Frog Week

It's frog week for the ponies and we all know what that means, the traditional frog smack that TCU is too good to play the ponies nowadays. That's like a fat girl getting a make over and then acting like shes to cool to hang out with her smarter, wealthier, prettier next door neighbor that's been sick for 2 weeks (decades) because she has lipstick on...she's still fat. Speaking of...
TCU does have Patterson and his one size too small mock turtleneck sitting on the sideline. But hey, at least the guy can rock out some Hall and Oats.

I will be the first to admit, yes TCU has made huge strides in football over the past few years, and I congratulate them. In fact I think it's great... bring down the BCS, the other little guy in town fighting for press space over the Evil Longhorn Empire, etc....
But come on froggies don't get to cocky or the ponies will have to give you another dose of humility much like in 2005. This is a Rivalry game, one of the few our two schools have, it's tradition, and it's fun. It's fun to have a cross town rival, hijinks occur, smack talk, and it's usually a pretty good game. So you frogs might have had a few winning seasons under patterson's large belt but June and his boys are gaining some ground and the next few years are going to be good.

I'll let my more educated associate Irving disect the frogs (pun!) and breakdown what this game will look like Saturday night. However, I'll give you my top reasons why TCU sucks.

5. Purple: Who thought this was a good idea? Look how angry this guy is because he has to wear it week in and week out. Give me the Red & Blue anyday.





4. Super Frog: What the hell is this? Is it a cat? Did Lisa simpson breed with an alien? No it's super frog the delightfully cuddly mascot of TCU...Peruna may be a mini horse but he's a bad ass.






3. The Campus: pretty....the guy who decided to use yellow brick with a red roof must have been on the same committee that selected purple as the school color and an alien cat as the mascot. Sweet tall, horn thing, cone fountain too. You know I briefly cosidered going to TCU until I vistited the campus, realized frat house shared dorms together, there was a major street dividing campus, and the buildings looked like well like that...advantage Hilltop...

I was going to keep going but I got too bored looking up TCU stuff..... TCU Sucks...

Go Ponies

It's the most wonderful time of the year

In honor of the college football season starting and seeing the first oktoberfest beer of the year in the store yesterday and me remembering my password for this blog I will celebrate in song.

It's the most wonderful time of the year
when the footballs are flying
and everyone's lying that this is the year!
It's the most wonderful time of the year.

It's the hap happiest season of all
with the rivalry meetings
oktoberfests for drinking
it's finally the fall!
It's the hap happiest season of all

They'll be tailgates for hosting
and wins that we're boasting
and losses that make us feel low
they'll be underdog stories
and tales of the glories of
Conference Championships long long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
The ponies will be winning
and we'll all be grinning
cause the horned frogs are Queer
It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!!

Happy football season everybody!!! So go grab a paulner munich and get ready for saturday.

Go Ponies

Short TCU recap and Tulane Preview

I am not going to write much of a recap of the TCU game because, well what is there to say about a 48-7 ass kicking where Bo Levi had, amongst other unfortunate plays, a 2 yard forward shovel pass intercepted by a TCU lineman. That play pretty much summed up the offensive futility of the game.

TCU's defense was the fastest that Bo Levi (who actually wasn't completely terrible: 20-36 218 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT) and the offensive linemen had seen to this point in the season and the experience of last saturday shows that there is still much work to do. The line, which performed well against Rice, Texas State, and decently against Texas Tech, was simply overmatched against TCU. Let's hope the offensive units gained valuable experience in this game, because there were otherwise not many positives to take away from the field.

The defense could not get pressure on the QB and Andy Dalton, consequently, had a great game (16-25, 210 yards 0 TD, 0 INT). TCU tailbacks Aaron Brown--who very conveniently had his 4 game suspension reduced to 3 by coach Gary Patterson the week before the game--Jospeh Turner, and Marcus Jackson ran through the huge gaps made by TCU's offensive line as if our defense was not even there. At one point I found myself hoping that the defense would call "All Out!" and stack the box against Dalton just to create some entertainment, but then I remembered how much that play was lampooned on Sportscenter last year.

In short, the TCU game is a game that's probably best forgotten about until the Mustangs have more success.

Moving right along. The Mustangs play Tulane in New Orleans tonight on the CBS College Sports channel. I'll be following the game online (because I'm too cheap for digital cable) once I get home from flag football. This is a very winnable game as Tulane's offense is now anemic with the loss of Mike Forté (he of the 342 yard performance against the Ponies in Dallas last season). The linebackers will have to step up to support the defensive line against the run because Tulane QB Kevin Moore (730 yards passing, 2 TD, 3 INT on the season) does not look to be passing as much. Of course Tulane did not pass much last year and they still ran over the defense, so we shall see how much of an advantage that plays out to be.

That's all for now. I'll have something about the ending of the Astros season in a day or so once they are mathematically eliminated from the Wild Card race (3.5 games back as of today). Until then, Go Mustangs and let's please God get another W.

TCU Preview

It is Family Weekend here on the Hilltop and the Ponies welcome the deformed, blood shooting lizards of TCU to Ford Stadium for the latest installment in the Battle for the Iron Skillet. SMU memorably won the Iron Skillet in 2005 by defeating TCU 21-10 at Ford Stadium just one week after TCU had garnered national headlines for upsetting Oklahoma.

