The #2 TCU Horned Frogs (12-1, 8-1 Big 12) will visit the Minnesota Gophers (8-5, 5-3 Big Ten) on Thursday, September 3, 2015 at the TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The game will televise at 9 pm ET on ESPN. The current odds list TCU as a 14 point favorite with the over/under set at 57.
TCU quarterback Trevon Boykin returns to the team after having a stellar performance in 2014. He is listed as a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy after throwing for 33 touchdowns and over 3900 yards in the air in 2014. He will have his favorite receiver returning this year and Josh Doctson is expected to surpass his remarkable stats from last year where he posted over a thousand yards receiving and 11 touchdowns. Aaron Green should also see more production this year after rushing for over 900 yards in last year’s role where he was splitting carries. Offensively, TCU will put up the numbers, but the real concern is with the defense. They lost some key players and we will have to wait and see how the defense holds up.
Minnesota is coming in off a second consecutive 8 win season. Mitch Leidner will try to improve this year after throwing for just 1,798 yards and 11 touchdowns with 8 interceptions in 2014. Rodrick Williams will take over the role of running back but will have his work cut out for him. Rodrick only has just over 700 rushing yards in his career and will try to exceed David Cobb’s 1626 rushing yards in 2014. Minnesota will rely heavily on their defense who is led by Brian Boddy-Calhoun and Eric Murray.
My Pick: TCU -14
This is the perfect game to test out TCU’s defense. Minnesota has a weak offense and this is a great chance to see what the defense will do. TCU has a powerful offense and I do not see how Minnesota can hang with this team. I look for TCU to win this game by a large sum.