JD PicKell explains why Week 1 is so important for Colorado, TCU

On a recent episode of The Hard Count, On3’s J.D PicKell broke down the best matchup of Week 1 for the upcoming college football season. And arguably, one of the best games right out the gate pits a former Big 12 program against a current program. In week 1, the TCU Horned Frogs will host the Pac-12’s Colorado Buffaloes.

There are a number of storylines to follow entering into this game. And PicKell started with his favorite one surrounding the Horned Frogs.

“For me, I’m just looking to see what these new pieces look like for both sides of the ball,” said PicKell. “A lot of new pieces for Colorado, but TCU, man, Max Duggan‘s gone to the league. Quentin Johnston‘s gone to the league. Garrett Riley’s gone to Clemson. What do they look like offensively? Because that was their calling card last year. TCU scored right around 39 points a game last year. How much do they have to reset?

“We’re not making a statement on TCU in this game, but I’m just curious to see how different they look from a year ago.”

TCU’s offense will undoubtedly look different than it did last season when they surprised the Big 12 and the rest of the college football world by not only earning a spot in the College Football Playoff but advancing to the championship game. Now, the Horned Frogs will look to formulate a new offensive identity as they prepare for the 2023 season without the orchestrators of their offense in Duggan and Riley.

PicKell on Colorado

As for Colorado, they have a ton of intrigue and excitement around them, thanks to the massive overhaul of their program. That overhaul was courtesy of newly-hired head coach Deion Sanders. And Sanders did not come alone as he brought along talent with him from Jackson State and from various regions of the country after diving head-first into the NCAA transfer portal.

“Now Colorado, that’s the place we really got to focus here because Coach Prime; it’ll be his first game as the head coach in Boulder,” said PicKell. “And there’s so much made about all the transfers they have gotten, and I think it’ll take some time to mesh. I’m just curious to see some of these key pieces; some of these guys that we expect to be ballers for Colorado in 2023. I’m looking at Shedeur Sanders (and) looking at Travis Hunter. I have no reservations about their ability. (I) have complete confidence; both those dudes can ball. Shedeur Sanders, ball was jumping out of hand in the spring game. Travis Hunter is a freak of nature on both sides of the ball.”

Sanders and Hunter are arguably the two biggest names the Buffaloes’ headman brought to Boulder, Co, with him. Hunter was the second highest-rated recruit in the 2022 recruiting class according to On3’s Industry rankings. And Sanders proved he was more than just the head coach’s son in his two seasons at Jackson State, where he threw 70 touchdowns to just 14 interceptions while throwing for nearly 7,000 yards.

“Keep in mind now, we haven’t seen either of these dudes up here in an FBS game. Have nothing negative to say about FCS football. But you and I both understand this is a different level of football now. I’m not making a prediction on what they will or won’t do, but this will be a very good litmus test for us to see how much of a learning curve is there going to be for them at this FBS level of football.

“This will be a great spotlight for that team. They’ve been the story of the offseason with how much work they’ve done through the portal.”

The other thing PicKell is intrigued to see, when it comes to Colorado, is how the team gels. Colorado has seen an extensive amount of movement this offseason through the transfer portal, more than 70 players have moved in and out of the program through that method.

“The other I want to look at for Colorado is how are they gelling? I mean, you overturned the entire roster. If anybody tells you that they know for a fact that Colorado, in their first year under Coach Prime, is either going to 100 percent succeed or 100 percent fail; they’re lying to you. I don’t do it intentionally, but there’s nothing that we can compare Colorado to from previous years.

“Last year they won one game; (the) whole roster’s pretty much gone, (the) whole staff’s pretty much gone. You have no data point on Colorado and this roster within college football history. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch and see how they gel early on.”