WATCH! KillerFrogs Post-Game Show Following The TCU Loss To Iowa State
KillerFrogs' writers J.D. Andress, Nathan Cross, and Zion Trammell break down the 27-14 loss TCU suffered in Ames. They discuss the fallout of the loss and the rest of the season outlook for the Horned Frogs
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00:00 Welcome back Killer Frogs to the post game show.
00:16 Today I'm joined by Nate Cross and Zion Trammell.
00:19 We're going to be going over TCU's loss last night to Iowa State.
00:23 It was 27 to 14.
00:25 Saw a mess of a game.
00:27 We saw Chandler Morris go down with an injury.
00:30 Saw TCU team turn over the ball four times.
00:33 And you know, there's not much to take away from this game.
00:36 What happened on the field is kind of what we saw.
00:40 I'll open the floor to you guys.
00:42 Nate, Zion, any general thoughts of the game before we get into offense and defense?
00:46 Yeah, I mean it's certainly a disappointing loss.
00:50 You would hope that TCU could find a way to bounce back after a loss against West Virginia.
00:57 One of the big focus here was, hey, who is going to maybe stand out?
01:01 Is someone going to step into a leadership role, take this by the reins and hope for
01:05 a bounce back win in Ames, which they have struggled in the past.
01:10 And things did not, things went from bad to worse for TCU.
01:14 What seemed to be a season that looked to definitely be a transition year is definitely
01:20 the full focus now.
01:24 It's pretty abundantly clear this is not last year's team.
01:28 It's just not going to be that way.
01:31 And at this point, you're just hoping that you can get a bowl game.
01:34 But certainly a frustrating loss.
01:36 And hopefully we get some answers here soon about what needs to change.
01:40 Yeah, what about you, Nate?
01:43 Yeah, I mean, it was super disappointing.
01:47 I mean, it was almost like a letdown because I feel hope still.
01:53 And I felt like there was still hope for the season and for the team to turn it around.
01:58 But it almost seems like we're backtracking a little bit.
02:00 Like each game, we seem to be backtracking.
02:04 And I think that's the lack of discipline, the lack of team buy-in, and just wanting
02:10 to be there.
02:11 And I think that's a problem.
02:14 But I also like, I see some good in it.
02:16 I mean, I think it's a wake-up call.
02:19 I think without this season that we're having right now, I don't think the coaching staff
02:24 would realize what needs to be fixed.
02:28 And they're coming off that high horse just a little bit.
02:32 And I think this will be good for the program because in the future, I mean, Coach Dykes
02:37 and the staff, whether we like it or not, they're going to be our future.
02:41 And they need to buy in and get this team reined in.
02:45 So that's my thoughts.
02:46 Yeah, I think both of you guys summed it up pretty well.
02:51 I don't want to dive too far into both sides of the ball stats.
02:55 I will touch on offense.
02:57 I mean, we did see Chandler Morris go down.
03:00 The Frogs still finished at 213 passing yards on the day.
03:03 Josh Hoover came in and went 11 for 19 with 119 yards of passing.
03:07 One touchdown, one interception.
03:09 Imani Bailey, 21 carries for 152 yards.
03:13 7.2 average.
03:15 I mean, the offense, while they struggled, I won't completely say it was a the end of
03:25 the world scenario for the offense.
03:27 I mean, the first interception that happened with Chandler Morris was miscommunication.
03:31 JP Richardson looked like he or Morris thought JP Richardson was going to cut inside.
03:36 Richardson thought he had a hit route.
03:38 The second one should have been a free play that Morris threw and it was not given a free
03:42 play.
03:44 And the third interception of the day was JP Richardson.
03:46 They tried to double pass, didn't work.
03:48 And Josh Hoover came in, threw an interception.
03:51 At first, I mean, it was the second throw of the day, he threw an interception.
03:53 I was like, okay, here we go.
03:56 But I think my main takeaway on the offensive side of the ball is that Josh Hoover didn't
04:01 look terrible.
04:04 He looked, once he settled in and got comfortable back there, he didn't look off.
04:09 And that's all I wanted to see.
04:10 I mean, when you bring a quarterback in cold like that, he said, his only other appearance
04:16 this season was against Nichols and he threw an interception there.
04:19 I think once you see him start to get comfortable, it's not, it wasn't that bad of a game.
04:25 But obviously, we hope Chandler Morris is fine.
04:27 I haven't seen anything yet about his injury.
