TCU Head Coach Sonny Dykes Reveals Why His Team Is Not Watching Any Colorado Film Before Playing Colorado
Colorado football, a program that won just one game last season, will open its 2023 campaign against reigning national runner-up TCU on Saturday, Sept. 2. Fox Big Noon Kickoff is headed to Forth Worth for the soon-to-be Big 12 matchup and the eyes of the nation will be watching.
On one end is a team that beat Michigan in the College Football Playoff with a Heisman finalist (backup) quarterback and got spanked by Georgia in the national championship. On the other end is a fanbase that stormed the field after its team's lone victory because it was such a big deal.
And because storming the field is fun!
However, both teams are going to look very different.
TCU lost a lot of its best offensive talent to the NFL Draft, like Quentin Johnston and Max Duggan. That said, Chandler Morris is back as the starting quarterback after missing the entire 2023 season due to injury and there are a lot of young guys who are ready to step up, as well as a few transfers.
Colorado is a completely different program. Deion Sanders arrived in December and overhauled the entire roster, staff and culture.
Shedeur Sanders will lead the Buffaloes offense after lighting up the FCS in 2021 and 2022, Travis Hunter Jr. may not come off of the field and the new faces are turning heads. Urban Meyer swung by and was surprised with what he saw from a team that sportsbooks believe will win about 4.5 games.
Things are so different in Boulder that their opponents do not give one single damn about last year's team. Not one.
TCU is not watching any Colorado film.
The Horned Frogs stomped the Buffaloes 38-13 during last year's season-opener.
Typically, when a coaching staff is preparing for an opponent from the season prior, it would throw on some tape from the game and see how their team matched up against their opponents. They can then take those notes, adjust a few things, and help use the past to game plan for the present.
That is not the case with this matchup in 2023.
TCU will not be watching any Colorado film.(Photos by Ed Zurga/Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes recently spoke with Andy Staples of On3 about how his team preparing for Colorado. He said that it poses a unique challenge. There's not much to go off of.
This is going to be much different, because we’re not even going to bother watching Colorado’s film from last year. There’s no point in doing that. New schemes, new players, new everything.
Instead of last year's Buffaloes team, the Horned Frogs are watching the coordinators.
Sanders' offensive coordinator at Jackson State is coaching receivers at Colorado. Former Kent State head coach Sean Lewis is running Coach Prime's offense, which will have a vanilla (but creative) call sheet and go fast.
Dykes will be watching infinitely more 2018-2022 Kent State and 2020-2022 Jackson State than 2022 Colorado. The same principle applies to the defense and the players.
You gotta watch the coordinators, where those guys were and what they did before and then you try to watch the guys that are going to be important players. Obviously, Sheduer was at Jackson State so we'll spend a lot of time watching his tape and trying to evaluate what he can do well and what he can't do well, and what he struggles with.
Regardless of how much time that TCU spends on its opponent, Dykes is of the belief that only his team can beat itself. That is where much of the focus will be placed.
The main thing we have to do is make sure our team is ready to play. Make sure we can go out and minimize mistakes. Take care of the football. Be sounds on special teams.
All of the things that get you beat early, you know, pre-snap penalties, explosive plays. All the things that matter to losing, especially matter in early ball games. Those things are all magnified in the first two or three ball games.
Everything else is secondary. Old Colorado tape, though, is completely useless and valueless.