2008 Season Preview: TCU

                                                   
It will be a long time before anyone forgets what happened the last time TCU came to Norman. I still remember the absolute disgust that I felt walking out of the stadium that day.

In 2005 OU was breaking in a new quarterback and replacing some key players on the offensive line. None of that is an excuse for losing to a TCU team that was better than average but none of it applies in 2008. Sam Bradford is returning from a stellar freshman campaign, the Sooners are deep at all of the skill positions and Oklahoma’s offensive line will be one of the top units in the country. All of that should equal vindication, justice, revenge or whatever word you use to describe your feelings going into this game. TCU is riding a two game winning streak in Norman winning the 05 game 17-10 and also 20-7 in 1996. Like Oklahoma, TCU has their starting quarterback returning as well as their leading rusher and three of their top four receivers (Ervin Dickerson is gone) from last season’s 8-5 team. They averaged 14.7 yards per play but were also -7 in turnovers.

TCU’s defense gave up 323 yards per game last season but was much stingier on the ground (103) than they were in the air (220). A major factor in that was linebacker Jason Phillips who led the team with 87 tackles last year as a junior. Even though the Frogs return 7 starters on defense they are going to miss David Hawthorne, Brian Bonner and David Roach who were 2nd, 3rd and 4th on the team in tackles as well as Chase Ortiz who led the team in sacks.

The Horned Frogs have appeared in three consecutive bowl games and are winners in each of those three games. They will have four games under their belts when they arrive in Norman and could very easily have a 4-0 record with Stephen F. Austin and Stanford sandwiched between road trips to New Mexico and across town to TCU. This is a team that definitely struggled on the road though and they won’t play in a tougher environment this season than Norman.