TCU Horned Frogs at Minnesota Golden Gophers Preview & Free Pick

College Football Preview: TCU Horned Frogs at Minnesota Golden Gophers

Written By David Hess (Follow me on Twitter @DavidHess311)

When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, September 3, 2015
Where: TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Televised: ESPN

Odds:  TCU opened up at 16 points favorites and that has been bet down to -14. The OU line currently sits at 57.5 or 58.

The TCU Horned Frogs will be a scary team this year as they not only have a Heisman front runner at QB and are loaded on both sides of the ball, but they also have a huge chip on their shoulders after the playoff committee left them out last year. Trevone Boykin is back at QB and has 9 other starters returning with him, from a group that put up 46.5 ppg last year. Boykin can also run the ball as he ran for 707 yards and 8 TDs last year. His top RB returns, along with his top 3 receivers from last year, who combined for 2353 yards and 13 TDs last year. Oh and all these guys will set up behind the 7th best OL in the nation.  The Defense allowed just 19 ppg last year and while they have just 5 starters back I’d expect this defense to be very tough again. They have the 6th rated DL and 6th rated secondary in the nation, plus they also have very solid depth at every position. This is a loaded team on both sides of the ball and they have the talent to run the table, plus having a chip on their shoulder should help propel this team to very high heights this year. At the very least they will be in the NCAA Playoffs. 

The Minnesota Golden Gophers had a solid 8-5 season last year, but they have to do some rebuilding on offense if they hope to duplicate that feat. Yes QB Mitch Leidner is back, but he is only mediocre at best, as he threw for just 1798 yards with 11 TDs and 8 INTs last year. The Passing numbers can be expected to be down as this is more of a running team, but the Gopher’s lost top RB David Cobb, after he ran for 1626 yards and 13 TDs last year. Rodrick Williams played in 8 games and had 1 start last year, running for 114 yards on 25 carries in the process. He will get the nod this year and does have the luxury or running behind one of the better OLs in the league. The WR corp is very weak and has no depth at all after losing 4 of the top 5 pass catchers from last year. The defense was solid last year as they allowed just 24.2 ppg and it could be better this year with 7 starters back. They do lose their top 2 tacklers from last year, but return 7 of their next 9, plus they grabbed a few solid recruits as well. Two of those recruits are for a secondary that rates as 3rd best in the Big 10. The front 7 is not spectacular, but is very solid. The Gophers lost too much on offense to feel that they can duplicate their 8 wins from last year. Still there are enough wins on their schedule to get them back to a bowl game.  

Minnesota is a solid team, but they are not spectacular and that is the kind of team you will need to beat the Horned Frogs this year. TCU has a huge chip on their shoulders and I can see them running up scores this year, as to leave no doubt in the committee’s minds that they belong in the NCAA Playoffs. Minnesota is a solid defensive team, but TCU just very well may have the best offense in the Nation. An offense that can put up 50+ points whenever they want to. Minnesota’s offense is nowhere near that caliber and just won’t find enough points in this game to keep it close.

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