The TCU Horned Frogs football team has had a slow start in conference play, but last Saturday’s 44-11 win over BYU seems to have injected a new-found confidence in the group.
Head coach Sonny Dykes told the media earlier this week that he is seeing more energy and better practices following the win and attributes it to growing confidence in the abilities of the players on the field, especially redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Hoover, who had an incredible game in his first career start.
“I think he came out of that game with a lot of confidence, and I think our players have a lot of confidence in him,” Dykes said as he met with the media on Tuesday. “That, to me, is the biggest thing that’s different. When you have a starting quarterback that goes down, there’s always that ‘you don’t know’ kind of factor. … He set the bar pretty high on Saturday, so I think, as a result, everybody has a lot of confidence in him.”
In the win over BYU, Hoover threw for 439 yards and four touchdowns while leading TCU to its highest offensive output this season. However, his next challenge could be more difficult as the Horned Frogs travel to Manhattan, Kansas, to face a Kansas State team that beat them in the Big 12 Championship game last season.
While the stakes may be higher, Dykes has no concerns about his young quarterback’s ability to help the team.
“I think there’s a lot of guys that have a lot of confidence in Josh and his ability to go out and do it,” Dykes explained. “Now, it’s going to be hard to replicate what he did on Saturday, but that’s the goal.”
Kansas State’s defense may help that cause. The Wildcats are one of the worst units against the pass in the country, but Dykes will not let his team get caught up in the numbers.
“Whoever plays the best wins,” he remarked. “One team may have more talent than the other, but it’s not significant enough to be able to overcome who goes out there and plays winning football, and that’s the key to winning games now.”
