By Matt Welnack STAFF REPORTER Saturday's game against the Northwestern Wildcats pits two teams with something in common: a lack of an effective passing game. Yes, senior quarterback Patrick Batteaux completed 12 of 20 passes against Arizona. But those 12 completions only went for 50 yards, and Batteaux failed to complete crucial passes in the final two minutes of TCU's loss to Arizona last week. Northwestern's quarterback, Nick Kreinbrink completed only 31 percent of his passes in the Wildcats' loss to Miami-Ohio last week, 28-3. "We have to throw the ball better," offensive coordinator Dan Dodd said. "Everybody points to Pat, but we as coaches need to find better ways to improve the passing game." Passing game aside, head coach Dennis Franchione is concerned with the size of the Northwestern team, a Big 10 conference member. "We need to stand up to their power running game," Franchione said. The TCU run defense has a knack of keeping high profile running backs under their average; however, the secondary also knows they must keep up their end of the deal. "We need to stay with our own assignments," safety Reggie Hunt said. "We need to do our own job, not everybody else's." The TCU secondary gave up 337 yards to Arizona last week, but they will be called upon to stop Wildcats running back Damien Anderson, who gained 129 yards last week. The Frogs face the problem of Northwestern's size on defense. For TCU to be successful, their running game must also be successful. This means another solid game from tailback LaDainian Tomlinson. "Their defensive front is pretty good," Franchione said. "They're bigger than most of the people we have to play." Tomlinson rushed for 170 yards and one touchdown in the last game with the help of fullback George Lane who opened some holes in the Arizona defense with his crushing blocks. While Northwestern held Miami-Ohio to only 2.8 yards per rush, they also gave up 252 yards passing. Franchione said the game plan for Saturday "should be much broader than it looked (last week)." TCU will play at 11:10 a.m. Saturday at Northwestern in Chicago, and the game will be televised on ESPN Regional.
Pass Offense: Quarterback Patrick Batteaux improved his completion rate - completing 12 of 20 passes last week - but he only threw for 50 yards. He did move the ball around to seven different receivers, and he matched last year's total of touchdown passes in the second quarter when he connected with Mike Scarborough. Edge: Northwestern Pass Defense: The TCU secondary suffered a lapse last week against Arizona when they gave up 337 yards through the air. There's not much to be said about Northwestern's pass attack, so the secondary should enjoy the break. Edge: TCU Rush Offense: The TCU running game had a big game last week against Arizona. Tailback LaDainian Tomlinson led the way with 170 yards and one touchdown. Batteaux also added 54 yards on the ground. However, the Frogs will be going against a much larger and physical team in Northwestern. TCU will have to use its speed to counter the Wildcats' size. Edge: TCU Rush Defense: TCU's defensive line, led by Aaron Schobel's nine tackles last week, is consistently getting better at stopping the run. The Wildcats offense centers around running back Damien Anderson, who gained 129 yards last week against Miami (OH). If TCU wants to beat Northwestern, this is where its going to happen. Edge: Even Special Teams: The kicking game had a good showing last week as kicker Chris Kaylakie connected on two of three field goals and punter Royce Huffman had four punts inside the 20-yard line. Kickoff returner Cedric James showed some explosiveness with a 58-yard return. Edge: TCU Intangibles: The Frogs are going to be hungry to avenge their four-point loss to Arizona last week. They will be going against a physical team in Northwestern, but TCU has been known to rise to the occasion. This TCU team is resilient and coach Dennis Franchione will have his squad ready to play. Edge: TCU
Prediction: TCU by 13 Northwestern
Pass Defense: Although Northwestern gave up 252 yards through the air in their loss to Miami (OH), the going may get a little easier against TCU. Miami averaged more than 13 yards each pass against Northwestern, but TCU still needs to polish its passing attack. The Wildcats are a Big 10 team so their defense will be tough by the standards of the WAC. Edge: Northwestern Pass Offense: The Wildcats couldn't muster much of an air attack in their loss to Miami as quarterback Nick Kreinbrink completed just nine of 29 passes on his way to a meager 126 yards in passing. TCU's secondary was embarrassed by Arizona's aerial assault, but they'll be out for revenge against the Northwestern passing game. Edge: TCU Rush Defense: Miami gained just 145 yards on the ground against Northwestern, but it doesn't feature a back of LaDainian Tomlinson's capabilities. Big 10 teams are traditionally tough against the run, but All-Big 10 linebacker Barry Gardner has departed so TCU should be successful against another Wildcats' run defense. Edge: TCU Rush Offense: This is where Northwestern needs to excel if they hope to win this game. Running back Damien Anderson rushed for 128 yards against Miami and appears to be the sparkplug of the offense. TCU's defense limited Arizona's Trung Canidate to a scant 56 yards, but this area might be too tough to call. Edge: Even Special Teams: The Wildcats don't really standout in this area. Place-kicker Tim Long missed a field goal of fewer than 30 yards last week, and punter J.J. Stranding averaged 37.8 yards on eight punts. Sam Simmons averaged a solid 26 yards returning kicks though. Edge: TCU Intangibles: This game has the potential to be a nail-biter as both teams will try a ball-control offense in an effort to control the clock. Northwestern has the home-field advantage, but Evansville, Ill., isn't Ann Arbor, Mich. Northwestern's hopes hinge on how TCU comes out after last week's heartbreaking loss to Arizona. Edge: Northwestern Prediction: TCU by 9 1/2
