TCU had its first taste of defeat in its Ireland opener against North Carolina and penalties were a huge factor for the Horned Frogs, with Sonny Dykes commenting on the blunders.
TCU is still reeling from a sucker punch to open to season after Bill Belichick and North Carolina completely flipped the script in a 15-10 upset win over the Horned Frogs in Dublin.
After a monstrous 48-14 victory a year ago that showcased what the team had to offer in front of a national audience, TCU cannot hang its hat on early success this year and back to the drawing board with a loss already under its belt.
One of the biggest points of emphasis moving forward for the Horned Frogs is remedying the amount of penalties.
TCU was whistled for a whopping 11 violations and surrendered nearly 90 yards to the Tar Heels as a result of these miscues.
During his first press conference back in Fort Worth following the disappointing display, head coach Sonny Dykes was brutally honest about the impact these errors had on his squad.
"The penalties were killers. I mean those were over 140 yards the penalties cost us between yards that we gained or yards that we would have...and so obviously that was the difference in the ball game," said Dykes.
In the immediate aftermath of the brutal defeat, Dykes drew attention to some questionable calls and fired a sharp jab at the officiating crew from the ACC.
While there were some definite head-scratchers from the officials, namely a bizarre unsportsmanlike conduct call on running back Jeremy Payne for what appeared to be a simple first-down signal, the issues seemed deeper than a few blown calls.
For Dykes, he appears to finally agree with that sentiment.
Outside of the penalties, there were other missteps from the Horned Frogs in their debut.
These include two failed fourth-down conversions deep in North Carolina territory late that squandered potential game-winning drives and could have instead ended in two field goals that also would have put them in front.
Touted transfer quarterback Jaden Craig also did not live up to the expectations that seeped out of Fort Worth this offseason, with a less-than-ideal 20-of-32 mark for 175 yards and no touchdowns through the air.
In the midst of all this negative, TCU had glimpses of success, especially on the ground early, and it still has a chance to turn things around in the very early stages of the season.
"We just have to view it as an opportunity to improve. Obviously, nobody's happy with the performance. Had we won the game, I don't think we would have been happy with our performance," continued Dykes.
Dykes and TCU have the chance to shake the early woes in its home opener against Grambling State on September 12.
