Horned Frogs vs Jayhawks NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
The TCU Horned Frogs made a big step up when they entered the Big 12. Having said that, there is still one “layup” in the Big 12 right now and that is the Kansas Jayhawks.
TCU Horned Frogs vs. Kansas Jayhawks
Memorial Stadium, Lawrence Kansas
Saturday September 15, 12:00 PM EST on FX
College Football Betting Odds from GTBets.eu
Moneyline: Off
College Football Spread: TCU -21 (-110) vs. Kansas +21 (-110)
Over/Under: 59.5
Kansas lost at home last weekend against Rice, and the Jayhawks simply are a mess right now. Charlie Weis should help get the team going, but it might take some time. Can they be competitive against the newcomer to the Big 12?
TCU
Gary Patterson has done a tremendous job with the TCU football program. The Horned Frogs have proven how good they are in the past few years, but now they’ll have to prove it on a weekly basis. TCU has only played one game so far this year and that was a 56-0 win over Grambling. An interesting statistic from that game is that TCU went a combined 17 for 17 throwing the football. Not many times will you see a team complete all of their pass attempts. The team hasn’t been tested yet, but there will be plenty of tests to come in this extremely difficult conference.
Casey Pachall is the leader of the offense. Matthew Tucker, Waymon James, and B.J. Catalon will all get plenty of carries from the backfield. Josh Boyce is the Horned Frogs biggest threat on the outside. The defense should be the strength of this team this year. TCU allowed only 70 total yards against Grambling. This unit will be tested in a big way later this year, but the Horned Frogs have lots of depth and team speed. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Kansas
Kansas picked up an unconvincing win over South Dakota State in week one, and then proceeded to blow a double digit second half lead in last week’s loss to Rice. The Jayhawks are without James Sims for another week. Sims was the team’s leading rusher a year ago, but he is out until September 22nd due to a DUI arrest. Dayne Crist was the quarterback for Weis at Notre Dame some in 2009, and he has transferred over to Kansas this year. Crist has been unimpressive in the team’s first two games. In two games, Crist has only 313 passing yards. He has one touchdown pass and two interceptions.
The Kansas offense certainly isn’t good, but the defense is even worse. Last year, this unit gave up 43.8 points per game. The run defense has been especially bad in the past couple years. It will be hard for this team to be competitive unless the front seven become more formidable against the run.
TCU simply has too much firepower for the Jayhawks, but 21 points is a lot to lay on the road against anyone. Don’t be surprised if the TCU defense shuts down a Kansas offense that isn’t clicking at all right now. The under looks like a decent value.
Free College Football Pick: Under 59.5