04:31 But hopefully we get to hear something soon.
04:34 I'll kick it off to you guys.
04:36 What were your thoughts on the offensive side of the ball as a whole?
04:38 Or if you want to talk about someone individually?
04:41 Yeah, I mean, I think hoping for the best with Chandler's injury, I haven't seen an
04:47 update either.
04:48 And certainly that was kind of a nail in the coffin there.
04:52 You don't, what Chandler Morris had to get go through just to get to this point and to
04:57 see him go down again is, is really tough to watch.
05:00 And I think for Josh Hoover, he was put in a situation that was a little uncomfortable.
05:05 I mean, Iowa State had been playing really good on defense, playing very physical, and
05:10 you're coming into a ball game where you're not, you haven't gotten that many reps.
05:14 And it's definitely a lot to take in.
05:16 And of course, that fumble was probably a little bit of nerves, you know, pretty simple
05:21 exchange there.
05:22 And I think nerves got to him there.
05:24 But yeah, overall, I think he started to settle in a little bit.
05:27 He certainly has the arm talent.
05:29 I think that was definitely on display from time to time, made some pretty good decisions,
05:33 made some good throws.
05:34 Yeah, but I think the mistakes in the early going there from Chandler Morris was kind
05:43 of silly at this point that we're in week six, and we're still having miscommunications
05:47 and stuff like that.
05:49 You just have to be able to be on time with your receivers, knowing the routes and all
05:54 that.
05:55 And whether that's Morris or the wide receivers fault, you know, is up for interpretation.
05:59 But yeah, that's certainly frustrating to see as the turnovers continue to mount up,
06:05 because that was not really a problem last year.
06:07 And it's becoming more of a problem this season.
06:10 But on a positive note, yeah, I did like what I saw from him, Imani Bailey.
06:14 He's just been a consistent bright spot for this TCU offense.
06:18 Every time he runs the football, it looks like he shot out of a cannon.
06:21 I mean, he's just got great breakaway speed, can see the field really well.
06:25 I like what I saw from Imani Bailey.
06:28 But we'll see what happens with the offense, whether that's Hoover or Morris at the helm.
06:33 Yeah, no.
06:35 Yeah, like, I completely agree.
06:39 There was some, I there's good moments and bad moments from this TCU offense.
06:44 But I feel like the mistakes that were made were kind of just like, elementary level.
06:51 I mean, there's mistakes that shouldn't happen.
06:54 But I feel like it's our play calling starting this all and their basic routes that people
06:59 any team can figure out.
07:01 There's really no pizzazz into this offense like there was last season, which I don't
07:06 really expect there to be because it's a whole different team.
07:09 But that chemistry is just not there.
07:11 And I feel like the buying behind Chandler Morris, it's always Chandler Morris's fault.
07:15 Not always, the receiver can be at fault at times too.
07:18 It seems like they give up a lot of just give up on a lot of plays that have potential.
07:25 And I feel like just once they I feel like they start out always pretty strong.
07:30 At this case, it wasn't that case.
07:33 But they always start out decent, and they seem to have something going and then they
07:37 just let the momentum go.
07:40 And that was the way for the offense kind of throughout the season.
07:45 And in this game, I feel like Hoover stepped into that role after settling in pretty well.
07:50 I mean, he went past Chandler's yardage yards for the game pretty easily.
07:56 And I'm pretty sure he'd had a fairly good game if he'd had more time.
08:01 And I mean, prior to that, he had four snaps, I believe.
08:04 I mean, that's that's not a lot, especially for a quarterback who's coming out of a high
08:09 school setting to not playing at all.
08:12 I mean, it takes some getting used to.
08:14 It's a different ballgame.
08:16 So I feel like he settled in well.
08:18 And I mean, Amani Bailey is the best Big 12 running back just putting that out there right
08:23 now.
08:24 I mean, he's hard to stop.
08:27 And I think teams have realized that.
08:29 I mean, he's getting yards almost every play.
08:32 And I think that's just a good sign for TCU.
08:36 And it's just something to give hope for.
08:39 And I think if we're going to want to make a bowl game, it's going to be on Amani Bailey's
08:44 back.
08:45 And you're just going to feed the ball to him, especially if Chandler's.
08:49 Hopefully not.
08:50 But if his injuries worse than expected, I mean, you're just going to feed the ball.
08:55 Yeah, I think that, you know, I wasn't much to take away offensively.
