ARKANSAS vs TCU
When: 12/31/2020 8:00 PM
Where:

TV: 8:00 PM
LINE: -5.5
PREDICTION: TCU , ARKANSAS

Oddsmakers currently have the TCU listed as -5.5 point favorites versus the ARKANSAS, while the game’s total is sitting at 57.

Arkansas brings an unsightly 3-7 record and a four-game losing skid into the Texas Bowl to face TCU on New Year’s Eve in Houston.

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman isn’t making any apologies.

“We’ll always have folks who will say we were 3-7 and things of that nature. If you look at our schedule and look — obviously we played 10 SEC games, certainly played four I think of the top nine teams in the country,” said Pittman, whose three wins were against Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

Teams did not need a winning record or a minimum number of victories this season to be eligible for a bowl due to the uncertainty of COVID-19.

The Horned Frogs (6-4), winners of three straight and five of their last six games, last faced the Razorbacks when they split a home-and-home series from 2016-17. TCU’s winning streak includes a 29-22 victory over then-No. 15 Oklahoma State on Dec. 5.

The Texas Bowl will mark the Frogs’ ninth game out of 11 played in Texas this season.

“Most of our kids are very excited, even the Louisiana kids because this is going to be an opportunity for their families to come watch them play,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “If it would have been somewhere out of state, going west or really further east, it would have been harder for them to do that.”

Former Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks is a big reason why Arkansas won its three games this season and lost three others — to Auburn, LSU and Missouri — by a combined seven points.

Franks has revived his career at Arkansas after suffering a gruesome ankle injury with the Gators in the third game of last season.

“A game here and there, we were in every game and we were competing and we did a good job with that,” said Franks, who was the 2018 Peach Bowl MVP with Florida. “I think the program is turned around and definitely headed in the right direction with Coach Pittman and all of the staff and everybody did a great job of getting the program going in the right direction.”

He has thrown for 2,107 yards at a 68.5 percent completion rate with 17 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

While other NFL prospects are opting out of bowls, Franks said he will play in the Texas Bowl.

“I feel like it’s just my duty,” he said. “Not necessarily my duty, but for me, I want to stay and I want to finish the season out. I want to finish what I started.”

TCU’s running game dictates its performances.

It leads the Big 12 at 216.0 rushing yards per game. The Horned Frogs are 6-0 when running for at least 200 yards. They have averaged 275.0 yards per game rushing in their six wins and 124.3 in the four losses.

Quarterback Max Duggan leads TCU in rushing with 526 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has completed 146 of 240 passes for 1,795 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.

The post ARKANSAS vs. TCU 12/31/2020 Free Pick & CFB Betting Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

TCU vs SMU
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, September 7, 2018
Where: Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas, Texas

TV: 8:00 PM
LINE:
PREDICTION: SMU , TCU

Oddsmakers currently have the SMU listed as point favorites versus the TCU, while the game’s total is sitting at .

No. 16 TCU did exactly what it was supposed to do in Week 1 by thrashing an FCS opponent, hopefully preparing it for a schedule that is about to get considerably tougher. The Horned Frogs will get their first shot in front of a visiting crowd when they travel across the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area to SMU on Friday.

TCU, which faces Ohio State in Week 3 before diving into the Big 12 slate, got a long look at the duel-threat abilities of sophomore quarterback Shawn Robinson in the 55-7 victory over Southern last week. “It was awesome just to be out there with my guys,” Robinson told reporters after his five-touchdown performance. “We’ve been working since January. Just to finally get out there and get a game under our belts, it was a really, really cool experience.” The Mustangs are going to need to step up on defense against Robinson and company after surrendering 529 total yards in a 46-23 loss at North Texas on Saturday. SMU, which is under the guidance of new coach Sonny Dykes, trailed 36-0 in the fourth quarter and allowed at least 31 points in seven consecutive games going back to last season.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: TCU -21.5

ABOUT TCU (1-0): Robinson’s three passing TDs and two rushing scores gave him a leg up on fellow sophomore Michael Collins in what is still an open quarterback competition. Collins impressed with his arm strength in Week 1, adding a passing score and 71 yards in five attempts. “Mike can sling it,” wide receiver Jalen Reagor, who caught one of Robinson’s TD passes, told reporters. “He is pretty consistent, and just like Shawn, if he can gel and get in a rhythm then we can just mold into one.”

ABOUT SMU (0-1): Dykes’ offense managed only 24 yards in the first half against North Texas, and the Mustangs finished with four rushing yards in the contest. Dykes, who took over last December and coached the 51-10 Frisco Bowl loss to Louisiana Tech, served as an offensive analyst under Gary Patterson at TCU last season after being fired as the coach of California and is known for his offensive acumen. SMU’s most explosive offensive player in Week 1 was running back Braeden West, who did his best work as a receiver with three catches for 86 yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for a score.

