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Oklahoma Football: TCU Horned Frogs a big test for Oklahoma Sooners

By Jacob Keyes

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Bob Stoops and his Oklahoma Sooners passed their first true road test of the year at West Virginia, but their biggest test to date may come this week at TCU. The Horned Frogs are 3-0 and have yet to face a ranked team, but fans in Fort Worth like what they see from their team.

West Virginia posed a huge threat offensively and minus a few hiccups in the secondary, Mike Stoops’ defense fared pretty well. The difference between the Frogs and Mountaineers may be that TCU is a more well-rounded team. Defense is a known strength for Gary Patterson’s team, but it’s the emergence of quarterback Trevone Boykin that has the Horned Frogs ranked in the top-25.

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Boykin is off to a great start and looks like he may finally be living up to the hype that surrounded him coming into the last two seasons. The junior has been accurate throwing the ball completing 79 of 123 attempts for 858 passing yards and has only thrown one interception through three games.

His eight touchdown passes are twice that of Oklahoma’s Trevor Knight, but he has also proven to be a running threat having rushed for three touchdowns and 183 yards on 29 attempts. These are the type of rushing stats Oklahoma fans expected from their quarterback coming into the season, but have yet to see. Boykin will pose a number of issues for the Sooners to deal with.

Oklahoma’s secondary will truly be tested. A running quarterback almost always makes life easier for receivers. While linebackers and safeties keep an eye on Boykin, cornerbacks Zack Sanchez and Julian Wilson will be tested once again as they are left to cover the Frogs receivers one-on-one.

While numbers like 211 rushing yards per game, a top-20 passing offense and the 44.7 points per game are impressive, it’s the TCU defense that will be an even tougher challenge for Oklahoma. The Horned Frogs have given up only 21 points on the season and gave up only 7 points to a 4-1 Minnesota team that scored 30 on Michigan this past weekend.

It’s true that TCU has not faced any world-beaters in it’s first three games, but 21 points in three games in still impressive. The Sooners gave up more than that in their first two outings against Louisiana Tech and Tulsa and that’s a Sooners defense thought of as one of the best in the country.

The Frogs are currently number one in the country in total defense. They are third in passing defense and number two against the run.

What does this mean for Josh Heupel and the Oklahoma offense?

More than likely it means it’s time to let Trevor Knight run with the ball. Knight has had a couple nice runs, but has yet to be anything close to the running threat that he was last season. Stoops and Heupel have both shown through recruiting and with their own words that they wanted an offense that showcases a dual-threat quarterback. Now they have a quarterback who can run the ball and Oklahoma fans want to know when they are going to see Knight chew up big chunks of yards with his legs again.

TCU has not been tested on defense yet, but they have yet to give up much in the passing game. If Heupel continues to try to make Knight a pocket passer they could find it difficult to score at TCU. This Sooners team doesn’t have a Sam Bradford or Jason White behind center, but they do have a guy that is as dangerous as it gets running with the ball. If ever there was a game that called for letting Knight take off with the ball, it’s this one.

That running ability is what makes Knight a dangerous quarterback and is a big reason why Oklahoma was expected to be a national championship contender. If we don’t see the quarterback run game against TCU things could end up being a little closer than the Sooners would like.

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