By Paul Freelend SKIFF STAFF All the pieces of a storybook night seemed to be in place. The TCU Volley Frogs were returning home for the first time after a weekend-long tournament, the stands at the Rickel Building were packed with rowdy fans and the new and improved SuperFrog made a grand entrance. There was just one minor problem Wednesday night. The Baylor Bears apparently lost their copy of the script. The Volley Frogs opened the battle on a roll behind sophomore middle blocker Allison Lynch's six kills but lost the war 15-8, 9-15, 5-15 and 2-15. TCU head coach Sandy Troudt credited the hot start to her team's improved execution. "Game One was exactly how I want our team to play every day,"
Troudt said. "We were finding splits in Baylor's blocks, we were hustling
and we were overall just playing well. Allison went five for seven and
hit something around .883." "We knew both sides were going to come out and play fast," sophomore outside hitter Marci King said. "They just kind of came out flat. We didn't have any video on them but we knew that we had to step our game up. When Baylor started to pick up their play, we picked ours up even more." In the following games, though, Baylor made one key defensive adjustment and threw the Volley Frogs' offense out of sync. The Bear defense held TCU to an abysmal .0625 hitting percentage in the final two games of the match. "Baylor just shut down Allison," Troudt said. "In the second, third and fourth games they moved their outside block wider, and we just couldn't adjust to it. She didn't have a kill throughout the rest of the match. We couldn't get the ball set to the right places, and the whole team just started to overtry." "Baylor just kind of turned the tables on us," King said. "Their setter calmed down, they stepped up their game, and we didn't step up with them. We were committing too many unforced errors and we started to just give points away." TCU was led by senior outside hitter Jill Pape's 14 kills and King's 13 kills while sophomore Lindsay Hayes racked up 37 set assists. Elisha Polk led Baylor's attack with 17 kills. Senior middle blocker Amy Atamanczuk made her return to the Volley Frog lineup after spraining her medial cruciate ligament during practice. Atamanczuk did not make the trip to last weekend's Oregon State Volleyball Showcase but she saw action in the third game of the match and put one kill to the floor. The Volley Frogs open play at 2:30 p.m today at the Jayhawk Classic in Lawrence, Kan., against Auburn, who is coming off of a 22-9 season and a second place finish in the Southeastern Conference West Division. Also, TCU will face off with Kansas Friday evening and Chicago State Saturday afternoon. "It's a pretty quick turnaround," King said. "I think we can push through, though. We have to work on finishing matches and playing better at the right times." Expensive video system gives football team edge By Matt Welnack STAFF REPORTER In this day and age when television and money plays a big role in sports, athletes and coaches have taken on new kinds of pressures to perform better than their opponents day in and day out. Technological advances in the science of analyzing game film have provided coaches and athletes a tool to give them an edge over their opponents. TCU's football team uses a state-of-the-art video system from Avid Sports to break down film of their opponents in action. The Avid system is used by 20 professional football and 15 professional basketball teams, according to the company's Web site. Many Division I-A football programs use Avid, including last year's national champion, the Tennessee Volunteers. Video coordinator Mike Martin said although the system is expensive, "costs are now at the point where teams can justify the costs." Teams can justify the cost now because the information taken from the evaluation of the film plays a big role in how coaches develop a game plan. "It's the foundation of what we do," offensive coordinator Dan Dodd said. "There's no way you can be good offensively without being good evaluators of film and the way that we break down film when we are getting ready before a ball game." In-conference teams have an official agreement to exchange game film, while out of conference teams have a gentleman's agreement to hand over their tapes, Martin said. The first step in the process of analyzing game film involves the graduate assistants breaking down every game the opponent has played during the season and then recording the statistics into the computer to generate a scouting report for the coaching staff. The video is then downloaded onto a computer where cut-ups can be made. Cut-ups allow the coaches to put different offensive and defensive formations into separate packages. For instance, every time TCU's opponent runs an I-formation set, those plays will be grouped under a cut-up of just I-formation plays. Dodd said there is a significant difference in watching a game for fun and watching a game critically. "The biggest difference is that the average person watches the football; where the football goes is where their eyes travel," Dodd said. "In coaching, you don't do that." After coaches have analyzed every snap out of a cut-up, they will take the top four looks they expect to see and from there the coaching staff will devise a game plan according to players' abilities. Dodd said he and the other coaches spend about 100 hours a week working on the game plan, time that excludes practice, which is about 12 hours a week. Studying game film is not only important for the coaches, it is important for the players to watch their opponent for that week. "You have to respect your opponents, so you have to watch film on them," linebacker Shannon Brazzell said. "You have to study your opponent to know what they are going to do in different situations." Brazzell, who started every game last season, said about half of the game is the mental aspect, which comes from studying game film. He said he likes to watch film about six hours a week to prepare for an upcoming game. Without game film, Brazzell said he would not be in the position he is in now. "If I didn't watch film, if I didn't respect my opponents, I'd probably be at ground zero," Brazzell said. "I'd just be playing off talent and talent only gets you so far. You have to have the mental aspect." |
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