Prepare for the stat sheet to be full. At least, according to the way Oregon (9-3) and TCU (10-2) match up on paper, the Valero Alamo Bowl on Jan. 2 could potentially be the most offensively explosive game this upcoming bowl season. Featuring two teams that were ranked in the top 10 to begin the year but were plagued by injuries, Oregon and TCU both have offensive firepower matched by few teams in the nation. It may turn into a back-and-forth matchup between signal callers.
TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin was a Heisman candidate all the way up until an injury hindered his output in the Horned Frogs’ final stretch of the season. As for the Ducks’ Vernon Adams Jr., all he did was dominate after returning from a broken index finger early in the season. With both healthy, and each defense finding its footing as the season closed, the matchup is one that TCU head coach Gary Patterson is viewing as if it were a playoff game.
“For us, this is a playoff game,” Patterson said via teleconference on Sunday. “Oregon is a team that, if they didn’t have injuries, would have been a top-four team. We feel like without a couple, we would have been like that.”
TCU offense vs. Oregon defense
Patterson said he expects Boykin to be at full strength by the time Jan. 2 rolls around, and that’s great news for TCU. Boykin was arguably the most effective player in the country at certain points this season and finished the year averaging 402.3 total yards per game. But he suffered an ankle sprain in mid November and was forced to miss the Horned Frogs’ game against Oklahoma. He returned to the starting lineup to face Baylor in the season finale, but was not playing at 100 percent.
Coupled with TCU’s loss of its best receiver Josh Doctson, who had logged 79 catches for 1,327 yards, the unit’s production dropped off. But a healthy Boykin will be a threat to an Oregon secondary that was just starting to become comfortable facing Pac-12 quarterbacks at the end of the season. In addition, it was reported when Doctson was ruled out for the remainder of the regular season that he could potentially return for the bowl game.
TCU averaged 41 points and 345 passing yards per game this season, posing a stiff challenge for the Oregon defense.
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