For the past five seasons we have seen Oklahoma take at least some part of the Big-12 Championship home. We have seen teams like UT and Baylor recently make a push to dethrone the Sooners from Big-12 glory, but ultimately fall short of doing so. We saw Kansas State knock them off in a shocking fashion, but which team will be able to firmly take down Oklahoma?
Its not the Longhorns, I’ll tell ya that much.
How about the team that always seems to be forgotten? (Sometimes a little too much.) I have many reasons to believe TCU has what it takes to break Oklahoma’s Big-12 Championship streak, but let’s start out with what Oklahoma lost this year to the NFL Draft.
Oklahoma will be having to replace Jalen Hurts and CeeDee Lamb, one of the Big-12’s most deadly duos of the past decade. Spencer Rattler might have been the No. 1 overall quarterback of the Class of 2019, but he is no Jalen Hurts (Yet.). I do respect who they have at receiver, but you don’t replace CeeDee Lamb very easily. While the Sooners have an immense amount of talent at the receiver position, I will explain later why I think that just might not be enough.
On defense they will have to be replacing their two best players too. Kenneth Murray and Neville Gallimore were the leaders of this defense that was still considered suspect even with their talents. Without a clear replacement for either one, Oklahoma’s defense could be a major issue once again in 2020.
On the flip side, Gary Patterson continues to show why he is possibly the best defensive coach in the nation with the squads he posts out in Ft. Worth. Once again, TCU’s defense is going to be no question the best defense in the Big-12, and one of the better ones in the nation.
They have talent at every level, but their safety tandem could be the best in the country. Hear me out, but Trevon Moehrig could very well be the next Minkah Fitzpatrick. I know that is high praise but I am confident he can live up to the hype. Last season Moehrig was graded as PFF College’s highest graded safety since 2014, and could very well be a Top-20 NFL Draft pick in 2021. I expect him to flash that talent this year causing havoc for Big-12 quarterbacks (especially inexperienced ones).
They also have stud players like Ar’Darius Washington, Garret Wallow, and Corey Bethley that can make an impact themselves. Washington is the second half of TCU’s safety duo, and also could hear his name be called early in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Wallow was one of the premiere linebackers in the Big-12 last season, leading the conference in total tackles (125) and recorded 18 tackles for loss. He was a captain for this TCU defense for most of 2019, and will be a playmaker all season long in 2020.
The offense was the biggest issue for the Horned Frogs last season, and had major contributors like Jalen Reagor, Lucas Niang, and both of their top running backs head to the NFL. Don’t let that fool you though, TCU still will have plenty of fire power on offense.
Taye Barber will look to step into the role left by Reagor, and offers plenty of explosiveness himself. Barber not only was the 2nd leading receiver in yards and receptions, but he also saw carries out of the backfield as well. Texas Christian will also be bringing 4-star recruit, Quentin Johnston, who was the No. 13 WR in the Class of 2020. Johnston is expected to make an impact as a freshman for the Horned Frogs.
Johnston is 6’4 and TCU will have a few other big bodied receiving options in their offense. Te’Vailance Hunt is a returning junior wide receiver and is listed at 6’3 and Pro Wells is a 6’4, 257 Lb tight end coming into his junior campaign. Wells recorded 17 catches for 196 yards last season, but tied Jalen Reagor with a team high 5 touchdowns.
TCU made one of the biggest splashes in recruiting this year by signing the No. 2 overall running back in the nation, and the No. 1 player in Texas, Zachary Evans. He is the school’s first 5-star recruit, and the highest ranked recruit Gary Patterson has ever had. Evans has garnered comparisons to Melvin Gordon and even Adrian Peterson and at one point was 247Sports No. 1 overall prospect for the Class of 2020.
Evans will join returning redshirt freshmen, Darwin Barlow and Daimquara Foster and redshirt junior Emari Demercado, giving Sonny Cumbie plenty of talent to use in their back field. Not only does this give TCU a solid rotation of talent at running back, but this should make Max Duggan’s life a lot simpler going forward.
Max Duggan had an up and down freshman season for the Horned Frogs, but he did battle injuries throughout it. Either way though he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the conference. His turnovers were costly, and caused TCU to never be able to consistently move the ball down the field.
He did flash upside though. His ability to scramble and use his legs was impressive to say the least, and was able to win over this team with his leadership. Sonny Cumbie has been able to transform Trevone Boykin, and Kenny Hill into great college quarterbacks, which spells well for Duggan in year two.
He is now the full time starter though, and has a full year of Big-12 football under his belt. I expect him to make the correct strides, and show why Gary Patterson chose Duggan over talents like Alex Delton and Justin Rogers.
TCU had a dismal 2019 campaign, but if I know one thing about TCU, it’s their ability to bounce back after a bad year. After going 4-8 in 2013, they would go 12-1 in 2014 including a dismantle of Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. They would then go 6-7 in 2016 but follow that up with an 11-3 season where they were ranked in the Top 4 at one point.
After going 5-7 in 2019, I have a feeling 2020 is going to be a strong bounce back year for TCU. Will it be enough to knock Oklahoma down from the top of the Big-12? We will have to wait and see.