‘Let’s keep it rolling.’ T.J. Storment finally settling in as TCU’s left tackle
T.J. Storment didn’t have the most promising start to his TCU tenure.
The Colorado State graduate transfer went through a couple spring practices with his new team before everything was shut down in mid-March amid the coronavirus pandemic. Then, just as training camp was starting up, Storment tested positive for COVID-19 and was sidelined for a couple of weeks.
“That obviously wasn’t something I planned for,” Storment said. “It wasn’t something a lot of guys on the team who had to battle through it planned for. I was forced to step back and start praying that everything would go well. Obviously it did, but the first couple of games I wasn’t nearly as available as I wanted to be.”
The missed practice time led to Storment opening the season on the bench. He played limited snaps in the season opener against Iowa State, but struggled, and then sat out the following week at Texas.
But Storment saw action in the Kansas State game and has since played his way into the starting lineup. He’s been TCU’s starting left tackle the past two weeks against Oklahoma and Baylor, and is listed as the starter once again going into Saturday’s game against Texas Tech.
“I wasn’t the player I wanted to be early on, you know what I mean?” Storment said. “I’m not going to sit here and act like it was somebody else’s fault. I don’t blame anybody but myself for anything that ever happens to me.
“I took a few weeks, supported everyone else, and then God gave me the opportunity to play. I feel like the last few weeks have gone well and hopefully continue to build on that.”
This is the type of impact TCU hoped Storment would make when he decided to join the program in January. It was a wild recruiting process that saw Storment flip from Purdue to TCU in a span of 15 minutes. TCU is Storment’s fourth college as he started his career at Old Dominion (2016-17) then went to Fullerton College (2018) and then to Colorado State (2019).
At the end of the day, Storment joined a program that lost its top three tackles (Lucas Niang, Anthony McKinney and David Bolisomi) to graduation following the 2019 season. It was a win-win with Storment having an opportunity to win a starting job, and TCU landing an experienced player who started all 12 games at left tackle for Colorado State last season.
Despite the COVID setback, Storment feels he’s adjusted well to playing at a Power Five conference.
“Obviously I believe God gave me the ability to play the game well, so I feel like I’m going to be able to compete against whoever I go against, whether that’s here or somewhere else,” Storment said. “At the same time, it’s without saying, a Big 12 defensive end or three-technique or whatever I’m going against, they’re a better player. That’s why they’re at this level. Not to say last year I didn’t go against some elite pass rushers.”
With Storment and the offensive line gaining more experience together as the season progresses, TCU is becoming a better unit up front. The Frogs have been criticized for their O-line play early on, but they had one of the best performances in the 33-23 victory over Baylor last Saturday.
Pro Football Focus ranked TCU’s O-line as the fifth-best in the nation for the week.
“We’ve gotten better. We’ve really gotten better the last two weeks,” coach Gary Patterson said. “We moved some guys around and they’ve been playing together and competing.”
That just happens to coincide with Storment becoming the team’s starting left tackle. For his part, Storment knows this unit is starting to find its potential.
The Baylor game served as a confidence boost for the entire offense, and now it’s about carrying it forward.
“Having a game like that where we have quite a few knockdowns, guys locked on until the whistle blows, a few times where we’re getting a little chippy with them, that’s stuff you love as an offensive lineman,” Storment said. “It took us a while to get going, but at the same time here we are now playing ball, so let’s keep it rolling.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
