Frogs Don Full Pads For First Time
8/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 15, 2002
The Horned Frog football squad donned full pads for the first time this fall during the morning session, as two-a-day workouts continued on the TCU practice fields Thursday.
"We got better today," said head coach Gary Patterson. "We went physical for both practices. We still have to polish things up for Saturday's scrimmage. We have most of our packages in, now it's just a matter of getting better and finding our top 22. "
Patterson was impressed by the play of his top two quarterbacks, senior Sean Stilley and redshirt freshman Tye Gunn.
"I liked what Sean did," said Patterson. "Both quarterbacks looked good. We were trying to give them every look we can. Tye did a better job this afternoon seeing things."
Injuries will be a factor this fall and the early workouts have some Frogs on the sidelines. Offensive guard Jamal Powell suffered a right ankle sprain in the morning workout. Offensive tackle Brady Barrick has been sidelined with a sore shoulder. In addition, defensive tackle Chad Pugh has left the team for personal reasons.
"Sometimes the injuries can be a positive," said Patterson. "It forces you to play other people and get some younger people ready for game situations. Defensively, we've tried to move some people around. That gives us a chance to get younger people in the lineup. I think there's a chance we could get Pugh back," continued Patterson. "He needs to work through some things right now."
"It's always different when you put the pads on," said senior defensive tackle John Turntine. "It brings another dimension to the game. We were looking forward to geing physical. It brings out the emotions, which is a big part of the game."
The Frogs have two more practices scheduled for Friday before a Saturday morning scrimmage, their first of the fall season. The Frogs open the 2002 campaign on Labor Day, Monday, September 2, with a Conference USA contest at Cincinnati.
