Can Sonny Dykes and the TCU Horned Frogs make history in 2024?

my friend Drake toll from lock on Big 12 and myself think Sunny dyes and the frogs are going to make history this season I'll explain what I mean next here on lock down horn frog your team every day you are locked on horn frogs your daily podcast on the TCU horn frogs part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day lock down horn frogs your team every day your host Stephen simx thank you for joining the show you can subscribe to our YouTube channel I encourage that you can also subscribe wherever it is you get your podcast we're free and available on every podcast platform we are I'm recording this Wednesday afternoon we're getting closer to being 48 hours away from the TCU football season kicking off and one exciting thing about this year unfortunately I didn't get to do it this week because of scheduling conflicts but every week we're going to do a big 12 preview show get some hosts together from the lock onet work talk about you know the upcoming games and honestly the Big 12 non-conference schedule is kind of light now this week you get West Virginia Penn State which is a big one but other than that TCU Stanford's probably the biggest game on the Slate and my friend Drake toll who host lock on Big 12 and does a really good job he's been putting together season predictions for each and every team and so he put this out yesterday and I wanted to discuss it with you he has the frogs making history and you might say to yourself okay what does that mean 11- two 10 and two big 12 Championship no but I'll show you his prediction graphic here nice picture of Sunny dyes and the TCU logo he's got the frogs going eight and four and that's what I predicted as well five- four in Big 12 Play losses to UCF Kansas Utah and he also has a loss to Baylor on the schedule there I'll take issue with some of those losses here in a minute but I feel like they're going to end up at eight and four and as some people have astutely pointed out this year that's not something that TCU has done in a long time in fact I think Jamie plunket had this note when he was on with me a few weeks ago TCU has not finished eight and four without eight wins exactly I guess I should say since 1999 really since 2017 it has been the ultimate kind of Boomer bus situation 2017 Big 12 uh Championship birth end up losing Oklahoma the Al Bowl against Stanford and that team found an identity with a great defense and with Kenny Hill as the quarterback then 2018 had all those QB issues sea Robinson didn't end up being the guy that we had hoped and so in all honesty it was kind of miraculous they finished with seven wins they finished the regular season with six wins Gary somehow found a way with being down to Grayson muin who was either third or fourth string going in the season at QB and getting Jaylen regger the ball in some creative ways and that defense holding up they got to ball eligibility they beat Baylor and Oklahoma State to finish six and six beat C in the famous she at bowl and finished with seven wins 2019 Max Dougan freshman year five- seven 2020 6 and4 that's probably the closest it's been since 2017 to a team that wasn't great but sort of found their footing late in the year and ended up with a respectable record now they went five- four in Big 12 play they ended up scheduling that Louisiana Tech game at the end of the season to help improveed that record and then the bowl game got canceled with Arkansas because of covid outbreak uh 2021 five and seven Gary gets to let go and then of course we know what happened in 2022 go the playoffs last year that kind of whiplash back to five and seven as well so it's been a longer period of time than that but honestly since joining the big 12 I mean they had that team that went to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in 2012 I believe but for the most part TCU seasons have gone one or two ways either you're playing for a big 12 title a playoff birth and potentially a national title or it's a team that gets off to a rough start kind of gets kind of Falls in their face early in the season and has the scratching claw to have a chance to make a bowl game and there have been a few years in there where they haven't and so while eight and four is kind of a a modest prediction it's not really going out on a limb given the history of TCU it would be surprising since we've seen what's happened over the past decade or so but here's Drake's graphic again he's got the frogs beating Stanford which I agree with of course beating Long Island that loss to UCF is interesting I definitely that's a think that's kind of a coin flip game but I feel like if this TCU team I think even if they're a team that wins eight games you handle business at home against UCF I I know they've got some great athletes at the skill positions I think KJ Jefferson is a serviceable quarterback I what I mean by that is you can you can build an offense around him that's predicated on running the football and I mean Kendall Brown's had some success with that at Arkansas Gus m is uh really good at finding ways for QBs to succeed but bottom line is I think that'll be a good test for Indy ao's defense early in the season if TCU is who I think they are though I I I believe they take care of business against the knights at SMU Victory there Kansas I would also have that as a loss right now a lot of that will depend on Jaylen Daniels health I do think that game being an arrowhead helps TCU um just because it's not going to be on campus now he could go the other way and maybe you see more people there Arrowhead to stadium that can get loud but I feel like that could be an advantage for the frogs but right now it also count that as a l beating Houston no surprise there even though I think Willie Fritz is a really good coach and I feel like he's gonna get the Cougars rolling eventually I think TCU should win that game at home that's on a Friday now October 4th then you go on the road at Utah that's another game I would have them losing at the moment uh cam Rising Utah's picked to win the conference I think that'll be a good measuring stick for this TCU team because they are built in a very similar fashion to K State now TCU misses K State this year