There may not be another game circled on more Texas Tech players’ schedules that this game against TCU. Let’s take a look at the players who return.
Yards
| Pass Yds/Gm | Rush Yds/Gm | Rec Yds/Gm | |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Trevone Boykin | 300.1 | 54.38 | 0.00 |
| RB Aaron Green | 0.00 | 70.92 | 12.80 |
| RB Trevorris Johnson | 0.00 | 25.17 | 1.90 |
| WR Josh Doctson | 0.00 | 0.00 | 78.30 |
| WR Kolby Listenbee | 0.00 | 1.46 | 57.90 |
The passing game really does return, mostly intact and that’s problematic for teams that don’t defend the pass very well (i.e. Texas Tech). Boykin, to me, employed the “let’s just throw it down the field and let the receivers make a play” game plan. It’s very similar to what Patrick Mahomes does and yes, there’s more nuance to it than that, but guess what, even if there’s not, he’s still hella good. The running game will need to be replenished a bit, but that’s a position that’s never been a problem for TCU
Points
| Pass Pts/Gm | Rush Pts/Gm | Rec Pts/Gm | |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Trevone Boykin | 15.23 | 3.69 | 0 |
| RB Aaron Green | 0 | 4.15 | 0.92 |
| RB Trevorris Johnson | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| WR Josh Doctson | 0 | 0 | 5.07 |
| WR Kolby Listenbee | 0 | 0 | 1.8 |
Doctson is really the big-time receiver here with Listenbeen only catching 4 touchdowns. Little surprised by that. Deante’ Gray did catch 8 touchdown in 11 games, so he’s your other touchdown threat.
Tackles
| Solo | Assisted | |
|---|---|---|
| DB Derrick Kindred | 63 | 16 |
| DL James McFarland | 29 | 12 |
| DL Josh Carraway | 10 | 23 |
| DB Ranthony Texada | 26 | 5 |
| Jonathan Anderson | 21 | 9 |
TCU graduated a ton of talent on the defensive side of things. I’m not joking. LB Paul Dawson, S Chris Hackett, DT Chucky Hunter, CB David Porter and CB Kevin White. Don’t get me wrong, TCU always seems to be just as good on defense, but that’s a lot of guys to lose that played big parts of the defense last year.
Havoc
| Tackles for Loss | Passes Defended | Forced Fumbles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DB Derrick Kindred | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| DL James McFarland | 12 | 3 | 3 |
| DL Josh Carraway | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| DB Ranthony Texada | 3.5 | 7 | 0 |
| Jonathan Anderson | 4.5 | 0 | 0 |
Same as above, a ton of those havoc plays graduated or moved on to the NFL, so this isn’t nearly as impressive as if you included some of those players. Dawson had 20 TFL (not a typo) and LB Marcus Mallet had 11.5. There’s still a lot of playmakers that return on the defensive line that isn’t included here including Terrell Lathan, Mike Tuaua, Davion Pierson, Josh Carraway, etc.