TCU will be 'fine' if it can find a quarterback, opposing coach believes

TCU may be one piece away from an excellent 2024 campaign. In an interview with Athlon Sports, an opposing Big 12 assistant coach revealed where he believes the Horned Frogs can improve.

“Pretty big case of a title run hangover here last year,” the anonymous coach said. “The truth about Sonny [Dykes] is that they weren’t as good as the ’22 team, and the program isn’t as bad as the ’23 season. The truth is closer to what they’ll do this season when the roster really belongs to this staff.

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“They’re moving away from their 3-3-5. [Defensive coordinator] Andy [Avalos] is going to want to rush four and shake up their personnel. They seemed to spend the spring focusing on that and holding back on offense. … If they can find a QB, they’ll be fine this season. It’s just been a lot of big swings with this program the last two years.”

In head coach Sonny Dykes debut campaign with TCU in 2022, he took the program to the national championship, ultimately falling to Georgia. In 2023, Dykes was unable to replicate his previous success, leading the Horned Frogs to an underwhelming 5-7 overall record.

Part of TCU’s struggles last season were due to a lack of identity at quarterback. In 2022, quarterback Max Duggan was an anchor for TCU’s offense. He played and started in all 15 games for the Horned Frogs.

He won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award for his efforts. In contrast, quarterback Chandler Morris began the 2023 season as TCU’s starting quarterback. However, after suffering an injury in Week 6, Josh Hoover took the reins.

Josh Hoover is ready for the spotlight

Hoover started in the final six games of the season, posting a 2-4 record. Despite TCU’s lack of team success, Hoover showed individual promise. In his first start, Hoover completed 37-of-58 passes for 439 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-11 win over BYU.

Hoover points to the game as the moment he realized he could compete at the collegiate level.

“I think the BYU game, my first start, just we had a good start, kind of got off hot,” Hoover said at Big 12 Media Days. “We scored a couple touchdowns and that’s when kind of everything settled in and I was like, ‘I got this. I can do this. This is football, what I’ve been doing my whole life.’ Everything slowed down for me, so that was probably the moment.”

TCU fans can only hope Hoover has many more standout moments in the upcoming season. On Aug. 30, TCU will kick off the 2024 campaign with a showdown against Stanford.