Preview: KU @ TCU

Source: Zimbio

Sometime in the next 24 hours, the Kansas Jayhawks will travel to North Texas to face the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth this Saturday, and I will be following closely behind. It's my first road-trip with KU Football since I saw them play in Manhattan in 2009, losing 17-10 to Daniel Thomas and the K-State Wildcats during Todd Reesing's disappointing senior season. I also saw them lose to Colorado a few weeks before that, so as you can tell, I am extremely good luck when travelling with the Jayhawks. Here's hoping this week goes a little differently!


I am extremely excited, because watching KU Football is awesome, but watching KU Football in the hostility of an opponent's environment is even more awesome. I feel like being a KU Football fan is kind of an "us against the world" feeling as it is, but that is only amplified when you are actually in an opposing stadium.

The Frogs will be looking for their first home Big 12 victory on a homecoming, but even though they are over 20 point favorites, I expect Kansas to give them a game.

Quarterback Treyvon Boykin will be leading the Frogs against the Jayhawks in light of the Casey Pachall injury. Boykin is certainly a running threat on any down and distance, but his throwing ability pales in comparison to Pachall's. B.J. Catalon is also a nice threat out of the backfield, but when the season is all said and done, we will probably look back at this offense as being the least explosive bunch that Kansas faced.

TCU's defense is a strength. They are led by Chucky Hunter on the line, and All-American Jason Verrett who will likely give Kansas fits in the passing game.

They are without Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, Devonte Fields, but that said, they are still a stout 11.

Kansas's offense is so bad that I expect this to be a wash. I don't see Kansas scoring much more than 10 points on offense, and even if Jake Heaps was playing better, I still think TCU would have an overwhelming advantage in this matchup.

Defensively, though, Kansas can give TCU a little trouble. The secondary should hold up nicely, and if the linebackers can stay true to their assignments on read-option plays out of the backfield, they should be able to keep the TCU offense under wraps.

Prediction:
TCU 30
Kansas 10

I'd expect at or around a 7 point game (17-10) going into the fourth quarter, with KU keeping TCU within arms reach, thanks in large part to their defense and special teams, but one or two big plays by TCU could stretch the lead out in the fourth and final quarter. This could be one of KU's best shots to steal a road conference game this year.