakups and an interception.

In the 21-19 Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin, Carder broke up the Badgers' potential game-tying 2-point pass with exactly two minutes to play. He totaled six tackles in the contest, including three for loss with a sack.

Brock led TCU with 106 tackles, 26 more than the next-closest Horned Frog. He was a first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection and third-team All-American in 2010.

The junior from Copperas Cove, Texas, recorded a career-high 12 tackles and an interception in TCU's 47-7 win at Utah. He added nine stops in the Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin.

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.

TCU extended their regular season winning streak to 17 games as they took down SMU in Dallas 41-24 Friday night. It wasn’t pretty, but I will take a 17 point win on the road any day of the week. Let’s break it down…

- Andy Dalton wasn’t great in this one. He got the job done, but it was probably his worst performance of the season in my opinion. Dalton now has 3 multiple interception games in his last 5 dating back to the Fiesta Bowl. If the Frogs turn the ball over like that against Utah or Air Force, they will easily be beat.

- The TCU RB’s looked good once again. Ed Wesley left early in the game with an injury, but redshirt freshman Waymon James was able to step in and play his part. James had 41 yards and 2 touchdowns on 8 carries. Matthew Tucker finished with 63 yards and a TD, the 12^th of his career.

- Speaking of running backs, SMU has a pretty good one in Zach Line. He is a big Mike Alstott type runner and is physical. Line had 17 carries for 139 yard and a touchdown. SMU was killing the Frogs defense with the draw play all night long.

- Jeremy Kerley is an absolute BEAST!! His 83 yard kick return was a huge turning point in the game, and the guy just continues to come up big for the Frogs. Kerley set a career high with 234 all-purpose yards. He had 172 yards on kickoff returns, 23 on punt returns, 33 yards receiving and six yards rushing. He had a pass for 11 yards also. This is back-to-back games where Kerley has racked up over 200 all-purpose yards. If anyone on this team deserves a Heisman campaign, it’s Jeremy Kerley. He is clearly the best player on the team, and one of the most electrifying players in college football.

- I was very pleased with the pressure TCU was able to get on Kyle Padron. It seemed like Stansly Maponga and Wayne Daniels were hitting him all night long.

- I thought the new white uniforms looked pretty good. I still prefer the purple or Pro Combat jerseys, but the all white looked good.

- Could the announcers have been any worse? I am pretty sure those two were watching a completely different game then what I was watching. They were constantly wrong on everything they said. I hope BYU enjoys those Friday night ESPN games…

All in all, it wasn’t the best game the Frogs have played, but they got a 17 point win on the road against a bowl team so you can’t be completely disappointed. I am not trying to hype up the Ponies because TCU struggled against them, but June Jones is turning that program around and SMU has a legit shot at winning Conference USA. Don’t forget, this SMU team scored more points on Texas Tech than the Longhorns did. They aren’t a pushover any more.

Before I go, I have to say that if I hear any more people talking about “style points” I am going to throw up!!

GO FROGS!!

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.

2010 TCU Football Schedule

Date	Opponent / Event	Location
09/04/10	vs. Oregon State	Arlington, Texas (Cowboys Stadium)
09/11/10	vs. Tennessee Tech	Fort Worth, Texas
09/18/10	vs. Baylor	Fort Worth, Texas
09/24/10	at SMU	Dallas, Texas
10/02/10	at Colorado State	Fort Collins, Colo.
10/09/10	vs. Wyoming	Fort Worth, Texas
10/16/10	vs. BYU	Fort Worth, Texas
10/23/10	vs. Air Force	Fort Worth, Texas
10/30/10	at UNLV	Las Vegas, Nev.
11/06/10	at Utah	Salt Lake City, Utah
11/13/10	vs. San Diego State	Fort Worth, Texas
11/27/10	at New Mexico	Albuquerque, N.M.