EXTRA POINTS

1. TCU CB Michael Onyemaobi suffered an undisclosed season-ending injury in Week 1.

2. TCU took 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series, including a 56-36 victory last season.

3. Horned Frogs freshman WR Derius Davis was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after catching a TD pass and returning a punt for a score in the opener.

PREDICTION: TCU 50, SMU 17

The post TCU vs. SMU 9/7/2018 Free Pick & CFB Betting Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

The junior quarterback then backed it up with his play.

Boykin threw a school-record seven touchdown passes and the 10th-ranked Horned Frogs showcased a new fast-paced offense by scoring the most points in their history in an 82-27 rout of Texas Tech on Saturday.

It was their first win in three tries against the Red Raiders since joining the Big 12 two years ago. The 82 points are a Big 12 record for a conference game.

“No, I felt perfect,” said Boykin, who had a career high in yards passing for the second straight week with 433.

“I think everybody was pretty amped up. These are one of the teams we haven’t beaten in the Big 12, and it was just time to pay those guys back.”

The Horned Frogs (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) topped their previous scoring high of 69 in the spread attack directed in part by co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie, a former Texas Tech quarterback who spent the past four seasons as an assistant at his alma mater.

TCU let the overmatched Red Raiders stay close for most of the first half, but that was mostly a defensive problem as the teams combined for 512 yards in the first quarter.

And after Texas Tech starter Davis Webb was knocked out of the game with a left leg injury while Boykin was in the middle of throwing three touchdowns in about a 3-minute span of the third quarter, the Red Raiders (3-5, 1-4) were out of chances to keep up.

“I don’t think we played well all game,” said Patterson, the leader of a defense that gave up four plays of 48 yards or longer in the first quarter. “Fortunately for us, we didn’t play very well and we won a ballgame. That hasn’t happened around here in the last two years.”

Boykin had two scoring tosses each to Josh Doctson and Deante’ Gray, who had a 92-yarder about 2 minutes before Ty Slanina caught a 57-yard touchdown that gave TCU a 61-20 lead midway through the third quarter.

TCU scored the most points by an FBS school since Oklahoma State beat Savannah State 84-0 on Sept. 1, 2012, and it was the highest total for a ranked opponent against an FBS opponent since No. 6 Wisconsin beat Indiana 83-20 on Nov. 13, 2010.

Boykin was 22 of 39 for 433 yards while setting a career high in yards passing for the second week in a row, this time needing just three quarters before he was replaced by Matt Joeckel.

“If we would have played our best, it would have been tough to beat them and we didn’t do that,” Red Raiders coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “You beat like that, there’s not a lot of words.”

The touchdown that put TCU over 70 points for the first time was a pitch from third-stringer Zach Allen to Trevorris Johnson for a 4-yard score two plays after Joeckel limped off the field.

Johnson scored again to put the Horned Frogs over 80 with 1:16 remaining a decade after Cumbie led the Red Raiders to a 70-35 victory over the Horned Frogs, the most points allowed in Gary Patterson’s 15 seasons as coach.

TCU, which beat New Mexico 69-0 in its previous highest-scoring game in 2011, had a school-record 785 yards in its first win over Tech since a 12-3 victory in 2006.

The Horned Frogs set a series scoring record against an opponent for the fourth straight week, yet another payoff for Patterson after hiring Cumbie, who was on Kingsbury’s staff last year, and Doug Meacham in the offseason when he decided that he needed an offense that could keep up in the fast-paced Big 12.

“I know Sonny obviously very well,” Kingsbury said. “And coach Meacham does a tremendous job with the scheme. Just overall, incredible that they’ve done.”

Webb kept pace early by throwing for 230 of his 300 yards in the first quarter before an interception and his two fumbles led to 13 first-half points for TCU. Webb was replaced by freshman Pat Mahomes after the leg injury. Kingsbury didn’t have an update on Webb after the game.

Gray led TCU with 165 yards receiving on four catches, and Doctson added 76 with a 51-yard score a week after he missed the school record by a yard on a 225-yard day that included touchdowns of 77 and 84.

Aaron Green had a career-long run of 62 yards for TCU’s first touchdown and finished with 105 for his first 100-yard game.

After the last of four turnovers from the Red Raiders on an interception by Mahomes late in the third quarter, TCU’s Chris Hackett and Texas Tech’s D.J. Polite-Gray received offsetting personal foul penalties and were ejected for throwing punches. They will have to serve one-game suspensions.

The post TCU scores 82 behind Trevone Boykin’s school-record 7 TD passes appeared first on IdealCapper.

The former starting quarterback is scheduled to begin classes when the semester starts on Monday and will return to the team after being arrested for a DUI in early October, disenrolling from the university and leaving the team after being suspended indefinitely.

Pachall spent time at a drug and alcohol treatment facility after leaving the team — a decision Patterson said was ultimately Pachall’s — and the coach made it clear the door for Pachall to return was open if he met all the requirements and completed the program.

