No. 7 TCU focused solely on Texas Tech and not College Football Playoffs rankings
While most of the college football world will be focused on the initial release of the College Football Playoff rankings, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes won’t be among them.
There’s already enough on his plate as the Horned Frogs continue their Big 12 campaign with Texas Tech rolling into Amon G. Carter Stadium on Saturday.
“I didn’t know the rankings came out tonight,” Dykes said Tuesday. “I don’t know that that’s going to affect anything. I think our guys understand that for us to be in the conversation, we have to win. So why worry about anything else other than winning?”
The challenge of beating the Red Raiders will be more difficult than the two teams’ records might indicate. Texas Tech is 4-4 and could struggle to reach bowl eligibility.
But Dykes says Tech has shown really good flashes and can’t be taken lightly.
“It’s a team that as times this year that has played really well. A lot of firepower on both sides of the ball, I think it’s a really dangerous football team. They have a big win against Texas and really looked dominant in their win over West Virginia. It’s a football team capable of doing some really good things,” Dykes said.
One of those is what the team can do offensively in an air raid offense that attempts more than 50 passes per game on average.
“It’s similar to what (Kliff Kingsbury) was doing. There are more new wrinkles week-to-week than the traditional air raid, which has a small menu of plays,” Dykes said. “It’s all really sound and well thought out. When you put the tape on and look at the quarterback (Behren Morton) he makes some throws that not many guys can make and he’s a freshman. I think offensively they’ve got a real bright future and our job is to contain them on Saturdays.”
The Red Raiders like to get the ball out quickly and into the hands of as many players as possible. It’s a different challenge for TCU’s defensive line which finally showed life with its pass rush against West Virginia.
“It can change a lot, they run about 100 plays a game, 100-plus even. Because of that and the tempo they run, the plays come faster and the ball gets thrown quicker so you have to get your hands up faster. Sometimes you won’t get to the quarterback as fast as you want to,” senior defensive lineman Dylan Horton said.
Horton says the tempo of facing the TCU offense plus the likes of SMU, Oklahoma and others has the defense ready for what could be a heavy workload Saturday.
Dykes is hoping the defense can get off to a quicker start after needing another set of halftime adjustments to buckle down against West Virginia.
“These guys score points in bunches. We’re going to need to start faster than we have. I think we can, I think we will. We were really fortunate to win last week because I think we had symptoms of an illness that started to show up in practice during the week. I did a poor job of making sure we did things to our standard,” Dykes said.
Dykes says the coaches addressed that with the team and he feels confident the defense will be able to get more stops early.
Miller time?
TCU running back Kendre Miller first showed he was capable of being a lead back last season against Texas Tech as he filled in for Zach Evans and ran wild against the Red Raiders. Miller had 185 yards and three touchdowns in Lubbock last year on just 12 carries. He still remembers that game well.
“I really just remember finishing. Zach played the first half and got hurt and they were depending on me to step up and I had to just step up and perform,” Miller said.
Another performance like that would make things easier for the Horned Frogs. Miller has been on a roll with five 100 yard performances in his last six outings. Creating those opportunities will start with handling linebacker and edge rusher Tyree Wilson, who leads the Red Raiders in tackles for loss and sacks.
“(No.) 19 (Wilson) is a great player,” team captain Steve Avila said. “The D-line is very strong. (Wilson) has great length and they slant here and there so it’s going to keep us on our Ps and Qs. We just have to stay focused on the things they do.”
As for Miller, Avila hasn’t been surprised by Miller’s emergence as a premiere back nationally. Miller’s on the cusp of a 1,000 yard season and already has 11 touchdowns.
“He just doesn’t go down sometimes and it’s insane to see. He spins out of tackles and keep his balance and gets an extra two or three yards. He’s a really good running back and we’re glad to have him,” Avila said.
In two of Tech’s losses the Red Raiders have allowed a rusher to top 100 yards, including 148 from Baylor’s Richard Reese this past Saturday. If Miller can hit that threshold for the sixth time in seven games then it bodes well for TCU moving to 9-0.
“Tech has all senior starters or something like that. They know what they’re doing and we can’t go out there and take them lightly. We have to come out and play more physical, last week against West Virginia I don’t think we played as physical as we have been so I think we need to get back to that,” Miller said.
Bradford returns
The TCU defense has been without nickel safety Millard Bradford the past three games, but the senior is back and ready to go for the Red Raiders. Defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie said Bradford’s position in his defense is the most cerebral and probably the most challenging to play.
The Horned Frogs got mixed results from that position as Josh Foster started in his place against Oklahoma State and then Namdi Obiazor got the start the last two games against Kansas State and West Virginia. Dykes said his return should help a defense that is still trying to find consistency.
“To me he’s a really good football player. When you look at those safety positions and you run the type of defense we run those are very important positions. Those guys have to do a lot of things for you defensively. They have to be very well-rounded football players,” Dykes said. “It’s going to be a huge deal for us (to get him back).”
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM.
