Bill Snyder always has his team ready to play, but when they are looking at the possibility of playing an offensive lineman at quarterback because of injuries, TCU needs to pounce.
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Despite an injury-plagued defense that has used 14 first-time starters, the Horned Frogs (5-0, 2-0) have their own high-powered offense and their 13-game winning streak is second only to top-ranked and defending national champion Ohio State’s 18 in a row.
Unfortunately, the defense can only do so much as whoever starts at quarterback this week, whether it’s Kody Cook or Joe Hubener, will have to get the job done through the air, but the ground game will have to open that up first. Their only venture away from home in November is a trip to Iowa State, while TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma all have to go to Stillwater.
Kansas State simply doesn’t have the personnel to keep TCU’s bevy of talented offensive threats in check, and since Patterson arrived at the school in 2000, the Horned Frogs are 26-8 when they throw for more than 300 yards, which they nearly certainly will do Saturday. Opposing quarterbacks are completing better than 60 percent of passes against them, and are averaging a quarterback rating of 124.87. As Kansas State’s beat writer, Kellis Robinett, posited in September, “Hayes thinks stopping the run is the most important thing a defense can do”. Oklahoma is soaring, with the Sooners cracking the nation’s top 10 this week.
“I make jest of it, but in reality it just means we have got to play better”, Snyder said. Along with his NCAA-leading number of touchdown passes, he ranks second in total offense, fourth in total passing yards and third in points responsible for per game.
Baylor at Kansas: The winless Jayhawks are 44-point underdogs to Baylor. Fourteen players on defense have made their first career starts this season.
To win, not only will the Wildcats need to transcend themselves, offensively, but will also need to mitigate TCU’s passing attack and keep the nouveau riche scoring machine of the Big 12 Conference in check. West Virginia is the best Big 12 scoring defense, allowing 16.8 points per game, while Oklahoma State gives up 19.2 points.
On the season, the TCU Horned Frogs average 396.4 yards in passing and 233.6 yards in rushing.
With a volatile quarterback situation and enough red flags to cover the entirety of the state on a map, Kansas State faces an uphill climb against the Horned Frogs.
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But the TCU Horned are only half way through their hectic schedule, the second half looks to be daunting but TCU seems to be taking it week by week and doing what they do best, at that is just being pure DOMINANT to anyone who tries to get in their way. TCU has won 21 of its last 27 conference road games…. The Wildcats have not defeated a top-five opponent at home since beating No. 4 Texas in 2006. Iowa State tailback Mike Warren has consecutive games of at least 100 yards rushing.
