In Loose Ends

http://www.frogsowar.com/

In College Football

TCU 2011 Outlook– the Schedule

The Frogs open 2011 with a pair of very similar road games.  Both come against familiar foes—Baylor has played TCU three times since 2006, including last year's "game" in Fort...

In College Football

TCU 2011 Outlook– Defense

Gary Patterson's defenses have been the stingiest in the nation three years running; to claim a fourth consecutive title, TCU's redshirt freshmen in the secondary will have to grow...

In Football

TCU 2011 Outlook- Rushing Attack

Aside from the obvious replacement issues that face the Frog offense at quarterback and wide receiver, perhaps the most pressing part of the present rebuild is on the offensive...

In College Football

TCU 2011 Outlook– Passing Attack

The Purple Wimple preview of TCU, part one: the quarterbacks, receivers, and tight ends (o-line to be previewed with the running game, in the next...

In College Football

Portland State 2011 Outlook

Nigel Burton, the new head coach of the Portland State Vikings last season, installed a balanced attack (with lots of running from the pistol) in the pace of a pass-happy...

In College Football

SMU 2011 Outlook

This is the spring of Year Four of the June Jones revival on the Hilltop. Nobody questions that coach Jones has brought the Mustangs to a higher plateau, or that the Ponies are going...

In College Football

Herby and C-James Praise… TCU?

Better re-check that fiery forecast for Hades: Craig James and Kirk Herbstreet are singing TCU's praises. It's a mad, mad world.

In College Football

BYU 2011 Outlook

The Purple Wimple welcomes back Jake, now a recidivist guest contributor about BYU at the Wimple, to look ahead at BYU. BYU’s last football season started off as a train wreck. ...

In College Football

Colorado State 2011 Outlook

Colorado State is the most intriguing team in the Mountain West, and, with Louisiana Monroe, is one half of the most intriguing pair of teams on TCU's schedule.  No team has more...

In College Football

Boise State 2011 Outlook

Boise State (which, I have it on good authority, is not pronounced Boy-zee, but Boy-see) looked briefly like it was going to undergo a fairly extensive turnover in offensive coaches...

In College Football

New Mexico 2011 Outlook

As far as the Wimple is aware, the only news outlets that regularly pay more-than-twitterable attention to the New Mexico Lobos have retreated behind pay walls.  Therefore this...

In College Football

Week 1 SBNation Blogpoll Ballot

Here is the Wimple's week 1 ballot for the SBNation blogpoll, formerly the MGoBlog blogpoll.  Again, the Wimple advocates (and practices) resume polling, which means my early ballots...

In College Football

TCU 45, Baylor 10

Baylor came to Fort Worth tied in its century-long series with TCU, but well ahead of the Frogs in self-image.  The perennially rebuilding Bears hoped to compete manfully with the...

In College Football

MWC Roundup

Perusing the Mountain West after three weeks' play: Air Force nearly took down Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday, falling short 27-24 despite scoring the game's final 14 points.  The...

In College Football

Opponent Preview: SMU

Taking a different tack this week, here is a Q&A with Sancho, a writer at perunaspundits, which is fantake.com's SMU blogger, about Friday's DFW Duel, and SMU. The Purple...

In College Football

TCU 41, SMU 24

            I've said it before: a good running game covers a multitude of sins.  Both the SMU Mustangs and the TCU Horned Frogs proved the truth of that sentiment again...

In College Football

MWC roundup: balanced attacks.

  Three teams in the Mountain West boast improved offensive balance-- and potency.          There is nothing more dangerous in football than a balanced offense.  A...

In College Football

Where’s the Love?

SouthernComfort guest blogs at The Wimple today, from South Carolina. This Season has an eerie feel to it.  As of Saturday’s College Game Day Finale, Mark May’s “Top 5...

In College Football

Heating the Iron Skillet

From YouPlusDallas.com comes this video about the latest Battle for the Iron Skillet.  Enjoy. Something wonderful is happening for college football in the Metroplex, and I don’t...