09:01 And you know, speaking of that, I kind of want to switch gears and talk about the defense
09:05 a little bit.
09:06 Overall, I think the defense played really honestly, a really good game.
09:11 Yeah, they gave up 27 points, but you can't really do much.
09:16 You know, whenever you're constantly on the field, your offense is running three and out
09:20 the high tempo offense works.
09:21 But when you're getting three and outs, you're giving your defense no time to rest.
09:26 And I think we saw we saw that especially come to light yesterday.
09:30 The total tackle leader on the team was a three way tie with five total tackles was
09:35 it.
09:36 It was spread out that thin around.
09:38 I remember about 19 different players who had tackles in yesterday's game.
09:43 I mean, the defense was constantly having to sub in their guys are getting gassed.
09:47 And I mean, between last week's effort and this week's effort, you know, I still think
09:52 I was the one that came into the season after the first game against Colorado said, you
09:56 know, Joel Gillespie's on the hot seat.
09:59 You know what, he's the safest coach on the roster right now.
10:01 I think what he's done is by far the best effort that we've seen out on both sides of
10:06 the balls and open the floor back to you guys.
10:09 Give me your thoughts on the defenses.
10:11 If you want to keep it short and sweet.
10:13 We'll talk about special teams afterwards.
10:15 Yeah, I mean, I'll keep it pretty short here.
10:18 I think Joe Gillespie is definitely made a switch here on defense that is looked a lot
10:23 better as of late, really liked what I've seen from named the OVS or switching from
10:28 safety to linebacker.
10:30 That's a pretty, pretty interesting switch to make and especially in college and he's
10:36 done a pretty good job there and look, I think the defense is being able to has been able
10:41 to keep TCU in these games.
10:43 It's just the offense that's kind of staled out here over the last several weeks.
10:47 So overall, I was pretty pleased with the defense.
10:51 Couldn't have done much more.
10:52 I mean, it's it's a tough situation to be in right now, but I liked what I've seen from
10:58 them.
10:59 Yeah, I'm kind of in that same boat.
11:04 I really liked what I saw, especially this game.
11:10 I feel like the defense started out really well and kept Iowa State from running this
11:15 game up really high.
11:17 I mean, it could have been a mess of a game, but I feel like our defense stepped up but
11:23 just got tired and like huge shout out to Abe Camara.
11:28 I mean, he's always going full speed at every moment of the game.
11:32 He doesn't let off and I feel like he he has that want and drive to be good.
11:38 And I feel like if the rest of the team had that, I think we'd be a better position than
11:42 we are.
11:44 But I think I think just in the second half, I feel like it's just tough for them to just
11:50 get that momentum back.
11:51 They're gassed.
11:52 I mean, they're going off of rest now and they're trying to come back and go full speed
11:57 again.
11:58 It's just not going to work.
11:59 Your tank's dry.
12:00 And our offense did little to nothing to help them get out of those positions.
12:04 They were on the field a lot.
12:07 And so I think our defense defensive standpoint, I feel like Joe Gillespie has done a great
12:13 job and I feel like he's changing this defense to to where they can be.
12:19 And if the offense could get them a little bit of help, I think you're going to start
12:22 seeing these scores dwindle down even more.
12:26 So if that can happen, I think this defense is going to be something special.
12:30 Yeah, I think we're already seeing flashes of it.
12:33 I mean, the fact that your offense is playing this abysmal and you still have a chance of
12:37 winning the game speaks volumes about how well your defense is playing.
12:41 But now I want to talk about I want to talk about special teams, not even necessarily
12:47 anything besides this week.
12:49 I mean, last week we saw two block kicks on field goals with Griffin Kell.
12:53 But this week we saw Jordy Sandy have maybe one of the worst games I've seen from a punter
13:00 in a while.
13:01 He or his longest punt was 38 yards.
13:05 He averaged thirty three point seven yards a punt.
13:08 That's what he averaged.
13:09 His longest was 38 yards.
13:13 That's not something you expect at all from your veteran punter.
13:18 But I think the last two weeks we've seen him kind of struggle a little bit.
13:24 I don't know what's going on.
13:25 I don't know what's going on with the special teams.
13:28 It is one of those that's not not looking too hot right now.
13:33 Yeah, I mean, you kind of hit the mark there.
13:36 It's been a little worrisome to see the special teams that was very consistent last year.
13:43 Kind of sputter a little bit.
13:45 Punting assignments aren't always up to task there when it comes to punt and kick returns.
