Todd Monken analyzes TCU's 3-3-5 defense

Todd Monken has once again coached Georgia up to be a Top-10 offense as they look to culminate this season with a second straight national title. However, in order to get the job done, they’ll have to find some points against Joe Gillespie’s 3-3-5 defense at TCU.

Monken praised that specific defense leading up to tonight’s CFP National Championship in Los Angeles. He said it’s a fascinating scheme since it’s not something the Bulldogs often come across in the SEC. Monken also said it’s because the Horned Frogs have customized that style to be their own.

“It’s interesting. When you talk different leagues, we don’t see a ton of it in our league. And you see a ton of it in the Big-12…Everybody’s kind of made it their own. A lot like when someone says Air Raid? I’m sure there’s a foundation. Then people have to make it their own in terms of concepts, how you approach practice and do that,” said Monken. “They have done a fantastic job with it. You can see teams throughout their league have some success with it and have some struggles with it. And like any defense, it starts with their scheme.”

Keeping things low scoring in the Big 12 is a challenge of its own. However, TCU did about as good a job of it as they could hope for. While their offense gets plenty of attention, their defense posted a Top-65 year in the nation, allowing 26.4 points per game. While that may still seem like a lot, it has gotten the job done and put TCU in the position that it will be in tonight.

Beyond the scheme, Monken went on to applaud the personnel on the Horned Frog defense. They obviously have the skill and, considering where they find themselves, he says they also have the belief that they’ll need to try to pull the upset tonight.

“Then it starts with their personnel. They’re very well coached, they play awfully hard, and they have talented players. You don’t get to this point without having that,” Monken said. “There comes a point where I think all of a sudden there’s a belief in what they’re doing. A belief in the head coach, a belief in each other. And they play like that. They play with a chip on their shoulder.”

TCU will have its hands full with another top-notch offense led by Monken. Still, they’ve bent and only broken once this entire season. That kind of grit has brought them here and tonight they’ll look to hold on on that end one last time to potentially earn themselves their second national title in school history.