In College Football

Opponent Preview: COLORADO STATE

Cutting through the crap, Colorado State was b—a—d for the first three weeks of this season.  Through three losses to Colorado, Nevada, and Miami of Ohio, the Rams averaged under...

In College Football

TCU 27, Colorado State 0

So this is what it's like to be so good that you're good even when you're not good.  Got it?  Good. TCU took its act on the road for the first time, really, this season.  And it...

In College Football

Dominance Ranking, Week 5

The “Dominance Ranking” is a stat that I maintain as a measure of how strongly teams are beating their opponents.  Each team’s “Dominance Score” is the sum of each team’s...

In College Football

Opponent Preview: WYOMING [updated]

The Cowboys are one of the four Mountain West teams to have beaten TCU-- it happened in Laramie in 2007.  But Wyoming has never even been...

In College Football

TCU 45, Wyoming 0

The Frogs picked a good week to shut out a foe and capitalize on a loss ahead of them in the polls.  The win tells little about TCU, however, as Wyoming is a woefully undermanned...

In College Football

Week 6 Dominance Ranking

Back at number one for the first time since 2009, the Horned Frogs will begin the second half of the 2010 season as the most dominant team in the nation. Here they are: ranked by...

In College Football

Mountain West at midseason

Through six weeks, who is a better freshman quarterback in the MWC than Jake Heaps?  A better freshman runningback than Waymon James?  Why are Utah's eye-popping defensive stats...

In College Football

Opponent Preview: BYU

It's ironic: the program that deconstructs two 1A conferences in order to midwife its own independence is having a terrible time re-constructing its own offense.  That such an...

In College Football

TCU 31, BYU 3

Clearly Bronco Mendenhall has learned the lesson of the F-Bowl: TCU lived and died in 2009 by its running game. “TCU was running it about 270 yards a game [in 2010] and we did...

In College Football

Welcome back, Rams’ and Aztecs’ ground games

Two Mountain West teams that competed for the bottom spot in the conference in 2009 (including the winner) showed success in their respective...

In College Football

Week 7 Dominance Ranking

The Mountain West relinquishes its hold on the number one spot in this week's Dominance Ranking, ceding it to future-MWC member Boise State. 1 Boise...

In College Football

SBNation BlogPoll Week 8 Ballot

Here's the Purple Wimple ballot to the SBNation BlogPoll for this week.  Remember, I'm resume-polling, according to the Three Rules below. The Purple Wimple Ballot - Week...

In College Football

Opponent Preview: AIR FORCE

2010 was supposed to be the year Air Force broke into the Mountain West’s top three—likely taking BYU’s place.  BYU has played its part well, losing to Air Force and TCU, but...

In College Football

TCU 38, Air Force 7

The Air Force Falcons continued their now-venerable tradition of collapsing against TCU when playing in Fort Worth.  The Frogs doubled up the Falcons in almost every statistical...

In College Football

SBNation Blogpoll Week 9 Ballot

Here's my intial Week 9 ballot for the BlogPoll; remember, I'm a resume voter, comparing bodies of work.  These are becoming significant; notes follow the ballot, below the...

In College Football

Dominance Ranking, week 8

The Big Three that could have been-- Boise, Utah, TCU-- are jammed atop the Dominance Ranking (ranking by scoring offense + scoring defense) after eight weeks in 2010. ...

In College Football

Opponent Preview: UNLV

UNLV is undergoing a painful transition from a bad passing team to a bad balanced offense.  The Rebels look much like San Diego State looked in 2009, when the Aztecs underwent much...

In College Football

SBNation BlogPoll Week 10 Ballot

Here's my latest ballot in the SBNation BlogPoll.  (And yes, Florida's appearance on last week's was an error.) The Purple Wimple Ballot - Week...

In College Football

TCU 48, UNLV 6

TCU showed a new vulnerability in its otherwise dominating win over UNLV on Saturday night (and Sunday morning)—Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley each fumbled the ball, each deep in...

