Bye Week Musings: Will Week Off Hurt Cowboys Again?

Let's face it, TCU will more than likely go into Sunday film 3-3. That aside, Oklahoma State has been practicing all week but without any weekend brouhaha to show for it. So what could we see from TCU this weekend that could calm or spark some worry in the Cowboy faithful? Here's Five.

1. Trevone Boykin. Yes, that Trevone Boykin. It is fairly obvious that when Casey Pachall left the team last year that there was a stark difference in offensive production. Boykin is not the passer that Pachall is, and he never will be. That said, keep in mind this should be a tune up game for TCU. They should be able to put up fairly decent numbers.
2. Road games have not been kind to the Frogs, but there should be no worries with Kansas visiting Carter Stadium Saturday (not that their would be any concerns going to Lawrence). This might be a stretch, but all games that TCU has lost this season have been on synthetic surfaces.
3. Brandon Carter is TCU's Josh Stewart. They must get him the rock. He is the leading receiver and punt returner. He is obviously their biggest open field threat. Boykin and Carter must be in sync for the offense to flow.
4. TCU's defense has played well without their best player. It came out on Wednesday that Devonte Fields would be done for the year. Most teams, when losing their best player on defense, would see a drastic change in that unit's performance. We're still waiting on that drastic change. Here's a stat correlated to winning...when TCU has a turnover margin of 3 or more, they have won (no surprise). The finiteness of Fields' fate may cause a morale drop in the TCU locker room. Likewise, it also should cause a morale boost with Cowboy offensive linemen. The less All-Americans they have to face the better.
5. The Frogs are early risers. To the chagrin of Cowboy fans there will be another 11 a.m. kickoff next Saturday. Cause for worry...yes. TCU plays at 11 a.m. this Saturday, and in the last two seasons, they are 4-1 in games that start at 11am.