Gary Patterson Speaks with the Media at Weekly Luncheon
9/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 30, 2003
FORT WORTH, Texas
(On injuries): "I'm not going to talk about injuries. It's not something I want our guys to focus on. I've always had to play with walk-ons as a coach, and that's why we push kids. They know they'll get their chance. You just have to survive injury cycles. The good thing about being the head coach is I'm not the one who said we'd go 12-0. I'm just trying to win ballgames.
"You build a lot of confidence when the scout team guys know they have a chance to play. I've always approached teams this way. We should be excited about where we are. It's tough, though, because sometimes you get frustrated seeing so many guys going down."
(On Tye Gunn' and Lonta Hobbs' status): "Tye has a great chance of playing Saturday. Lonta is still questionable. We'll know more on Thursday whether or not they'll play for sure."
(On the amount of points TCU has put up): "This group has found a way to win. We've only lost one game in our last 15. As a head coach, would I like to score more points? Yes, but you know what, nobody remembers how many we scored against SMU or UNT last year. All that mattered at the end of the year was that those were wins. You can only control so many things."
(On the Arizona game): "A writer in Arizona said we're overrated but we still beat a Pac-10 team. What we have to do is stop giving up the big pass play. The touchdown we gave up in the third quarter resulted from a missed assignment with a linebacker covering a tight end.
"I was excited for Jeremy Modkins because he missed a critical tackle that led to a big play and a field goal, but he came back with the interception in overtime."
(On John Braziel): "John just has to grow up and come to play. He's not what we've had in the past. He's not Joey Biasatti and I don't want him to be. I want him to be John Braziel. He's got a powerful leg and he needs to use it. He can't play cautious. John did, however, get a big punt when we needed it last weekend.
"All we have on this team is what we have. This isn't like professional sports where we can go out and get a free agent punter."
(On this week's starting tailback): "Robert Merrill will start. Lonta's anckle is too hard to come back from so soon. Right now, we have to win with Bobby and Kenny (Hayter). Don't forget, Merrill's had two 100-yard games and Kenny's been adding some solid yards as well.
"We'll have to have another tailback for South Florida because of the humidity there. You can't just look at this week's game as a head coach. You have to look ahead and plan. Head coaches can get into trouble when they don't plan. It's the same way in business. If you only fix the problem right in front of you'll fall victim to Murphy's Law: the worst thing that can happen does."
(On Army): "Army is averaging 18 points a game, which is more than we've had in two games this year. We've got to start scoring touchdowns. We have to take advantage of the big play when we get it.
"Army takes chances because they know they're out-manned every time. They've already tried six onside kicks this season and they'll do anything else you can think of. They can really move the ball on first down. They've been doing it to everyone. They do a good job of coaching their players. They have quite a few underclassmen playing, which makes them a lot like us. We probably have more in the freshman category than they do.
"I thought Army confused South Florida's quarterback (Ronnie Banks) a lot on defense. South Florida's defense was just too athletic for them.
"They've got two 6-6 wide receivers, Clint Woody and Aaron Alexander, who are real threats. William White is one of the top kick and punt returners in the league as well."
(On TCU's penalties the last two games): "This week we'll start running for stupid penalties. Not one guy, but the whole team. We did it a year ago and we'll do it again."
(On Brandon Hassell's performance at Arizona): "I thought Brandon played well. The biggest thing is he found a way to get us a field goal at the end when we needed it. Keep in mind that was only his second ballgame and that our two starters have only eight starts between them. We don't have senior quarterback. We have a lot of young ones. We'll keep moving forward. We never make excuses for youth or injury. The bottom line is you put the best team you can on the field.
(On TCU's defense): "At some point, we're going to give up more points with the yards we're allowing. We think if we give up one touchdown in the air a game we've done a pretty good job. We want to keep our third down percentage around 30 percent. When you don't let teams run the ball, you can play better pass coverage. Some people play bend but don't break on their defense, but that's not our game."
(On TCU's ranking): "I think the Arizona game was on too late and most people who vote in the coaches poll didn't see it. That stuff is for (the media) and the fans. We have to win more than we lose, and we've got a tough road ahead of us. We have to find a way to keep getting better."
(On TCU's OL): "They've been off and on, and that's pretty common. We've been able to run the football. I don't know where we're at with sacks, but I think it's pretty good."
(On TCU's slow starts): "It seems to take us awhile to get into a rhythm. I'm just now finding out what we can do and learning what our personality is. On defense, are we going to have to be a man team or a zone team? Until I get the same starting lineup more than one week in a row, I won't know. I just hope that happens before game 12."
(On getting to play at home this week): "You couldn't have picked a better week for a home game right now. Our home crowd has been great so far. We have more players we can put in instead of the 65 we travel with. Having everyone on the sideline-the walk-ons, the redshirts-their enthusiasm plays a big part in the game. When you have a home game on a short week like this it's important because there's no travel. I'll be preparing for South Florida around 11 p.m. Saturday, win or lose."