In College Football

Week 9 Dominance Ranking

There are 27 teams in this week's top 25, due to ties.  Central Florida is the most notable among them, because the (formerly Golden) Knights get no notice in the polls.  UCF checks...

In College Football

Opponent Preview: UTAH

Utah and TCU just don't meet for anything less than heavy and consequential games.  Last year the TCU-Utah matchup looked from a distance like it was going to be the "highest...

In College Football

Utah

Here're links to pieces about the game, which is (basically) a play-in for the Rose Bowl. Pre-Snap Read has several: general analysis, a look at both teams' similar runningback...

In College Football

TCU 47, Utah 7

And then the "Beat Baylor" Horned Frogs showed up, and the Utes looked every bit as bad against them as the Bears did.  Utah crossed midfield once-- fifty minutes into the "game." ...

In College Football

Week 10 Dominance Ranking

Here're the 25 most dominant teams, by the sum of their national ranks in scoring offense and scoring defense, through 10 weeks. 1 Boise St. 2 TCU 3 Ohio...

In College Football

Opponent Preview: SAN DIEGO STATE

San Diego State is a football team transformed.  It is two bad calls and six points removed from 9-0.  How has Brady Hoke's crew accomplished what...

In College Football

Q&A with AztecSportsReport.com

Tom Shanahan writes exhaustively about Aztec football at AztecSportsReport.com.  He kindly answered these questions from the Purple Wimple, about SDSU and the upcoming match with...

In College Football

TCU 40, San Diego State 35

For five and a half minutes, Frog fans (46,694 of 'em) wondered if the occasional ghastly prediction of a post-Utah letdown wasn't so far-fetched after all.   At the 9:16 mark, TCU...

In College Football

Week 11 Dominance Ranking

The blue and orange lead the Dominance Ranking another week, and the MAC leader creeps into the top 15 for the second consecutive year. 1 Boise...

In College Football

From the ashes of disaster…

... grow the roses of (TCU's) success!  Knock 'em in the Kraft Foodies Truck Stop Bowl, or whatever it's called.  Unquestionably, Boise State is the best one-loss team in the...

In College Football

ESPN digests the new reality

In College Football

TCU 66, New Mexico 17

The Frogs set records left and right in Albuquerque Saturday, while capturing their second consecutive outright Mountain West championship, and cementing their position as the...

In College Football

Week 13 Dominance Ranking

After a week off, here's the latest Dominance Ranking (teams ranked by the sum of their national rank in scoring offense and scoring defense). 1 TCU 2 Boise...

In College Football

Conference Hopping, Part IV

A lot has been said about TCU’s move to the Big East; this much is clear: it is clearly a money win for the Frogs, and a BCS standings win for the conference.  It makes less sense...

In College Football

An Open Letter to Jim Delaney

and Gordon Gee, for that matter. Dear Jim and Gordon: If your (mathematically-challenged) conference is so awesome, I'm sure your BCS representative from Madison will have an...

In College Football

ACS Demolition x 6 in HD

Here's the contractor's compilation of videos of Amon Carter Stadium coming down. Wow. And the new digs here.

In College Football

Rose Bowl Part 1

TCU's invite to the Rose Bowl is the last part of a story that began in 1935.  The Bowl whittled down one of its choices for a bid to the winner of the Game of the Century, TCU's...

In College Football

Rose Bowl Part 2

Let's do some second-order comparisons of Wisconsin and TCU. The Badgers rank 12th nationally in rushing offense, while facing 61st best rushing defenses, on average.  TCU turned...

In College Football

2010 All-MWC Frogs

TCU placed nine players on the 2010 all-MWC first team, tying the league record (for the second consecutive year).  Dalton and Daniels were the only two unanimous first-team...

In College Football

Conference Hopping, Part IV.2

As promised, here is another look at TCU's move to the Big East. The personnel issues that I highlit in my first take on the move have cleared, somewhat.  West Virginia and...

In College Football

Winning the Rose Bowl

is the biggest deal for TCU football since FDR was still within the two-term traditional limit.  [caption id="attachment_474" align="alignleft" width="440"...

