Ohio State will have to travel far for its first road game of the 2018 season. Returning to non-conference play in Week 3, the Buckeyes will take on TCU at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas to continue what has been a three-season streak of facing at least one Big 12 team. This will be the first time since the 2015 season that the Horned Frogs have faced a team from the Big Ten. Here is a look at what TCU could look like when Ohio State travels to the Lone Star State on September 15th.

After a rough 2016 season, finishing with a 6-7 record and ending the season with a loss to Georgia in the Liberty Bowl, TCU was not expected to do much in the Big 12. With senior and former Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill at the helm, the Horned Frogs made some noise in the 2017 season.

TCU began the season with seven straight wins, defeating teams like Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma and West Virginia by one touchdown. Heading into Week 9, the Horned Frogs were the No. 4 team in the country and one of eight teams remaining in the Top 25 that had not suffered a loss.

However, a trip to Ames, Iowa changed all of that. Despite recording 52 more yards in the game, the Horned Frogs suffered its first loss of the season to Iowa State, who limited TCU to 135 yards through the air with two interceptions and no touchdowns.

Including the Iowa State game, the Horned Frogs lost three of their last six games, including a loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game. Coming off a 24-point drubbing by the Sooners, TCU ended its season on a high note, coming from behind to beat Stanford 39-37 in the Alamo Bowl.

Without being ranked before the season began, TCU ended the season as the No. 15 team in the final College Football Playoff rankings.

Like the rest of the Big 12, TCU did not have any trouble scoring in 2017. Despite being ranked as the fifth-best scoring offense in the conference, the Horned Frogs still averaged 33.6 points per game. On offense, TCU will not have its fearless leader behind center.

For the past two seasons, Hill has been the quarterback for TCU, recording two straight seasons with at least 3000 passing yards and a combined 40 touchdowns compared to 21 interceptions. The former Texas A&M quarterback also made a difference with his legs recording 15 career touchdown rushes and two career touchdown receptions, both coming in 2017.

Hill is not the only player TCU will lose to the NFL Draft. Tied for the team-lead with 41 catches, wide receiver Desmon White had five touchdown receptions. Also, wide receiver John Diarse, who had 575 receiving yards and three-touchdown catches, running back Kyle Hicks, who recorded 637 yards rushing with four touchdowns, and offensive guard Joseph Noteboom will all be moving on to the next level.

For a defense that led the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing only 19 points a game last season with opponents averaging only 331.4 yards per game, TCU will be losing some significant firepower next season. The Horned Frogs will lose its leading tackler, linebacker Travin Howard, who recorded 108 tackles in 2017, it’s leading pass rusher, defensive end Mat Boeson, who led the team with 11.5 sacks, and its leading presence in the secondary, safety Nick Orr, who led the team with three interceptions and recorded eight pass deflections.

The offense in 2018 will center on key returners in both the running back and wide receiver room. After leading the team with 768 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the ground last season, averaging six yards per touch, running back Darius Anderson will be back in the backfield for Gary Patterson and the Horned Frogs in 2018. In the passing game, wide receiver Jalen Reagor will look to build off of what turned out to be an impressive freshman campaign. The Waxahachie, Texas native led the team with eight touchdown catches, recording 576 yards on 33 catches one season ago.

On defense, the Horned Frogs will have safety Rissan Issahaku back in the secondary. Coming into his senior season, he was second on the team with 66 tackles in 2017, recording six tackles for loss and an interception. TCU will also see linebacker Ty Summers, who had four sacks and eight tackles for loss, and defensive end Ben Banogu, who had a team leading 16.5 tackles for loss, back for 2018.

Who will be at quarterback?

Even with Hill done with his college career, there does not seem to be much of a quarterback battle heading into the 2018 season. If anything, TCU already knows who its quarterback will be.

After backing up Hill for one season, Patterson will hand the offense over to Shawn Robinson, a former three-star dual-threat quarterback recruit out of Desoto, Texas.

Last season, Robinson did get a chance to show what he could do in limited amounts of playing time. However, that was not always pretty. Completing only 48.1 percent of his passes, the freshman threw three touchdown passes in six games played.

With four-star quarterback Justin Rogers coming in with the Class of 2018, he could have the possibility to push Robinson for the starting job. However, with collegiate playing time already under his belt, it looks like the Buckeyes should plan for Robinson.

Will the defense be able to live up to the same expectation from 2017?

TCU had a pretty good season defensively last season. The Horned Frogs led the Big 12 in rushing defense, allowing opponents to rush for 103.9 yards per game. With backs averaging only three yards per carry, the Horned Frogs gave up only eight touchdowns last season.

The passing game was not much better for teams facing TCU. The Horned Frogs were No. 1 in pass defense as well, allowing 227.5 passing yards per game while opposing quarterbacks completed 52.5 percent of passes against them last season.

However, with the losses of Howard, Boeson and Orr, TCU will look a little different that last season on the defensive side of the ball. It will be interesting to see how Ohio State reacts to defensive coordinator Chad Glasgow’s defense early on in the season.

How will TCU react to high profile matchup?

TCU normally does not play these high level games to start the season. With in-conference foes like Oklahoma and Texas, normally, the Horned Frogs do not really have to. However, a high-profile matchup in non-conference play is very rare for Patterson’s team.

Arguably, this will be the biggest non-conference game for TCU since the 2013 season. The Horned Frogs opened the season in Arlington, Texas, losing to LSU 37-27 in what would eventually be a 4-8 season.

Scheduling home-and-homes with Minnesota for the 2014 and 2015 seasons Arkansas for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, this will be the first time since the 2013 season that TCU will return to AT&T Stadium during non-conference play.

This will be the first real challenge for Ohio State no matter what. With a historic program playing very close to its home turf, it could be easy to pick TCU to earn the win on September 15th. Right now, it feels like a toss up.

First of all, what will Robinson be like in the starting quarterback role? How will he react to the first real challenge in the 2018 season? How will Ohio State react to the top-ranked defense of TCU and will it even be similar to the one the Horned Frogs brought out in 2017? There are too many questions to pick this game as a definite win for either side. However, although I think it may be close, I think the stability; especially on the defensive side of the ball for the Buckeyes, will outweigh the Horned Frogs on September 15th.

Way too early score prediction: Ohio State 28, TCU 24