The TCU Horned Frogs entered the 2023 college football season with high expectations after winning 13 games and reaching the national championship game a year ago.
However, nearly halfway through the season, the team owns a 3-2 record and is coming off a home loss to West Virginia as it searches for the consistency, confidence, and play-making ability that led to last year’s magical run.
“It’s early in the year,” head coach Sonny Dykes told the media during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “We’re still kind of trying to figure out who we are. … We have good enough players where the players can go, and we can provide opportunities for them to make plays in a game, and they’re good enough to make those plays.”
Much of last year’s run was led by an offense that averaged 38.8 points and 455 yards per game behind a multitude of eventual NFL players. Still, the unit has not produced points at the same level as it faces a myriad of changes while trying to figure out its best formula.
“That’s where we have to get to as an offense. Let’s make sure that we can execute things well enough where we let the players be good football players, and we’re not so reliant on calling a touchdown,” Dykes explained. “Every offensive coordinator wants to do that, and I think when it happens naturally, that’s when you have something good and something special.”
The offense seemed to mesh well last season, and the Horned Frogs are averaging more total yards this season, so why hasn’t that resulted in more points on the board?
“We’ve just been unsettled,” Dykes said. “It’s been musical chairs at wide receiver. There’s been a little bit of musical chairs on the offensive line. I don’t know if we’ve established an identity yet, offensively, and we’re almost halfway through the season, and that has to happen earlier.”
TCU also hired a new offensive coordinator, Kendal Briles, this offseason. Briles is an accomplished coordinator, but it can still take time for players to adjust. Nevertheless, Dykes is encouraged by the progress he sees.
“Long story short, Kendal’s really bright,” Dykes remarked. “I love what we’re doing on offense. I wish we were a little more settled, but there’s a cavalcade of reasons why we’re not. … There’s just a lot of things that have kind of factored into it, but it’s time.”
“It’s time to get settled,” he continued. “It’s time to execute, and it’s time to be able to execute in crunch time. We’ve executed well enough to score 42 points against Colorado to have a chance to win, and even though we got shut out in the second half of the game last week, we still had a chance to win. The difference is we didn’t get it done, so we have to figure out how to get it done.”
TCU is averaging 34.8 points per game this season, but Dykes wants more consistency from the unit. They have scored at least 35 points in four games but failed to score in the second half of Saturday’s loss to West Virginia after scoring 21 points in the first half against a defense that only allowed 18.5 points.
“We’re certainly capable of really playing well and doing things, and we’re also capable of what you saw in the second half, which was zero points,” Dykes reflected. “That’s our issue right now is just consistency. … It’s just been one of those things where offensive football is about 11 people working in unison together, and that’s the one thing that we don’t have yet. If we can get that, this can be a really good offense.”
The Horned Frogs have a chance to prove Dykes right as they play Iowa State on the road on Saturday night.
