Colorado vs. TCU Prediction, Pick Against the Spread, and Latest Odds
The Colorado Buffaloes and the TCU Horned Frogs face off this Saturday in an early afternoon game. Matt McCuen breaks down the Colorado vs. TCU game. He's sharing his prediction, pick against the spread, and the latest odds.
Matt McCuen - September 2, 2023, 8:00 AM EDT
7 minColorado vs. TCU Prediction, Pick Against the Spread, and Latest Odds
The Colorado Buffaloes and the TCU Horned Frogs will clash from the Lone Star State on Saturday afternoon as the two teams begin their 2023 seasons.
Colorado vs. TCU Date, Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: September 2, 2023
- Game Time: 12:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: FOX
Colorado vs. TCU Prediction
The Buffaloes enter the season with tons of hype despite being one of the worst teams in all of college football a season ago. The Buffaloes went 1-11 a season ago to mark their sixth losing season in the last seven years. The only season that the Buffaloes did not have a sub .500 record was in the COVID-19 shortened season when they posted a record of 4-2.
The reason for this pre-season hype is due to the fact that the Buffaloes made a splash in the off-season hiring a man known as prime time. Deion Sanders is one of the best athletes to play professional sports, and now he has an opportunity to prove himself as a head coach at the Division 1 level. Sanders' time at Jackson State was well documented as he enjoyed lots of success, posting a record of 23-3 in the last two seasons. The ability to recruit to a Non-Division 1 FBS school may have been the most appealing part of hiring Coach Prime. Sanders most notably recruited five-star wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter. Hunter dominated during his tenure at Jackson State and will join Sanders and the Buffaloes this season.
Shadeur Sanders, who is the son of Coach Prime, will begin the season as the team's starting quarterback. Sanders has the talent to back up his dad's decision and was stuntin' like his daddy a season ago at Jackson State. Sanders posted video game-like numbers, throwing for 3,732 yards, forty touchdown passes, and just interceptions. Sanders also rushed for six touchdowns. The critics of Sanders question if he can sustain this kind of play now, playing in a power conference and facing the level of competition that the Buffaloes will see every week.
Coach Prime added a few other notable transfers. Defensive lineman Derrick McLendon Jr. transferred into Colorado and is slated to be a starter in Week 1. Running back Alton McCaskill is another big add from the portal. McCaskill rushed for 961 yards and 16 touchdowns a season ago at the University of Houston.
As mentioned, this was one of the worst teams in college football a season ago, and they were particularly bad on the offensive side of the ball. This will basically be a brand-new offense that, from a talent standpoint, will be much better than the one that we saw a season ago.
The defense for Colorado legitimately can not be worse in 2023. This Buffaloes' defense ranked dead last in college football, allowing a staggering 44.5 points per game.
Deion Sanders went out and made a notable hire as defensive coordinator. Charles Kelly will take over the Colorado defense; Kelly has loads of experience, including stints at Florida State and, most recently, Alabama as a defensive coordinator.
Kelly will have talent to work with as Coach Prime has dominated the cornerback position from a recruiting standpoint over the last two years. Travis Hunter will be the top cornerback paired with Cormani McClain, who was the number one cornerback in the 2022 class. Trevor Woods is a safety that has produced in past seasons, but outside of that, there are a lot of question marks. There will be plenty of opportunities to earn playing time on this Colorado defense as they brought in a haul in the transfer portal.
TCU was the most surprising team of 2022 as they became America's team. The Horned Frogs won the Big 12 regular season championship and reached the National Championship, where the Georgia Bulldogs beat them. Despite coming up short of their ultimate goal, TCU won the most games in a single season in program history.
Head Coach Sonny Dykes is optimistic that his team can run things back and compete at a high level this season. Dykes is one the most respected offensive minds in all of college football.
Chandler Morris will be the man responsible for the success of this Horned Frog offense. Morris started last season in week one but lost his job to Heisman finalist Max Duggan as the season went along. Morris remains confident in his abilities, and Sonny Dykes believes that he will be the guy to lead this team to success in 2023.
Max Duggan departed for the NFL after a historic 2022 season, and he was not the only Horned Frog to move on from the program. Star wide receivers Quinten Johnston and Derius Davis both got drafted into the NFL in the spring. Fellow star wide receiver Taye Barber was signed as a UFA by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Johnston Barner and Davis combined for 2,213 yards and sixteen touchdowns. Star running back Keandre Miller also departed into the NFL, leaving the Horned Frogs with big shoes to fill in the backfield. Miller rushed for 1,399 yards paired with seven touchdowns in 2022. TCU will also have to replace multiple starting offensive linemen in 2023. That is a lot of offensive production to replace.
Who will replace this production? Well, as mentioned earlier, a lot of the pressure falls on the shoulders of Chandler Morris. The skill position players, however, will need to help him out and step up. One of those guys TCU believes will step in and produce is former Alabama running back Trey Sanders. Sanders did not get much of a chance to produce in a loaded Bama backfield, but he feels as if he will get his chance to show his worth this year. TCU will need some of their new wide receivers to produce. Two guys that the Horned Frogs are high on entering the year are Junior Savion Williams and Alabama transfer Jojo Earle. Williams showed flashes of being elite a season ago, ending the year with 392 yards and four touchdowns. Earle did not see tons of playing time at Bama but can be a contributing wide receiver.
It is important to note that TCU could have been a better defense a season ago. This was the 95th overall defense in college football in 2022. Similar to their offense, TCU lost a lot of production on the defensive side of the football. The strength of this defense will be at the linebacker position, headlined by star Johnny Hodges.
Colorado vs. TCU Pick
TCU has tons of turnover on this roster, and this is an unproven roster on both sides of the football.
Colorado will be a public dog most of the season, but getting three touchdowns in this game is too many points.
It will take time for TCU to mesh on the offensive side of the ball, and I fully expect defensive coordinator Charles Kelly to have a strong game plan in week one and get the best out of this defense.
Shedeur Sanders is the real day. Critics will question if his game will translate to this level of competition, but you can not question how gifted this kid is. Facing a subpar TCU defense, the Buffaloes should score enough points to stay within this number and possibly win the game outright.
Pick: Colorado +21 -115 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds for this pick
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