13:50 We saw a situation last week where Jojo Earl dove backwards for a catch, a fair catch call
13:59 that actually resulted in a West Virginia player getting hurt and getting carted off
14:05 the field.
14:06 And that's obviously not his fault, but it's certainly he could have just let that go into
14:10 the end zone.
14:11 And I like Jojo Earl.
14:13 He's done good, but it's stuff like that where it changes the complexity of a ball
14:18 game and TCU has not been able to win the field position battle over the last couple
14:23 weeks.
14:24 And that's critical.
14:25 Yeah, to touch on that real quick, TCU has not had a better starting average full position
14:31 this season besides the Nichols State game.
14:33 That is the only time we've won the average full position.
14:37 And that's I mean, that's it.
14:39 Yeah.
14:40 What about you Nate, anything on the special teams?
14:43 I mean, it's just out of character, especially with veteran players on this roster.
14:50 I mean, you saw last game.
14:52 I mean, Jojo Earl wasn't behind those punt returns.
14:59 And I think it's the sign of like a wake up call on them being like, your job's on the
15:04 line kind of here.
15:07 But like, picking and punting, I mean, I feel like it has to play in with the line
15:12 and coverage wise too.
15:14 I mean, Jordy Sandy's filling that presence pretty quickly.
15:19 And he's not been able to been able to get that ball downfield because they're on him
15:25 and they put him in bad, the offense has put him in bad positions, where he's at the goal
15:30 line and stuff, punting it out trying to just get us decent positions where we can hold
15:37 them.
15:38 And then Griffin Kellett, same thing.
15:40 I mean, yes, his balls are low.
15:41 I've heard that time and time again from other people.
15:44 But I don't think it's all his fault as well.
15:47 Those people are jumping quickly, because that line's not holding them out.
15:52 And I think I mean, because you still see Griffin's kicking the ball pretty well on
15:57 like, sending it off, he's still got that leg.
16:00 So it's not his legs fault.
16:03 But I don't think our coverage is allowing them to do their job.
16:06 And I feel like that's a little bit of coaching as well.
16:09 You got to figure out some other way to block.
16:12 If it means taking out different players out there, figure it out, because that's your
16:15 main priority.
16:17 And given these people position where they can score with like that.
16:23 I mean, that's something that's got to be fixed.
16:26 Yeah.
16:27 All right.
16:28 Um, I'm gonna before you daddy, I want to ask a few questions, just kind of get your
16:31 thoughts on it.
16:33 Who do you think has the hottest seat right now?
16:35 As far as a coach on TC Kendall browse, offensive coordinator, Mark Tommerdahl, the special
16:42 teams coordinator, or my third option, AJ Rickard, the offensive line coach.
16:51 You know, I don't want to speculate too much.
16:53 You know, I think it's certainly something where I think all the coaches need to take
16:59 accountability and look and see what we can all do together, collectively to turn this
17:08 ship around.
17:09 If I had to say someone I would probably say Kendall browse, but I think at this point,
17:14 it's more so the entire coaching staff looking at themselves and saying, Okay, how can we
17:20 get these guys better prepared for Saturday and going out there and competing at a high
17:23 level?
17:24 Yeah, the only reason I asked this question is because the previous three weeks, all sunny
17:30 docs said in this post game is we have to coach better, we have to coach better.
17:34 But we've seen the same result now.
17:37 I mean, obviously, the players aren't playing up to par either.
17:40 But to say you have to coach better after every game, and then we still don't see it,
17:44 you know, fans are gonna start wondering where the blame lies.
17:47 And, you know, that's just kind of the nature of being a sports fan, you're gonna put your
17:52 pitchfork up and you want to yell at someone and I think there's a lot of options on this
17:59 team and it's not even at the fault of the coaches.
18:01 It's just a rebuilding year that has gone worse than expected.
18:06 I mean, you couldn't have said it better.
18:11 But I mean, I think every I'm not going to name a coach that's gonna that's most on the
18:16 hot seat, because I think they're all under Sonny Dykes and he needs to reign it up if
18:21 he's the head coach and nothing to credit like his ability and his great coaching.
18:28 But like last season, I'm starting to question a little bit like, was it all him?
18:34 Because I mean, you had Garrett Riley, was it just a good pair between them to did that
18:37 work out?
18:38 Well, or was it simply just max dug and took the team in his arms and showed his leadership
18:45 and did that way?
18:46 I mean, because it for something to go from a championship level all the way down to now,
18:54 will you even make a bowl?
