A loss at Oklahoma State amidst a road trip where nearly nothing went right. A drop in the polls. Myriad questions about Josh Doctson that seem to be never-ending. And talk that this season is lost. NOT.

What I believe is lost in this hurricane of ring bologna, opinions, poll discussions and conjecture is that the Frogs have had enough. They’re ready to get back on the field. And Play. Saturday’s game against Kansas is just what the doctor ordered, not just because it’s winless Kansas, but because it’s a chance for the Frogs to breathe and let it all out.

Gary Patterson’s beat up, injury-riddled Frogs have held it together to this point to get to 8-1. Head trainer David Gable’s been busy. This is the Anti-2014, when the Frogs lost all of two players (BJ Catalon and Mike Tuaua) to season ending injury late in the year. This year, it’s been an average of about 1.5 a week. Coach GP said this week it would be wrong for him to criticize his team because they’ve done a great job filling in, making do and getting to 8 wins. Damn right.

If the College Football Playoff committee considered depth as a component of ranking, the Frogs would be No. 1 – easily. No team in the nation has dipped deeper into the depth chart, redshirt vault and scout team than TCU. That’s the silver lining and it’s blinding. The Frogs are piling up experience and depth and there’s a training room full coming back next year. Smile, Frog fans.

Now to the business at hand: It’s a three-game season, and the Frogs can beat everyone on the schedule. Wind ’em up and let em go.

The rebound starts with Kansas, a team that has lots of needs. In fact, they remind me of teams I played on at TCU in the early 80’s: a smattering of talent, lacking depth, lacking offense and desperately trying to learn how to win. Thanks to former KU head coach Charlie Weis, the Jayhawks numbers are way down. Massive move-in (and then move out) of junior college recruits over two recruiting classes by Weis left new KU head man David Beaty with fewer than 75 scholarship players in the 85-scholarship era. (To frame that low number for your, FCS teams like Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State, Appalachian State have 65 scholarships). Walk-ons make up the balance of the squad. Bottom line: the Jayhawks need players, and they hope Coach Beaty and his Texas ties will bring talent from the Lone Star State to Lawrence to build up the program.

Things to know about KU:

• The Jayhawks played one of their best games against Texas last week, scoring 20 points. (That’s the most in Big 12 play since they scored 20 against Texas Tech a month ago.) They’ve scored more than 23 just once.
• The Jayhawks have not won a road game since in 2009. They’ve lost 37 straight road tilts and haven’t won a Big 12 road game since 2008.
• KU has been pesky – the Frogs average margin of victory in three previous Big 12 games against Kansas is just 9.3 points.
• KU and TCU had quite a rivalry, playing each other every year from 1944-1964, when a dispute over a recruit ended one of the Frogs longest-running non-conference series.

Tomorrow is Senior Day, and this group of players deserve your support as they’re presented tomorrow. This group has been through a lot, and the 5^th year seniors have won two conference championships in their time: 2011 MWC and the 2014 Big 12. Can they win a third?

Kick ‘Em High!