Defensive line looking to regain number one ranking
By Braden Howell
Sports Editor

With the departure of vocal and field leader LaMarcus McDonald, the TCU defense is looking for a new face to help define a unit that ranked first in the nation last season. If hard work is any indication of success, then the defensive line will emerge as the strength of TCU’s defense, and five faces will help define a unit looking to repeat as the best in the country.

Senior defensive end Bo Schobel (6-5, 268), a Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award candidate, is the focal point of a line that features the starting four of senior defensive tackle Richard Evans (6-3, 253), senior nose tackle Chad Pugh (6-3, 314), senior defensive end Robert Pollard (6-2, 265), with junior nose tackle Brandon Johnson (6-3, 305) rotating in to mix things up.

“We like to lead by example,” Schobel said. “We don’t do a lot of talking, we just practice hard, and play hard.”

Last year the five linemen terrorized opponents, accounting for a combined 213 tackles, 56 of which came behind the line of scrimmage, and 21.5 sacks in 12 games.

With all the preseason attention, including raves from college football analysts at ESPN and preseason First Team All-Conference USA honors for

and Pugh, they know that like the team they lead, they will not be able to sneek up on opponents this year, but Pollard said all the hype has not affected their work habits.

“We prepare the same way,” Pollard said. “We work hard and we’re successful because we have the drive and determination; we want it more.”

In fact, Johnson said the preseason attention has made the group stronger, and made them work even harder.

“We get by on hard work,” Johnson said. “We’re able to be successful because we out work the other guys, we take pride in our hard work.”

The five linemen are a rare combination of size and speed. Evans said that strength of the defensive line comes from having himself, Pugh and Johnson in the middle to plug up the run game and fast defensive ends in Schobel and Pollard on the outside.

Head coach Gary Patterson said the defensive line is supposed to be the strength of the team this year, and Pugh is looking and running better after losing weight.

Johnson said the linemen are also special because they have played together for a long time. The four starting seniors, Schobel, Pugh, Evans and Pollard have played together for three years, and Johnson said he joined the family as soon as he came to TCU.

“We’ve been together for a long time, but it’s not just on the field,” Johnson said. “We’re friends, we call each other; it’s like having a surrogate brother.”

Evans said with all the talent the defensive linemen possess, they have the potential to prove analysts right and be the best defensive line in the country, but the goal of the group is to help lead the team to another conference championship.

Johnson said last season the defensive line made its presence known to opponents. Now they want to develop an attitude.

“We want to dominate, we want to strike fear into our opponents,” Johnson said.

Like Johnson, the other defensive linemen have developed the mentality of dominating the opponent.

“If we hold the offense to one less point than we score, then ultimately we were successful,” Schobel said.