Three Positives:
1. Will Howard was nails in his first action back on the field for the Wildcats. He looked like a totally different dude than the one that played the last two seasons. Late in the game trying to make a play he did throw an interception, but I am not going to fault him for that.
2. The Wildcats handle adversity early well and I still believe they can stay alive in the Big 12 race, but will need to get healthy in a hurry. If that happens, enough happened tonight for me to believe that they are one of the three best teams in the Big 12. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, K-State, Kansas and Texas are all teams in the top half that have dealt with injuries this season.
3. Players other than Adrian Martinez and Deuce Vaughn made plays on offense in the first half. DJ Giddens had early action and was able to use it to his advantage, Phillip Brooks had a big fourth down catch and Kade Warner had a sweet touchdown grab. The Wildcats need to use that confidence and carry it over for the remainder of the season.
Three Negatives:
1. The injury bug struck the Wildcats in a big way. Adrian Martinez, Deuce Vaughn, Ben Sinnott, Will Howard, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Daniel Green, and Julius Brents all missed time with injuries in the game versus the Frogs. In the case of Martinez, he never came back after the first drive and has a lingering knee issue from the Iowa State game. Howard came back, but it was too late.
2. Chris Tennant missed two kicks on the evening and neither of them had much of a chance. The K-State kicking game is back in the mix. Instead of 38-34 with 4:00 minutes left, it was 38-28. The Wildcats are sure to be in close games moving forward and will need to be able to steal three points from time to time.
3. The defense wasn't able to stop the big play from TCU, but I won't be too harsh on them because they were down a bunch of dudes and the deck gets stacked against you when the offense is silent in the second half. Another dynamic offense is the challenge next weekend with Oklahoma State in town, a chance for redemption.