but the last couple Seasons I guess I should just say the Big 12 championship game and then that disaster in Manhattan last year that's a team that that style of play has really bothered them that physicality they haven't been able to match it all the time and so Utah's a sort of a good um team that's sort of in that same window that will give us a glimpse of where the frogs are Texas Tech I think that's a victory as well I think they beat Baylor so at the moment I would have them with only two losses now the swing games to me and and the reason I think they beat Baylor is because they' just handled their business against Baylor for a long time I feel like dcoin Finn's a good player I know they've revamped their offense with Jake spavital David randers calling the defense but since 2014 I mean TCU has had Baylor's number number there's there's been some close ball games but the majority of them have been pretty uh significant TCU wins Oklahoma State and Arizona are really the swing games to me if you take care of business early in the season I feel like TCU will have a chance if they can split that those two games or win both of them obviously then you're talking about a team that is competing for a big 12 championship and probably playing in Arlington but I'm not sold on them beating Oklahoma State and Arizona right now and I realize those games are back toback at home you know Arizona has a new coach but they've been able to keep that Core group together they've got a good quarterback Oklahoma state has a pretty clear identity with Mike Gundy and running the football with with olly Gordon now I like that those games are late in the season because TCU should have a great idea of who they are by the time those teams run into town and if you're healthy then at least you'll have a good feel for okay this is what we do well and then on the road against Cincinnati I think that's a tricky game to end the season but I would pick TCU to win at the moment now a couple of you have reached out to me because I one thing that I've noticed from TCU fans and I'm not knocking this opinion I want to share opinions on this show I just think it's interesting the departure of Texas in Oklahoma has left a lot of you very confident in the schedule and I mean you can look at it again there's a lot of games there I mean there's aside from I guess at first glance aside from at Utah and I would throw at Kansas in there there's really not a game that you're just like oh man gonna be very tough to go get a victory and I think there's a pass to victory in both of those ball games for the frogs but when I look at this schedule I also see a lot of games they're going to be competitive and close Stanford and Liu I hope those are blowouts I think they're going to be frog wins comfortably right now UCF I can see being in a close game SMU Kansas same thing Utah Tech Oklahoma State Arizona I mean there's a lot of games on this schedule that could come down to one score and they were really good a couple years ago in those situations they weren't so good last year at attention to detail and making the big plays that they had to make to get wins so that's why I'm a little hesitant about saying all right this is a group that can contend for a title now I got some reaction yesterday on Twitter when I shared that hey I think this is probably an eight and4 football team let see if I can find it here uh Byron Bailey he thinks they have the most talented roster and five head coaches in the room anything less than nine wins is unacceptable and then Doug who frequently uh chimes in on YouTube as well says I'm in for 11 and one or 10- two high expectations must be the norm for the top recruiting Big 12 school and the one who should own the DFW market and TCU is in the same situation as a lot of Big 12 schools right now and that they're all thinking yes if things break right and we recruit well and we play at a high level we're going to be the team or the program that runs this league here's why I have pause about it this year I just don't think they're good enough up front now this offensive line the starting five I feel like that can turn into a serviceable unit I I think it's gonna take some time for everything to coales and come together but you're banking on not having a lot of injuries and I think the problem is when you got guys like bless Harris I mean it's not his fault but he's dealt with injuries through his career same with nickels and those are your two book in tackles and that's a spot where you just don't have a lot of depth and so I would love to you know just hit the Frog Horn and be like let's go 12 and0 but I I don't see it right now now to be fair I didn't see it a couple years ago and they did it I thought they were gonna be much better last year than they weren't so my predictions are not always right obviously and there's plenty of room for growth and development within the season but that's what's giving me pause also defensively when are you going to get Paulo La wall back can these stud linebackers I'm excited about them can they get pressure on the quarterback can this defensive line because you're putting a lot of pressure on your corners and you're thin at that position so you're really banking on this defense being able to create Havoc create pressure which I think is awesome but you got to execute it and you got to do it and so that's what's kind of giving me pause as the moment but I'll show it one more time here and feel free to chime in on YouTube call me an idiot call Drake an idiot that's all fine I I disagree with the the losses here I think it's going to be a little different but I'm also seeing eight and four at the moment the great thing is we're a couple days away from getting some Real Results we're gonna see what this team looks like on Friday night and get a better idea of okay what is sunny dyes adjusted he made some changes he went and revamped this defense he went and got some players in the transfer portal that have a lot of experience they've talked about having a better mentality having more physicality we'll step on is going and beating a Stanford team in pal Alto that has a lot of returning production coming back and doesn't have high expectations can you go out there and silence things