“He finished all of his in-patient work and has been in out-patient work up until Friday,” Patterson told the paper. “He did everything we wanted him to do.”

The team is scheduled to meet on Sunday, the paper reported, and Pachall would be joining them. Patterson noted that he didn’t know if Pachall would be the team’s starting quarterback, but that he hadn’t thrown a football or lifted weights in “several months.”

“He met with Campus Life and one of the reasons I feel so good about this is because they feel so good about it. They feel very comfortable with it,” Patterson told the paper.

Pachall completed 66 percent of his passes for 948 yards, 10 touchdowns and an interception in four games last season before his arrest. He threw for 2,921 yards, 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2011 as TCU’s starting quarterback.

He was replaced by Trevone Boykin after leaving the team. Boykin finished 2012 with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions along with 2,054 passing yards, completing 57 percent of his passes. TCU also went 3-6 with Boykin as the starting quarterback.

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The sophomore threw a 36-yard touchdown strike to Marquise Goodwin with 2:24 left for the last of two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, stunning Oregon State and lifting the Longhorns to a 31-27 comeback victory Saturday night.

The Longhorns (9-4) never led before Goodwin scored his second touchdown on a deep post pattern, just a down after Texas converted a fourth-and-1 play to keep its chances alive.

“I guess in in every situation you have to be thankful,” said Ash, who was pulled in a loss to TCU a month ago and wasn’t immediately selected the starter for the Alamo Bowl. “I learned a lot at TCU. It was a tough situation I was in. I was just really thankful I got another opportunity to play a game I love.”

With Texas down 20-10 at halftime, Longhorns coach Mack Brown said he told his players they would win.

“I told them this it wasn’t going to be easy, but I told them this game was ours and we would win it,” Brown said. “This one is really special.”

Storm Woods ran for 118 yards and scored two touchdowns for the Beavers (9-4), who left stunned after looking as though they would wrap up their first 10-win season since 2006.

“Not to take anything away from Texas, that was a great team offensively and defensively,” Wood said. “In the first half we had a great style of football. In the second half, Texas made some adjustments and I guess, they just wanted it more.”

The victory was a dose of much-needed good news for Texas after coming into the game under a cloud of questions following the suspensions of backup quarterback Case McCoy and injured linebacker Jordan Hicks.

Ash, whose been pulled at times for McCoy this season, was 21 of 33 for 241 yards. Ash sputtered until the fourth quarter, when he went 9 for 11 for 146 yards. Even if there were doubts about Ash before then, Texas had no choice but to stick with him: the only backups were two redshirt freshmen who haven’t taken a snap all season.

Brown announced the suspensions Friday but wouldn’t reveal which players were sent home. A source within the school’s administration told ESPN.com on Friday the players were McCoy and Hicks.

Brown addressed the suspensions during a previously schedule news conference and referred to a local TV report that police were investigating two unidentified Texas players in an alleged sexual assault at a San Antonio hotel. Police released a heavily redacted incident report that only identifies the suspects as two students, one 20 and the other 21.

Authorities are still investigating and no charges have been filed.

Brown said he would not address the suspensions further.

Oregon State quarterback Cody Vaz was 15 of 28 for 194 yards and two interceptions. The Beavers had negative 4 yards in the fourth quarter as they were muffled by the Longhorns defense that was led by Alex Okafor, who finished with 4 1/2 sacks.

“When we tried to just drop back and pass, it was difficult,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. “That’s why Cody had to just hang in there. It was very, very tough. He made some plays and some other plays didn’t develop because he didn’t just have time.”

Although Goodwin’s touchdown catch might have won the game, two spectacular Texas plays in an earlier 83-yard scoring drive handed the Longhorns momentum — and a chance.

First was wide receiver Jaxon Shipley rescuing a pass sailing behind him with a dazzling one-handed grab at midfield. Ash made up for that off-target throw six plays later, slithering out of safety Anthony Watkins’ near-certain sack and flinging the ball to Johnathan Gray, who then zipped down the sideline for a 15-yard scoring play that got the Longhorns to 27-24

The Longhorns played for a national championship in 2009. What’s followed has been the shakiest of Brown’s 15 years at Texas: a combined 22-16 record, an overhaul of assistant coaches and stubborn instability at quarterback following seven spoiled years with Heisman Trophy finalists Colt McCoy — the suspended player’s brother — and Vince Young under center.

A surge of four consecutive victories late this season put this nine-win season in reach — a benchmark that had been the ho-hum standard of the Brown era. It comes following an unexpected twist earlier this month, when school President Bill Powers went to his blog to write that Brown had his “full support” and would remain the head coach.

Powers cited an increase an “increase in media speculation” about Brown’s future. It was published on his blog the same day Brown would not yet commit to Ash or Case McCoy as his starting quarterback for the Alamo Bowl.

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