TCU and Grambling State are less than an hour until kickoff. Here’s a few last-minute news and notes:
Dawson out. As Gary Patterson said Tuesday, senior receiver Skye Dawson won’t play tonight due to an “institutional policy and football policy” matter. We’ll see how this affects the Horned Frogs’ passing game, but, if all goes as planned, Dawson likely wouldn’t have played much past halftime anyways. Keep an eye out for guys like Kolby Listenbee and Cam White to get a few more reps with Dawson out. The Dallas native should return next week, Patterson said.
Uniform watch. The Frogs are wearing their “icy” white helmets with the purple TCU logo and purple stripe. They have purple jerseys with white lettering and black pants. Grambling State will be wearing white jerseys with black letters and numbers and gold trim and black pants. The Tigers will be wearing black helmets.
Catalon, Dean battle for third running back spot. Waymon James and Matthew Tucker have the co-starter role locked down at running back, but the third spot is still sort of up for grabs. Senior Aundre Dean and freshman B.J. Catalon, both from Houston, are battling for that position. Expect to see both get a decent workload tonight.
Oberkrom, Perry holding down special teams spots. Anyone who’s been out to practice this fall can attest to one thing: Jaden Oberkrom has quite the leg. The freshman will likely be the Frogs’ starting kicker tonight, both on kickoffs and field goals/extra points. Another freshman on special teams to watch out for is Ethan Perry, who’ll likely start at punter. For both guys, I say “likely” because, despite being listed in the No. 1 spot on the depth chart, Patterson has been hesitant to officially give either one the starting job. Nonetheless, “I’ve got a freshman punter,” Patterson said Tuesday while talking about the things that cross his mind before a season opener.
Around the Big 12. Collin Klein and Kansas State had little trouble with Miami, beating the Hurricanes 52-13 this afternoon. Klein threw for one score and ran for three…Iowa State leads Iowa 9-6 in the fourth quarter. ISU beat Tulsa last week…Kansas leads Rice 24-16 in the fourth quarter. The Frogs travel to Lawrence next week…Texas Tech travels to Texas State tonight. Gary Patterson’s predecessor, Dennis Franchione, coached TSU to a big win last week over Houston…Oklahoma State is out at Arizona tonight. Kickoff scheduled for 9:30 p.m…Oklahoma hosts Florida A&M at 6 p.m. in its home opener. The Sooners are going for their fourth straight shutout against an FCS team…Texas plays New Mexico at home at 7 p.m. The Lobos, who lost to TCU 69-0 last year, are led by first-year coach Bob Davie, formerly the head coach at Notre Dame…