early the last two years you know last year against Colorado obviously that was a mess bad starts in game one right in the first half in Colorado a couple years ago very sleepy start thankfully that Darius Davis punt return for a touchdown gave them the lead at halftime can this team get out of the gates and just go for it from the jump we'll get to see here uh in a few days when we come back what does Sunny Dykes have to say about this group as he gets ready for game one on Friday we'll talk about that next year on lockdown horn frogs your team every day if you looking for tickets for a TCU game this upcoming season there's no better place to go to than game time game time app download it today promo code locked on College get your $20 off your first purch purchase whatever the game is and here's the great thing about game time they're very up front with you there are fees but they tell you what they are so you don't have to worry about secret fees hidden fees you get to check out suddenly your total is $20 more than you thought no that doesn't happen with game time they also give you a very clear picture of what your view from your seats going to be so there's no um kind of bait and switch in that regard either you can get tickets up to the last minute they do flash sales if you're a procrastinator don't worry you can still find a decent deal on the game time app even into the first quarter of a football game but I don't 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again now through September 22nd just bet $5 if you do and you have YouTube TV you can get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment you can cancel anytime fanduel.com lockon visit them today and get ready for the upcoming football season Sunny dyes held his weekly press conference on Tuesdays that's when we're going to hear from him from here on out uh couple quick housekeeping things Ben Parker on tomorrow show he covers Stanford for the Stanford rival site so we'll get some insight on the Cardinal from him and then I don't know exactly what time it's going to be Friday night but all through the season I'll be doing postgame shows after the game so if you want to stay up really late with me on Friday night you can or if you just want to wake up Saturday morning before you get into the big Saturday morning late on Labor Day weekend and listen to the podcast after the game you can do that but I will have a postgame show up in the wi hours in the morning on uh Saturday and maybe late Friday night about the CCU Stanford game and I mean we did all last we do it after losses too sometimes it's fun to have a therapy session like that obviously we prefer to do it after wins but win or lose we'll have um postgame therapy for you here on the locked on network locked on horn FR suay Express conference here a couple things that he said Andy alos he's going to be upstairs so he won't be on the field which I found that kind of interesting I I didn't happen to look into what his um rhythms were the DC at different places but just kind of from a personality standpoint I thought he was gonna be a guy that was on the field huddling guys up but hey I I really I don't I don't think it's a big deal either way I know people make you know have preferences about it and that's that's something that sometimes coaches will do in desperation now that's not the case here because this is just what he wants to do but it's like oh we're having trouble on defense or offense let's let's get down on the field let's go up in the booth if you can call plays you can call plays um with the helmet communication now he should still be able to communicate with the defense directly from the box but if you're curious he's not going to be on the field he'll be um there up in the Press Box um Eric AO mayor how are they going to cover him I'm very curious to see it I think that's going to be the biggest uh test of the game and sunny said in his presser he was like you typically don't see wide receivers take over a game like he did against Colorado he had 292 yards I believe against Colorado multiple touchdowns and a lot of that was against Travis Hunter who is consensus you know first round pick material this upcoming season one of the best DBS in the nation I imagine uh JT Bron's going to get the Maj majority of that assignment and so it's up to him to make life tough on him and honestly I think the bigger thing will be can you limit everybody else he's probably gonna get his like he's gonna get some he's gonna make some plays he's get some yards he might break a few can you limit everybody else and funnel that offense you know to where it's really just coming to him and then if you have to you know you throw safety over the top you try to bracket him you try different things throw different looks out there another huge key is going to be getting pressure on the quarterback if you can do that consistently for off the Rhythm and timing of those routes get in Ashton Daniels you know line of sight and uh just find a way to be disruptive then it limits the things that you can do in the passing game so that's gonna be another huge key for this team as they uh get ready for week one and then healthwise I we kind of know what the injuries are I was surprised you didn't give like a definitive timetable on uh Paulo LA or Trent attle but Trent you know um Trent's kind of down on the depth chart but he has been someone who's been active the last last few years for TCU in that running back rotation so we'll see where he you know where he stands and then Paul mainly on the bike trying to work out some sort of lower body issue but hopefully he'll be back soon I think you know if he's missing this game there's also a good chance he'll probably miss that Long Island game just because you should be able to handle that without him and then hopefully you can get him up and running before you play UCF and have that test in front of you but those are really the big takeaways from uh from that press conference and where TCU is and again I'm just excited to see the team I I want to see what Josh Hoover can do I'm curious you know a guy like dalen Wright who had a really good fall C and kind of supplanted himself as a um as a dude this upcoming year who they trust and who's