How much longer can TCU’s defense keep “saving” the Frogs?
Jalen Reagor didn’t take long to answer when asked about TCU’s defense so far this season.
“I’m going to keep it very honest – the defense saves us at times,” said Reagor, TCU’s leading receiver with 359 yards on 29 catches.
“They do their part and we have just got to make sure we capitalize on our part. But the defense is playing great.”
How good is the defense playing?
The Frogs are the Big 12’s top total defense, allowing 303.6 yards per game, and the top pass defense, allowing 178 yards per game. The run defense checks in at No. 4 (125.6 rushing yards per game).
TCU boasts the best third-down defense, too, limiting opponents to just 30 percent (21-for-70) on those critical downs.
Linebacker Garret Wallow is emerging as one of its most productive players with a team-high 39 tackles. Defensive tackle Corey Bethley has established himself as a disruptive interior force with three sacks and six tackles for loss, while safety Innis Gaines is making his presence felt with 6.5 tackles for loss and seven passes defended.
Jeff Gladney is one of the top cornerbacks in the league and has six passes defended.
This is all positive, of course, but as coach Gary Patterson said after Saturday’s 17-14 victory over Iowa State: “There’s a lot of good offenses that we’ve got in front of us.”
Yes, they do. And it begs the question of just how much longer the defense can sustain this level of play.
Five of the final seven opponents are ranked among the best passing teams in the nation. Texas Tech is one of two teams in the country averaging more than 400 yards through the air (407.6), joining Washington State (410.4).
West Virginia has the third-most passing yards (372.8). Other Big 12 schools ranking among the top are Baylor (331.4), Oklahoma (318.8) and Oklahoma State (314).
It reflected on Saturday’s scoreboard. Oklahoma put up 66 points; Oklahoma State 48; and West Virginia 42.
That’s why Patterson made it a point after Saturday’s win that his team – and the home crowd – have to be engaged and spirited from the start going forward.
“We don’t need to wait and see if we want to get after it,” Patterson said. “My team, nor the crowd, we need to all get into the game. I promise you, in the next seven a few of those are at home, we better start from the very beginning of the clock.
“It’s going to take all of that to win. Everybody can score.”
The good news for the Frogs is the defense still has room to grow. It’s been far from perfect despite the impressive stats to date.
TCU has been prone to giving up a big play such as a third-and-25 against Iowa State. The Frogs haven’t forced many takeaways. And players such as LB/ DE Ty Summers and DE Ben Banogu have the ability to become even more productive down the stretch.
Summers lamented how many missed tackles he had in the Iowa State game, saying it’s likely the most in his career. How is he going about fixing that in today’s environment where defenders don’t take players to the ground in tackling drills?
“It’s just something you need to make a conscious effort on whenever we’re going against scout team and such,” Summers said. “Obviously we can’t take those guys to the ground, but practice on thudding them up correctly. Something I was trying to emphasize this week and I’m going to continue to emphasize is wrapping guys up cause that’s something I was struggling with.”
Banogu had a notable missed tackle himself on Iowa State’s third-and-25 conversion, and acknowledged he has to make those plays. But Banogu made a game-changing play with a scoop-and-score touchdown on a fumble caused by Gaines.
That ended a two-game takeaway drought for the defense and the hope is that takeaways will start coming in bunches now.
“That’s one thing we really take pride in is causing turnovers and being a nuisance to the quarterback and the offensive coordinator and the whole offense,” Banogu said. “These past couple of weeks have kind of been tough, but for us to go out and create some turnovers and create some energy for the offense was really good.”