Making The Grade
Frogs return after weak first half

QUARTERBACK: B -/+

Sophomore Tye Gunn was much more active on the ground against Navy, carrying the ball 14 times for 57 yards. The Frogs offense, especially Gunn, were stagnant the first half. In a complete turnaround from the Tulane game, Gunn had a lackluster first half, then came out in the second half and led the Frogs to score on their first two possessions. He showed great leadership in the second half, but for the Frogs to be the type of team they are capable of being, Gunn must perform for the whole game. He must also minimize his turnovers; Gunn had a fumble and an interception.

RUNNING BACKS: C+

Although sophomore Lonta Hobbs is the “go-to” guy, losing senior Ricky Madison hurt the Frogs offense. Hobbs is still not running like the kind of back people thought he would be this year, but he will get there eventually. Like the rest of the Frogs offense, the running backs were terrible in the first half. However, again like the rest of the Frogs, Hobbs responded very well after half time. Hobbs finished the game with 79 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown but showed flashes of his old self in the second half. Navy did a good job taming the powerful TCU running attack, but look for Hobbs to break out in the Frogs next game against Vanderbilt.

WIDE RECEIVERS: B

Although they had fewer passing yards than they did last week against Tulane, the receivers responded well and showed improvement in the second game. Early in the game it looked as though the problems would continue with several players dropping well-thrown balls. Junior Reggie Harrell showed signs of why he was touted as the leader of the receiving corps. With five catches for 70 yards, Harrell is slowly becoming a dependable receiver. Freshmen Michael DePriest and Cory Rodgers also showed good potential.

OFFENSIVE LINE: B-

In the first half, the offensive line was outplayed by the Navy defense. Part of the reason was because Navy came out in a different defense than what the Frogs had practiced against all week, and the offensive line showed obvious signs of confusion. Yet in the second half the offensive line displayed their size and strength and started to wear down Navy’s defensive line. Like the rest of the offense, the offensive line will have to show they can dominate for the full 60 minutes.

DEFENSIVE LINE: A

After giving up a 34-yard run on the second play of the game, the defensive line buckled down and held Navy to 132 yards rushing in the game. The defensive line was a big reason the Frogs were only down 3-0 at the half, despite the fact that the Midshipmen started drives on the TCU side of the field three times in the first half. The defensive line read the option perfectly, and junior Brandon Johnson, senior Robert Pollard and senior Bo Schobel combined for 30 tackles, including five behind the line of scrimmage.

LINEBACKERS: B+

Junior Martin Patterson was in on 10 tackles, including two tackles for loss and senior Josh Goolsby added five tackles. The linebackers were instrumental in keeping the talented Navy quarterback Craig Candeto from ever running wild. Goolsby and Patterson were adequate against the pass, but there still remains a weakness of the talented linebackers. Goolsby is a good tackler but looked a little slow in pass coverage.

SECONDARY: A

Navy quarterbacks are not known for their passing ability, but Candeto showed he is capable of making some nice passes. The secondary responded very well from giving up over 300 in the air yards last week against Tulane, and held Candeto to 75 yards on 7-of-15 passing, including one interception. The secondary helped shut down the Navy offense completely in the second half, and Marvin Godbolt’s interception was a momentum changer. Jeremy Modkins had 12 tackles and recovered a fumble.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B+

The cover teams did a great job against the Midshipmen, and senior Nick Browne continued his perfect season with a 23-yard field goal. The highlight for the special teams unit came on the exciting punt returns from freshman Cory Rodgers. Rodgers excelled in his bid to become the Frogs permanent punt returner, returning five punts for 77 yards. On his longest return of the night — 27 yards — he juked, twisted and spun away from several Navy players. His returns were electrifying and helped to energize the large crowd. Junior John Braziel averaged 38 yards a punt, but when you’re punting from inside your own ten yard line most of the time, that’s just not enough. Adding insult to his average performance was the fact that Navy punter John Skaggs averaged 45 yards a punt and landed three inside the TCU 20 yard-line.

OVERALL: B-

For the second game in a row the Frogs would have received a higher grade if it was based on just one half of work. Although they looked atrocious in the first half, they showed great poise and leadership in the second. Exactly what head coach Gary Patterson said at half-time may never be known, but he showed he does have the ability to get his team motivated. Now that they have played good football for one half in each of the first two games, it’s time for the Frogs to combine the two efforts and play well the whole game. Not to be overlooked, however, is that the Frogs are 2-0 for the first time in Patterson’s head coaching career.

The report card is compiled by Braden Howell and Brent Yarina.