Gary Patterson media luncheon quotes
11/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 8, 2005
(On the Mountain West Conference championship trophy): "I don't want it until Saturday. We wanted to make sure we kept our noses down all season. We want to celebrate with a win. LaDainian Tomlinson will be there and he'll go through a ceremony Friday where he'll get his degree. He's done a lot of great things."(On getting the team up for UNLV): "I was asking Cory Rodgers about it earlier. I can usually tell Tuesday how we're doing. You have to understand there are still BCS implications out there. I don't want to slip up against UNLV. We want to play the role of `you should have taken us.' We'd like to be 10-1. For our seniors, it's about what goes on the ring. We're still trying to keep getting better. In December, we'll prepare for a bowl game and grow up our younger players."
(On what bowl game TCU may play in): "I haven't thought about it. Danny Morrison and I will probably talk about it on Sunday. I talked to an official from the Liberty Bowl after Saturday. I consider it a privilege that they're looking at us.
"We're trying to finish the schedule the way we need to. I'd be excited if the Mountain West had five teams eligible. We came to the Mountain West to increase our BCS chances and hopefully win a national title at some point. Playing a better team in a bowl gives you an opportunity to make yourself better and help the league and I'm excited about that."
(On being picked sixth in the preseason Mountain West poll): "I've always said I don't worry about what people say in August. It's about November and December. I think it gave a little motivation for the kids. In Conference USA, we were picked sixth in 2002 and tied for the championship. It means more this time because we did it with kids recruited by this staff. All of the championships are great, though."
(On what the football has been like in the Mountain West): "It's been very tough. We won two overtime games and a three-point decision. The skill level is what I expected. Every team has a good wide receiver, a good corner, a good running back. The kickers and punters in this league are exceptional."
(On how to make sure the UNLV game does not end up like SMU): "We're a lot more mature now. There's a lot of water under the bridge since then. The college football world was shocked after we beat Oklahoma. Some of the young ones were shocked like when we lost to Texas Tech last year. We turned around and lost to South Florida in double overtime after that. You have to keep it in perspective.
"What I said going to Oklahoma was we weren't going there to just play well. We felt like we could compete and have some good things happen. We found out the hard way if you don't come to play and the other team does you'll lose."
(On the senior class and TCU quarterback Tye Gunn): "Tye was one of the first recruits we got. He stayed with us during the change of coaches and that whole next group of players hoped things would stay the same. They came to TCU to win games and get a great education. They grew up and didn't get much credit going into their senior years being picked sixth in the Mountain West. They did something that hasn't been done since 1958.
"Tye is a special kid. Jeff Ballard is where he is because of Tye. You have to have great leaders. We have seniors that have played hurt as well. Jared Kesler and Drew Coleman are playing with injuries that will have to be operated on when the season is over. I can't describe as a coach what it feels like to see those guys go out there and fight through it."
(On the schedule this year): "It helped us with a shorter season. Academically, we can close in on the season and as a coaching staff make sure they win on the academic side. Sometimes on off weeks, you get a little more physical and beat your guys up and we haven't done that this year. Everything in practice has been above the waist.
"That's something I learned from Sonny Lubick. Three years ago, I talked to Larry Kerr at UCLA who used to be Sonny's defensive coordinator about why Colorado State was so successful in November. It comes down to how your kids' legs are."
(On leading the nation in turnover margin): "Turnovers are funny because a lot of things go into them. Once you get going, it steamrolls. What I like is we're eighth in the nation in pass efficiency defense. I'm proud of how we've played in the red zone. We've caused turnovers and forced field goals. That's something we thought a year ago we weren't very good at. We started working at that in the off season."
(On Sonny Lubick's comments on whether or not TCU strong safety Eric Buchanan made a late hit during the Colorado State game): "I agree with him that it was a late hit. But, if he wants to talk about that there are a whole bunch of things that went on in that ballgame. Our kids were coming off the field saying they were doing things.
"What has surprised me about this league is people do a lot of complaining about a game afterwards. You didn't see me making excuses when we lost to SMU or went 5-6 last year. If the teams in the league want to get better they should come to play."
(On UNLV): "Offensively, they're very athletic at the skill positions and at running back. The problem they present is when their personnel group has five wide receivers. They like to run the option. They're a lot like our offense in some ways. Defensively, they're big up front. UNLV might have the best punter/kicker tandem in the league. Their snapper is very good and they have the best kickoff coverage in the league. UNLV has the ingredients down the road to be a lot better football team. We have to come ready to play. You can always throw out records in this league."
(On bowl games that have stuck out in his mind): "The Liberty Bowl in 2002 was fun staying at the Peabody. The kids were hungry to play Colorado State and excited. There's never a bad bowl game. I've been to nine and every place does the best job it can to take care of you."
