TCU had lot of attention on Jaden Craig and the offense heading into the season, but the defense for the Horned Frogs has emerged as their secret weapon in their first three games.
TCU is out of its non-conference slate and the Horned Frogs bring a 2-1 record into action within the Big 12.
While the Horned Frogs obviously were not able to stay perfect ahead of conference play, they still had many areas that inspired confidence and seem to surging upwards at the right time.
One of the biggest of these bright spots for TCU has been its defense, which comes as somewhat of a surprise.
Throughout much of the offseason, eyes in Fort Worth and abroad had their eyes glues to the Horned Frog offense following the departure of multi-year starting quarterback Josh Hoover to Indiana.
With the addition of Harvard transfer Jaden Craig to fill his shoes, the intrigue about how the swap would play out for TCU became one of, if not, the main storylines heading into the season.
In the midst of this discourse, the Horned Frogs on the other side led by defensive coordinator Andy Avalos moved into the background.
But the unit could not have made its presence more known in the opening three games for TCU.
In those trio of matchups, TCU has held opponents to an average of 9.67 points per game.
That stout performance ranks ninth nationally and second in the Big 12 behind only Utah, who has surrendered an average of 8 points per game.
In addition, the 29 total points given up by the Horned Frogs is the lowest in their first three games since 2014.
Anytime a team can be compared to that 2014 squad that claimed a share of the Big 12 Championship and Peach Bowl crown, it is a high honor in Fort Worth.
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Not only are their efforts historic, they are directly responsible for TCU's turnaround in its past two outings to round out non-conference play.
Even in the loss to North Carolina, the defense was not to blame, as Avalos' unit allowed the Tar Heels to reach the end zone only a single time in Dublin.
One big question lingers as the calendar flips to Big 12 season for TCU. Can the defense keep this up playing high-level competition week in and week out?
Thankfully, the answer should come sooner rather than later.
The first test since that debut against North Carolina comes this weekend in the program's first-ever trip to Orlando to clash with UCF.
The Horned Frogs strive to begin Big 12 play in the right way when they take on the Knights on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT.
