TCU: Not A Pushover

           The second week of the college football season was played this past weekend.  I watched several games this weekend and the one that stood out to me was Grambling State vs Texas Christian University.  After watching this game, I can say that the Big 12 teams have a major threat in the conference and this would be TCU.

            The first strength of TCU is their coaches.  They had the team ready to play.  It looked like they were in midseason form, but this was their first game of the season.  That is a credit to the head coach, Gary Patterson.  He is a great coach for any team to have.  I say this because when the camera showed him on the sidelines he would be rallying his team. At any time during the game, the momentum could have shifted to Grambling State, but it never did.  The last reason why he is a strength for this team, is due to him making sure his team knew Grambling States’ ways of playing the game so they would be ready to play.

            In the first quarter, TCU started out fast, which is a strength all teams need to have.  The first strength of TCU in the game was their defense, which forced Grambling State to punt not too long after the game started.  They also were able to accomplish this by swarming to the ball wherever it was on the field.  When Grambling State punted the ball to TCU, TCU’s Deanté Gray caught and ran the ball for a 70 yard punt return touchdown.  This made the score 7-0 within the first two minutes of the game.  After TCU’s defense came out on the field for the Grambling State possession, they quickly forced them to punt.  This is why they should be feared.  Now, I know you might be thinking what about the strength of the offense?  Their quarterback, Casey Pachall, and the running back, Waymon James, are real strengths for this team.  Pachall has the ability to find his teammates easily and quick.  James is quick and he looks for the open holes in the defense.  He did this in the first quarter really well and helped put his team up 14-0. 

The great thing about this team is they score quick and often, which makes them hard to stop.  This was evident when the defense was back on the field.  In less than ten seconds from when the offense scored, the defense intercepted the ball and scored a touchdown, making the score 21-0.  Before the first quarter was over, the offense, special teams, and defense had scored.  This team has no weakness, only strength.  They were solid in all phases of the game in the first quarter and it continued throughout the game.  This is a perfect scenario for teams to have at the start of a new season.  At the end of the first quarter, TCU had a 28-0 lead.  After the first quarter, I thought TCU might have started to relax and take it easy, but that was not the case.  They stayed motivated and ready to go.  I also thought they would have had more penalties in the quarter and in the game as well, but surprisingly they only had a couple.  At this point, I do not see a team who could stop TCU’s abilities.

            At the start of the second quarter, TCU continued to play as well as they did in the first quarter.  This was evident because Grambling State could not move the ball or stop TCU’s offense.  There were only a few times TCU was forced to a 3^rd down in the first half.  The offense was still able to convert and score two times before the end of the half to make it 42-0.  This speaks volumes for how solid this team is because they do not let anything get to them.  When Big 12 teams face TCU, their defense needs to make sure to stop TCU or the game could be over before the second half begins.  TCU completely dominated Grambling State by not letting them make any kind of drive.

            In the third quarter, TCU finally was stopped by Grambling State and had to punt for the first time.  This should make Big 12 teams take notice and prepare for all the ways TCU can win.  TCU scored their last points late in the 3^rd quarter, which did not matter because Grambling State was not going to be able to make a come back from a 56 point deficit.

TCU’s strength in this game was not letting the players of the other team bother them.  They kept pushing forward without taking any steps backward.  They know how not to be stopped because they rarely punted the ball in the game.  With the way TCU played, I have no doubt they will be a great addition to the Big 12 Conference.  They are going to be able to win against the bigger teams of the Big 12, such as Oklahoma and Texas.  In closing, I would like to say Grambling State fought as hard as they could, but were completely out matched in this game.  They did not If this game showed anything, it showed that if the Big 12 teams are not prepared physically or mentally for TCU, they will dominate the conference.  TCU should not be taken lightly.  If you want to see highlights of the game, here is a link to watch them.  http://www.big12sports.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=34330&id=1043049

The University of Kansas will be TCU’s next opponent.  This will be the first game of the Big 12 Conference.  It will be one to watch to see how TCU will do against one of the regular teams of the Big 12.  The game will take place in Lawrence, Kansas at Memorial Stadium.  Here is a Google map for the location of the game.

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