The Ponies and Frogs did not meet in 2006, so SMU got to hold onto the Skillet for one extra year only to see it relinquished in a frustrating struggle in Fort Worth last season. Anyone who went to the game--which I did--remembers clearly the frustration coming from the hideously bad officiating and equally horrendous clock management by Coach Bennett and company. The game was winnable and remained close late due to several red zone stops and forced turnovers by the defense.

The defense this year has been as disappointingly painful to watch as last year's was. TCU, however, may be without the service of leading running back Aaron Brown who was suspended by Gary Pitstains, er, Patterson for the first four games of this season for violation of team rules. Coupled with the fact that Andy Dalton has not exactly been lighting the world on fire with his passing ability, the defense could catch a break finally this week and get its act together.

TCU's Offensive line is not made up of the same behemoths that Texas Tech's is (one of the starting guards on Tech was 6-7, 305 lbs....were he painted green I would've expected him to be selling canned vegetables), but they are also quicker laterally. The pass rush, which has been spearheaded mostly by Youri Yenga, will have to adjust accordingly. The linebackers will have to step up this week and provide support against the run, which TCU is sure to ram down the D's throat all game.

Bo Levi Mitchell, as Ramon Flanigan suggested this week in his column for ponyfans.com, will have to forget about his horrendous perfomance against Tech, trust his talent, and focus on TCU. Mitchell's ability to do just that takes on added importance because TCU's defense will be the best Mitchell and the young offense have faced thus far this year. In their first 3 games this season, TCU has allowed 3, 7, and 14 points. Now these are hardly BCS teams that TCU has faced so far (New Mexico, Stephen F. Austin, and Stanford), but these games show that the TCU defense has skill. Bo Levi will have to maintain his patience and not make the same terrible decisions that killed him at Rice and Texas Tech.

The battle to watch will be up front. Center Mitch Enright, who missed last week's game against Tech due to a hand injury may be out again this week. If so, freshman Blake McJunkin will be snapping the ball to Bo Levi. McJunkin acquitted himself quite well in his first NCAA game, but the front 4 of TCU will be the fastest, most talented defensive line he has faced yet. DeMyron Martin will need to continue his excellent blocking work, but also needs to be more aggressive in his runs. DeMyron: you're 6-2 and 230 lbs., stop tiptoeing around tackles and run people over.

This game could truly go either way. If the defense is able to get key stops, force a few turnovers and otherwise get Bo Levi and the offense back on the field, then the Mustangs could pull off the victory. But if the defense falters again and Bo Levi isn't able to get into a rhythm, then it will be a long night of staring at ugly purple people.

Ty and I will be on the Boulevard once again, drinking the High Life and sitting in the shade at our shared tailgating spot by Cockrell. Come by and have a beer with us.

Go Mustangs, fry the froggies!

Tech Recap: It could have been much worse

For those of you who do not think that that game could have easily been a much bigger blowout, I submit to you the fact that despite handing Tech the ball twice in a row in the first quarter, Harrell and company were only able to muster a field goal. The Ponies' defense held back the tide as long as they could, but in the end Mike Leach's offense and the Mustangs' continued inability to complete tackles led to the game becoming a rout.

Some positives to ponder over this week as the Mustangs prepare to play TCU: Derrius Bell looked good covering the Raiders uber receiver Michael Crabtree for awhile. Bell is not on the same talent level as McCann, but he has learned to reduce the cushion he gives receivers and has improved his timing on hits. The other item of note on defense was how often the lineman--led as usual by Youri Yenga--got to Graham Harrell. Even Patrick Fleming, who doesn't play often, managed to slip past one of Tech's ginormous (and slow) O linemen...that is before he inadvertantly but brutally facemasked Harrell. That bodes well for the TCU game.

On offense there were actually positive aspects too. Yes, there were. You just have to look real hard. As far as Bo Levi goes, it bears repeating that he is a true freshman who was only playing his 3rd collegiate game. He will grow and he will learn. I like to think that, in two years when Bo Levi is featured in some nationally televised game where SMU is winning by 5 touchdowns, that the camera will pan in on him and the announcer will talk about how far Bo Levi has come since he threw 5 interceptions in one game two years prior. One can hope.

The Offense line has continued to excel. It's time to heap praise on Dennis McKnight. He has done an outstanding job of molding a young, inexperienced unit into a cohesive, effective protection front. In case you had not noticed, true freshman Blake McJunkin started in place of junior Mitch Enright (for reasons I still have not heard) and performed admirably, with the exception of two poor snaps that caused Bo Levi to fumble with the ball rather than look downfield for his receivers. Tennyson and Beachum have continued to improve and Vincent Chase has transitioned well from tight end to right tackle. The quarterbacks and receivers will eventually get on the same page, but it will help them get there much faster with a solid line protecting Bo Levi and giving him time to make reads. The future is bright for the Ponies' front 5.

The Mustangs face TCU this Saturday at Ford Stadium. Ty and I will be out on the Boulevard in our usual spot in front of Cockrell-McIntosh (or Cocomo to those in the know) tailgating and drinking the Champagne of Beers. If anyone outside our immediate circle of friends reads this blog, feel free to stop by our tent. It's the huge white one that looks like it could double as a carport.

And no, I do not want to talk about the Astros being forced to postpone Friday and Saturday's games against the Cubs only to go to Milwaukee (a neutral site? fuck that, it might as well have been played in Wrigley. A truly neutral site would've been Seattle) and be no-hit by Carlos "I swear I got tendinitis in my elbow from emailing my brother and not looking at internet porn" Zambrano.

Until Saturday, Go Mustangs, Go Astros, and fuck the Cubs (and Horned Frogs).