Brothers from Aledo now starting for TCU football. ‘We’re still not used to it.’
TCU never scored a touchdown on its opening drive last season. The Horned Frogs started this season by scoring TDs on their first three drives against lower-level Duquesne but reverted to their slow-starting ways against Cal two weeks ago.
Cal jumped to a 12-0 lead before TCU got on the board midway through the second quarter. The Frogs went on to a 34-32 victory, but they know faster starts must happen as the season progresses.
Just ask TCU guard Wes Harris, who spoke of the importance with SMU visiting town on Saturday. The Mustangs average 43.3 points a game and the Frogs don’t want to find themselves in another early hole.
“It’s really important,” said Harris, a senior from Aledo. “A team like SMU plays fast. A lot of no-huddle, hurry-up offense. The faster we start putting up points it takes a lot of pressure off our defense. SMU’s offense has been fast-paced the last few years and they’ve been really good at it.
“For us, we have struggled getting out of the gates fast but we’ve been practicing hard and practice habits turn into game habits. Practicing fast getting out there and ready to go. Hopefully this week we can show we’re done with the slow starts.”
Harris touched on a number of other topics as he spoke with reporters this week, including playing in a game that he and his brother Wyatt started. Wes Harris, who sat out the opener against Duquesne, started at guard against Cal while his younger brother Wyatt started at linebacker.
They hadn’t started in the same game since their Aledo days.
“It’s really fun,” Wes said. “I take a lot of pride seeing Wyatt out there playing and I know he does the same for me. It’s more than exciting. It’s a little different. We’re still not used to it. We still joke around about it but, at the end of the day, we’re really proud of each other. It’s exciting to look out there and see us both playing.”
Other subjects Harris discussed:
His early impressions of the O-line: “There’s always room for improvement. You watch the film and it’s never as good as you think it is and never as bad as you think it is. We can definitely see flashes in that potential of what we can be. We’re working on the little things — technique, penalties. Last week I had a holding call. We know we have a special group. We have three or four really good running backs we’re really excited to block for let alone Max (Duggan) that can run just as good as any of them. We know we have a chance to have a special group up front so we’re working hard to get toward that.”
TCU RB Zach Evans: “That’s a special kid right there. He’s a great running back. He’s probably the best running back I’ve personally seen. He came up to us after the game in the locker room and thanked every one of us and shook our hands. We got a lot of respect for Zach and we’re excited to block for a guy like that.”
Switching between left and right guard during a game as he did against Cal: “It’s not as hard as you think it is. It’s definitely different just from your reads and rules and stuff. Coach (Jarrett) Anderson and Coach (Garrett) Altman are good offensive line coaches and they make us work both sides in practices. We got a good feeling of the left and right side. It’s not too much of a jump.”
SMU’s front seven: “They’re good. They play really hard. They’re really fast. On film it’s never just one or two guys making a tackle, you got six, seven, eight guys running to them. Their defensive line is fast and physical. It’s a good challenge for us. We’re excited to play a good opponent.”
The sour taste from the 2019 loss to SMU: “It was tough because it was the first time since I was here that we lost to SMU and it was the first time I’ve seen TCU lose to SMU in a while too. Last year we didn’t get a chance to play them because of COVID and we’ve been waiting a little while. We got all the respect in the world for SMU. They’re a good opponent. We’ve definitely been thinking about it a while and we’re excited to go out there and getting a shot to bring the skillet home.”
