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Three keys to victory

1 Stop the option
If the Horned Frogs cannot contain Eric Crouch, they will lose and lose badly. Nebraska is a team that loves to run out the clock and keep the ball in their hands. It is a game plan that has worked with success for the past decade. The Frogs will need excellent play from their linebackers to contain the option and the get the ball back in the hands of the TCU offense.

2 Get the passing game going
If the Frogs fall behind early, they will need smart decision making from junior quarterback Casey Printers to catch up. Nebraska is likely to win the time of possession war, meaning TCU will need quick scores in the passing game to stay in the game. The Frogs will also need junior LaTarence Dunbar to live up to some of the expectations placed upon him by the coaching staff.

3 Avoid intimidation ÊÊNebraska is undoubtedly the best program TCU has faced in years. Memorial Stadium will be packed with close to 80,000 screaming fans. The game will be nationally broadcasted on ABC. The Frogs cannot let it get to their heads. If they do, the game will be over before it even starts. They will also need to drown out the loud Nebraska crowd.

Friday, August 24, 2001

Ground assault
Stopping Crouch primary objective for Frogs
by Brandon Ortiz
sports editor

Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch is a preseason Heisman candidate. Crouch ran for over 900 yards for the nation’s top rushing attack last year.

When the TCU football team takes the field Saturday, they will not only face their toughest opponent of the season, but their toughest quarterback as well: Eric Crouch.

If the Horned Frogs want to beat the heavily favored Nebraska Cornhuskers, stopping quarterback Eric Crouch is a must, senior linebacker Chad Bayer said.

“He basically is Nebraska,” Bayer said. “If we stop Eric Crouch, we stop Nebraska. He is a great quarterback, he knows how to run that option really well. If we can stop him, I think we can stop Nebraska.”

Stopping Crouch will be no easy task. Arguably the best running quarterback in the nation, Crouch ran for 971 yards last season on 169 carries. The Heisman candidate has a 24-5 career record as a starter.

Patterson said Crouch is the best quarterback his team has ever faced.

“You have to keep leverage on him,” Patterson said. “You have to treat him like a running back. If you treat him like a quarterback, you get in trouble. He is better with the ball when he is running with it. He is throwing the ball really well up there too.”

What impresses Bayer even more is the offensive line in front of Crouch. The Nebraska line averages close to 6 feet 4 inches and 313 pounds and has two preseason All-American candidates, Toniu Fonoti and Dave Volk.

“This is the best looking offensive line I have seen,” Bayer said. “As far as the running backs, no. Quarterback, he is a pretty good quarterback..”

Senior defensive end Chad McCarty was also impressed.

“If there is no offensive line on the team, then Eric Crouch is susceptible, but they have a great offensive line every year,” McCarty said. “Their quarterbacks have been great, their tailbacks have been great. (Crouch) is a phenomenal athlete. We are going to have to be assignment correct.”

Crouch, the offensive line and the Huskers backfield led the nation in rushing last season, averaging 349.3 yards a game.

Bayer said it will take smart play from the entire defense.

“Playing an option offense, a defense has to be assignment sound,” Bayer said. “Everybody has to take care of their responsibilities. If one person messes up, quarterback is going to take you to the house. If that guy was supposed to have the quarterback and he didn’t take him, he will take you to the house.”

The Frogs defense are not totally unfamiliar with the option. After years of facing the Frogs option offense, Bayer said the experience will help.

“That helps a great deal,” Bayer said. “You can pretty much block so many ways. I’ve pretty much seen them all. TCU runs the option, so you see it everyday. It helps a great deal. You learn how the blocking schemes go, who’s going to block you, the type of alignments the linemen, the runningbacks, the quarterback might take.”

The option is just one part of the Huskers’ ground game. The Frogs will also have to contend with Nebraska’s power running game, Patterson said.

“The option is really not their whole thing,” Patterson said. “They are first a power football team and it first starts with the fullback. If you don’t stop the fullback then you are not going to stop Nebraska.”

Brandon Ortiz
b.p.ortiz@student.tcu.edu

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