In College Football

TCU 21, Wisconsin 19

When a team gets out-gained, out-first-downed, runs 25% fewer plays than its opponent, but wins anyway, one assumes a gaggle of turnovers. Neither team committed one Saturday in...

In College Football

On Patterson’s 4-2-5

Dedfischer posted a very interesting analysis of TCU's defense, the product of Gary Patterson's fertile defensive imagination.  A few comments and amplifications: Dedfischer is...

In College Football

Frog Defense Three-peats

TCU fielded the stingiest defense in the nation this season, for the third consecutive season.  Since the NCAA has been keeping statistics (I don’t know how long that is, but the...

In College Football

Wrap up: in 2010 the Frogs got the monkey off their back

Way back on September 2nd (only in football does three months a few days seem way back) the Wimple offered, as a public service, five reasons to...

In College Football

2010 Dominance Ranking

The final Dominance Ranking (national rank in scoring offense + scoring defense) for 2010; bold indicates a conference's pre-season favorite. 1 Boise...

In College Football

Dominance Ranking, 1999-2010

We've got twelve years' data now for the Dominance Ranking.  In that span, the most dominant team is... Boise State.  The Broncos' top finish (fifth year in a row in the top...

In College Football

The 2010 Wimple Awards

The fourth annual Purple Wimple Awards: Purple Wimple Player of the Year: Andy Dalton   [caption id="attachment_515" align="alignright" width="510" caption="Dalton embodied the...

In College Football

Mountain West 2010 Retrospective: the Bottom Feeders

In many ways, 2010 was set up to be the Mountain West's coming-out year.  Its champion had claimed the non-cartel autobid two years running, and...

In College Football

Mountain West 2010 Retrospective: The Middle’uns

Air Force, San Diego State, and BYU each beat all of the four bottom feeders in the conference.  What San Diego State, BYU, and Air Force could not...

In College Football

Recruiting Tidbits

Kibbles and bits about the freshly inked classes of recruits of TCU and its opponents: Air Force is an out-of-state school that flexes the Texas connection better than most of the...

In College Football

Mountain West 2010 Retrospective: the Peaks

Peaks has to be plural, because in the conference, Utah beat 'em all too, except TCU.Both teams featured game-changing return men (Smithson and...

In College Football

Spring Questions

A few key questions that TCU and each of its D-1A opponents look to answer this spring. Air Force- Will Ken Lamendola, out for most of two seasons with injuries, reclaim a...

In College Football

[updated 6-20-11] TCU’s new stadium taking shape

Here're a couple views of the upgrade to TCU's football stadium, courtesy Ross Bailey, via Wes at KF.C.  [new photos via SnoSkiDrew at KF.C] [even...

In College Football

2011 Air Force Outlook

First in the spring series of previews of each of TCU’s opponents (in the order they complete spring drills) is the Air Force Academy.  Come 2011, AFA may feature its best offense...

In College Football

2011 San Diego State Outlook

For the first time in as long as I've been paying attention to college football, San Diego State's questions and worries are not centered on its running game.  Rather, its attention...

In College Football

2011 Baylor Outlook

All eyes will be on the defense, whose new mastermind is Phil Bennett, ex-SMU head coach, via a successful stint running Pitt's defense.  Wacoans are on the bandwagon.  “Phil...

In College Football

2011 UNLV Outlook

UNLV is a year into the head coach Bobby Hauck rebuilding project; the show began with a rash of injuries in spring—as many as 17 out of one practice at a time.  That did not...

In College Football

Wyoming 2011 Outlook

Dave Christensen's recasting of the Wyoming Cowboys has not progressed according to schedule.  Yes, they went bowling in their first year, but that success is looking a lot more...

In College Football

SuperFrog’s debut in the Octonion

Big East teams don't show up in Fort Worth for well over another year, but at The Octonion, the future is now.

In College Football

Louisiana Monroe 2011 Outlook

The Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks have played football as a junior college since the depression, winning the JUCO 1935 national title.  ULM began play as a four year college in early...