Geoff's Game Plan - Arkansas

Geoff’s Game Plan vs. Arkansas

The 23rd ranked Horned Frogs look to move to 2-0 on the season as they head into hostile territory to face the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville. Here are the keys to victory for each team on Saturday.

TCU

Big Plays

In last year's double-overtime loss against the Razorbacks the Horned Frogs only had two plays of over 30 yards. Kyle Hicks had a 31-yard reception and KaVontae Turpin had a 57-yard reception as well. In the season opener, TCU had five plays of 30-plus yards or more by five different players. Arkansas is starting true freshman Kamren Curl at cornerback and the Frogs will need to target him early and often.

Have a Balanced Attack

Last year the Horned Frogs threw the ball 58 times to only 32 rushes over six quarters. The Frogs held the Arkansas offense to just six points on offense with seven points coming off an interception returned for a touchdown. The emphasis this year is to be more balanced offensively. In the season opener the Frogs ran the ball 36 times and threw it 30. If they have type of balance against Arkansas it should be a good day for the Frogs.

Get to the Quarterback

The Frogs were severely undersized against the Razorbacks last season and the biggest problem they had was getting pressure on Austin Allen. The Frogs were only able to get to Allen one time last season. This year, the Frogs are much bigger up front and Arkansas is tarting a true freshman at right guard. Mat Boesen, L.J. Collier, Ty Summers and Ben Banogu will have to make Allen get happy feet in the pocket and rush his throws.

Arkansas

Be The More Physically Aggressive Team

Last season the Razorbacks were able to wear down the Frogs late in the game by running the ball behind their much larger offensive line. Arkansas ran the ball 43 times against the Frogs last year and was able to push the Frogs around late in the game.

Run The Ball Effectively

This piggybacks (see what I did there) off of the previous key. Last year the Hogs ran the ball 43 times for only 180 yards but they were able to run the ball effectively enough to set up the play-action pass. The Hogs were able to make the TCU linebackers hesitate against crashing the line and getting beat over the top. Freshman Chase Hayden ran for 120 yards in the season opener and he will need to have another good game against the Frogs for the offense to be firing on all cylinders.

Get Tricky With It

Trick plays are a staple of Bret Bielema's offenses over the years. Last season against the Frogs, Arkansas ran reverses, reverse passes and flea-flickers against a young TCU defense. They needed all of those plays to work in order to win the game and will need to keep the Frogs back on their heels on defense or they risk seeing a veteran defense take control of the game.