Gary Patterson Conducts Weekly Media Luncheon
11/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 11, 2003
FORT WORTH, Texas
(On Cincinnati): "When you look at it, Cincinnati beat us last year. They've lost a lot of close games this year. I won't be shocked if they come out and play their best game. You earn you're money as a coach in November. I won't be surprised if they play like they did at Ohio State last year. For us, we have a lot of things in front of us right now, and there's no reason to look any further than them.
"It's going to come down to the last three minutes of the game. They play as good a defense as us. The offense is pretty close as well. They've been thinking about this game since last spring because they felt like they should have been co-conference champions last year. They feel like this is their coming out party. I say 'stand in line.' Every team we've played the last few weeks was saying we were their biggest game.
"We have to tackle and play with leverage. It's a simple game. We don't get the same game plan against us every week. An older defense handles that better than a younger one like ours. I'm surprised we've only given up 19 points in the first quarter. I would have expected us to give up more in the latter stages of a game.
"We need to have lots of fans come out Saturday and watch history. I thought what we had for the Louisville game was great."
(On TCU's No. 6 BCS ranking): "I'm excited for our kids and all the TCU fans. It's something to be proud of. I emailed Trev Albert for giving us some love on our ESPN game last week. It's great for national attention. You don't get many opportunities as a coach to be involved in these kinds of things.
"I don't feel like we carry the load for non-BCS teams. Our kids came here to win championships, and here's an opportunity to do something special. We understand it's only a result of the last nine games, and we still have three more to go. It's nice to dream, and that started at the beginning of the season. Every week is a war now. Everyone is going to give us their best shot.
(On TCU's critics): "If people like us they like us. If they don't they don't. When you become a head coach that's what you have to deal with. We have a chance to do what no one has ever done. That's what makes all this exciting. The nation knows about people like Robert Merrill, Bo Schobel and Brandon Hassell. TCU has a tradition of football. We're just trying to bring it back."
(On having 10 days off): "In coaching lingo, that's a vacation. It's helped everyone get better and healthier. I felt like we ran well against Louisville. We're getting our legs back, and we've seemed very spirited in practice this week."
(On Cincinnati quarterback Gino Guidugli): "It doesn't matter what conference you're in. You're going to face great quarterbacks. It doesn't matter if it's Conference USA or another league. Gino has done a great job, and he's been held back a little because of the young wide receivers."
(On TCU's defense): "We don't make excuses for our defense, but we're starting to get healthy again. We're starting to settle down. A lot of the problems have been tackling. If you look at it, we gave up a few long passes last week but other that, Louisville's running back became their No. 1 receiver."
(On the Louisville game): "The mental aspect of the game is so important. When you're struggling, you have to play yourself out of it. Five to seven plays make the difference in a game. The other night, three of them were missed field goals. The bottom line is we made a stop when we needed to. You have to play well on all sides of the ball."
