Gary Patterson Media Luncheon Quotes -- November 19, 2002
11/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 19, 2002
Heading into Saturday's tilt at East Carolina with a chance to clinch a share of the Conference USA title, TCU head coach Gary Patterson held his weekly media luncheon Tuesday afternoon at the John Justin Athletic Center. Coach Patterson recapped the Horned Frogs' 17-10 win over Tulane on November 9 and spoke about the challenges the Frogs face this weekend in Greenville, N.C.
Below are selected quotes from Coach Patterson's session with reporters.
On TCU's offensive output against Tulane:
"Against Tulane, we did everything right except get in the end zone. We hurt ourselves with penalties when we got inside the 30-yard line. We will not be able to do that on the road. Sometimes you can get away with it at home, but not on the road. We have to make the most of our opportunities on offense and score touchdowns, not just field goals."
On East Carolina's skill players:
"East Carolina really has a lot of great one-on-one players. Torey Morris, Richard Alston, and Art Brown are all mighty fine wide receiver-running back types, along with their punt returner, No. 7, Terrance Copper. When they catch the football they can break it and go. So we'll have to be very good tacklers because they are very big and very strong."
On East Carolina running back Art Brown:
"Art Brown is the best in the league at what he does. He's scored 18 touchdowns. He's very slippery and catches the ball well. He never gives you a really clear shot (to tackle) him. He has good vision and he finds the open areas and runs to them."
On East Carolina's offense:
"They don't run a lot of power football, except when they get down near the goal line or short yardage. But they run a lot of finesse plays. They will trap you and draw you very well."
On East Carolina's quarterbacks:
"Their starting quarterback, Paul Troth, and the backup, Desmond Robinson, have both matured as far as how they handle the offense. They turned the ball over a lot early but they haven't been doing that lately."
On East Carolina's defense:
"Their defense is really, really athletic and can run around. They do a lot of good things. But, with the skill level of this conference, you can't give up the big play and that has been their nemesis. When you give up 50-yard plays on 3rd and 7, you get yourself in trouble."
On the challenges the TCU offense faces:
"If you want to beat East Carolina, you have to outscore them. Their record doesn't have anything to do with their offense. South Florida is the only team to go into their place and beat them and they had to score 45 points to do so. East Carolina is a lot different football team at home than when they play on the road. If we want to win, we have to score more points than we did last week."
On the challenges the TCU defense faces:
"I hope that we continue to play defense like we have been. Our defense puts us in one-on-one situations and lately we have been able to control those situations. ECU, however, has good enough athletes on the perimeters that if we give them time to get the ball to those players, they can make plays. We can't let them run the football with Brown. Also, with their kind of offense, we can't give up the big pass play."
On TCU's pass rush:
"We are a lot better now with our four-man pass rush, which helps us. Since the Louisville game we've had 19 sacks and I think half of those have come on the four-man rush. East Carolina is going to get the ball out of (the quarterback's) hands. I think they have only given up 17 sacks this year. Even when you blitz them, they are not going to put themselves in a situation where you are going to have a chance to put them on their back."
On TCU cornerback Jason Goss:
"Everybody knows that we play man coverage in the back on the boundary side with him, even in our zone concepts. They tried to pick on him and fortunately for us, he has done a great job. That's what throwing the long ball is all about, feast or famine. In our case, we have been fortunate."
On TCU wide receiver Adrian Madise:
"On Sunday Adrian Madise ran around really well. I'm excited to get him back. I think he adds another dimension to our football team that we didn't have in the Tulane game, which hurt us."
On playing on the road:
"I think that we play better on the road because we focus on the game and we only count on each other. We don't have any distractions with family members or friends wanting tickets or anything else. All we have is ourselves. We show up with our helmets and pads, we put them on, and we go about our business. We are a very business-like group."
On dealing with success:
"One of the things that we learned after the Tulane game is that you have to learn how to handle success. Not every game is going to come as easily as some of them did."