G be in the starting rotation I know Eric mcro will still get a lot of reps but I mean that's a big deal like Eric came in with Big Time production I was at Boise State but still I mean had almost a thousand yards and showed an ability get down the field so for DAL to win that job it's significant for Johnny Hodges to hold off the leading tackle at Cal Caleb alarms or that means something so what do those guys look like when they hit the field and how are they trying to maximize their production this upcoming season in a way that they couldn't the year before when we come back we'll get some of your reactions from the show locked on horn frogs it's your team every day Five Hour Energy do you need to pick me up on Friday night if you do I totally understand we're not you know we're not kids anymore maybe some of you are I don't know the age demographic of the people listening but I myself I'm much more fatigued Than I Used to Be If I Stay Up Late and I can't just you know be someone that's up all night like I used to be so 5 Hour Energy a great place to start and it's been in convenient stores for years zero sugar convenient portable size perfect pickme up for getting stuff done they have flavors Galore you can order online now watermelon tropical burst grae Berry and more there's a flavor for everyone try them all on the site or even if you have the option to build your own 12 pack or 24 pack you choose the flavors it's delivered right to your door again that's 5H Hour Energy a proud sponsor here of the lock on network we appreciate them for joining us so one more thing I want to get to and I might I might do a bonus episode this weekend I'll have to listen to this press conference and kind of parse out what I want to react to but before the sunny dyes press conference every week they typically put another coach up there another person up there before Sunny speaks so the media can get the perspective whether it's Eric Bell from the soccer team maybe it's Mark Campbell women's basketball as we get closer basketball season we'll see Jamie Dixon occasionally and it's a chance for those coaches to share about their programs and so this week Jeremiah dennady was actually the the opener so to speak for the sunny dyes presser and he talked for about 20 minutes about the direction of uh college sports and he was also announcing the new performance center um Sunny dyes made a $1 million donation sunny and Kate Dy made a $1 million donation to which is really generous of them and so part of that donation that the dyes family made is going to honor former TC offensive lineman Jamal pal who was on staff with suay at SMU and unfortunately Jamal tragically uh passed away after a battle with cancer a few years ago and sunny talked about how he loved TCU was always talking about the school and so his name is gonna be on the weight room which is a really nice gesture in the new Harrison family uh football performance center Harrison family made a very sizable donation to get a new performance center for the football team and another part of that donation from sunny and Kate Dykes is gonna recognize Shirley Enis um wife of TCU trusty Hunter inis and it's going to be an endowment to support women's Athletics so those are some of the the newsy things that came out of it but also he talked about where college sports is going we're soon going to have nil in the next few years it'll be basically privatized through the schools so players will get paid directly by TCU and there's all sorts of you know tough decisions that are going to come with that Jim noris says just got through watching the tcad talk about the different challenges he's dealing with from a revenue sharing uh perspective Jim doesn't think Yukon should join the conference they would certainly dominate in basketball and their football program is particularly non-existent compared to most of the teams in the Big 12 would love to get your take on this issue so I'll get to the Yukon thing in a second I feel like what Jim's referencing is Jeremiah denina mentioned that he didn't say they were going to cut any sports that's been a for years when we talk about okay football players basketball players making money what does it mean for the other sports on campus he didn't say they were cutting sports but he did say that the Olympic sports will probably look different in the future um and so part of that's comes back to revenue and how you can generate as far as Yukon goes Jim I mean I agree they wouldn't be my first choice I think I think Brett ymark believes in his heart and this is a belief that he has I assume other people in the office share with them or they they're not willing to really push back against it but he believes that Big 12 basketball is an untapped Revenue source that if you can build a basketball super conference then that can be something you bring to the table for advertisers and for TV money that is separate from your football deals and say hey you need to pay us money just for basketball because basketball is so good and it's so marketable and the teams are so um great the comp competition is so great that you need to you need to pay us just for basketball and you need to pay us just for football and you separate those two things because they're they own their own two separate entities I think he's gonna have a tough time selling that to networks because I feel like from a national standpoint college basketball even though I like college basketball I love it aside from March Madness it doesn't hold the cache that football does and it's not really close but I think that's what he's his mind is set on with Yukon and eventually maybe Gonzaga is that let's continue to build on what's the best basketball conference of the nation so that one day we can say hey give us money just for that and that's a way to kind of close the gap between the Big 10 and the SEC will it work I don't know but I do appreciate that he's thinking outside the box and they would give Yukon some time I think up to 2030 to ramp football up but you're right aside from the Randy etel days that's a program that's been very bad in football historically we'll be back tomorrow with Ben Parker talking to Stanford it's lockedown horn frogs your team we do it here every day