18:56 That's not good.
18:58 And just seeing that kind of makes me question just the whole coaching staff as a whole.
19:03 And I want I like start to wonder like, I mean, yes, people are quick to criticize brows.
19:10 But it's not all his fault.
19:11 I've seen some good plays from him.
19:14 I think it's just as a whole, the coaching staff is lost.
19:18 And I think they need a little shake up here.
19:20 And if they don't do something quick, they could all be in the hot seat.
19:24 Yeah, I think you you perfectly led into one of my last question of the day is before we
19:29 wrap this up is TC minus a bowl game.
19:32 TC is three and three on the year, they got six games left.
19:36 And the gauntlet kind of starts this week.
19:39 I mean, you got BYU coming into town, then you go to Kansas State, then you got Texas
19:43 Tech, then you got Texas Baylor and Oklahoma to close out the year.
19:47 What are your thoughts on?
19:49 What do you think TC's final record will finish out right now?
19:53 Not what you want it to be, but what you realistically see the final record being at the end of the
19:58 season.
19:59 Realistically, I mean, I would say five wins, maybe four, I mean, they're gonna I think
20:06 they might come up short on a bowl game.
20:08 The only way I think that changes is if they beat BYU.
20:13 I think it really starts this week.
20:15 If you beat BYU, you give yourself a chance.
20:19 But at this point, there's very little optimism for a bowl game.
20:24 And I'm we're all rooting for TCU here.
20:26 We're all on the same side.
20:27 We all want this team to succeed.
20:29 So we'll see what happens.
20:31 But you just never know right now.
20:37 I'm gonna go a little more optimism here.
20:42 And I'm gonna go we're gonna still get that six to seven wins.
20:46 I'll tell you why.
20:49 Because for one, I mean, you still got Tech and Baylor.
20:53 I feel like those are must wins.
20:56 And both teams are struggling and Tech yes, they stomped Baylor yesterday.
21:01 But that's not saying anything.
21:03 I mean, they took care of business and that's what they should do.
21:06 But they still didn't look good.
21:09 And then I think we get that win against Texas.
21:14 It's very heated, but we have Texas's number.
21:18 And you know our players if they're already in that losing mode, you know they're gonna
21:21 get up and get ready for at least that one game.
21:23 And it's here.
21:24 So I think we get those three wins at least.
21:28 And then I could also see us beating Kansas State.
21:33 So those are four wins right there.
21:34 That'll bring us to seven wins.
21:36 And I still think they could just make something out of the season.
21:40 And I think they got to do it quick if they want to do that.
21:42 Yeah, I mean, definitely.
21:45 I think both of you guys hit on the head.
21:47 And, John, I think you made a great point that I think the rest of the season outlook
21:51 does come down on the BYU game this weekend or next weekend.
21:56 If TCU can win that game, I mean, BYU is not world beaters, but they're well coached
22:03 team.
22:04 They're gonna come in and they're gonna play disciplined football.
22:05 And if TCU can hold their own, then I think, you know, full season eligible, maybe seven
22:10 wins.
22:11 You know, I do agree that the Texas game is always one of those.
22:15 It's the same way that West Virginia is to us.
22:17 We are to Texas.
22:18 Just can't get over that hump sometimes.
22:20 I, you know, as long as we finish the season with a better record than Baylor, I'm OK with
22:27 it.
22:28 You know, as long as that happens, it's cool with me.
22:31 Yeah, that'll kind of wrap it up for the day.
22:34 If you guys have any other final thoughts you guys want to share.
22:38 Well, it's there's still time for a comeback, so I think we're all just hoping for the best
22:44 year for TCU.
22:45 Yeah, I think it's important to remember this isn't last year's team.
22:49 It wasn't going to be last year's team.
22:51 This is this year's team and there were going to be bumps along the way and it's just been
22:57 a worse start than we thought.
22:58 But at the end of the day, I still get to watch TCU football on Saturday.
23:02 So can't be that bad.
23:04 So all right, well, next week TCU takes on BYU at home at 230.
23:10 That game will be on ESPN.
23:13 Currently odds are already out for the game.
23:15 TCU is five point favorites.
23:18 So I don't know what Vegas knows that we don't, but that's an interesting opening line for
23:24 the game.
23:26 So next weekend we'll talk to you guys afterwards.
23:28 Thank you for joining us.
23:30 Go Frogs.
23:31 Go Frogs!