COLLEGE GAME PREVIEW

Thursday Night Preview: No. 2 TCU at Minnesota

The Sports Xchange

September 03, 2015 at 1:00 pm.

Aaron Green (22) is a good running back for TCU. (Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports)

Aaron Green (22) is a good running back for TCU. (Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports)

KICKOFF: Thursday, 9 p.m. ET
GAMEDATE: 9/3/15
SITE: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
TV: ESPN
SERIES: The series is tied, 1-1. TCU defeated Minnesota 30-7 in Fort Worth last season, and Minnesota won 9-7 in 1974 in the only other meeting.
RANKINGS: TCU 2nd

KEYS TO THE GAME

TCU is about to start its chase of the national championship but reminders of last season still haunt the program.

The Horned Frogs were left out of the four-team College Football Playoff and finished with a 12-1 record with a 61-58 loss to Baylor keeping them out of the playoffs. The lesson is that there is only one way to ensure a spot.

That’s to win them all.

“Our key is to control our own destiny and the best way to do that is to try to win them all,” TCU coach Gary Patterson told reporters. “That’s what we’re going to try to get done. Then we’ll see how everything else falls.”

The Horned Frogs begin their pursuit at Minnesota.

They handled the Gophers 30-7 in Fort Worth a year ago, but the Gophers helped them out by turning the ball over five times, which led directly to 20 points for TCU. That’s something that obviously has to change if the Gopher are to pull off the upset.

“You turn the ball over five times, you’re not beating anybody,” Minnesota coach Jerry Kill said. “There’s a lot of things that we can do on our own to take care of business to be able to have a good outing.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Horned Frogs

–QB Trevone Boykin is one of the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy after setting school records for passing yardage (3,901) and touchdown passes (33) last season. He won Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors and he is expected to be even better this season as a senior.

–WR Josh Doctson had one of the top receiving campaigns in school history and looks to build on it as a senior. Doctson set TCU single-season marks for receiving yardage (1,018) and touchdown receptions (11) and his 65-catch season was one shy of the school mark set by Josh Boyce in 2012.

–FS Derrick Kindred is now the leader of the secondary after having a breakout season as a junior. He posted a career-best 80 tackles and tied for second on the squad with four interceptions last year.

Gophers
–QB Mitch Leidner was near the bottom of the Big Ten in many passing categories a year ago, but is coming into this season with confidence after a good offseason of work, including a standout performance at a Manning Passing Camp. The Gophers offense will need a big-time performance from him if it hopes to knock off the No. 2 Horned Frogs.

–CB Eric Murray could be a high pick in next spring’s NFL Draft, and with one of the most explosive offenses in the country coming to town on Thursday, the Gophers need him to be at his best. TCU’s receivers are some of the quickest in the country.

–DE Theiren Cockran led all returning Gophers with four sacks a year ago and will need to provide plenty of heat on TCU’s Boykin. Boykin carved up the Gophers to the tune of 354 total yards in their meeting last season.