Patterson meets with the media to discuss Stanford
10/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 9, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU head football coach Gary Patterson held his weekly media luncheon Tuesday in the John Justin Athletic Center.
The Horned Frogs (3-3) are at Stanford (2-3) Saturday. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. (Central). In their last game, the Cardinal posted a 24-23 victory at then-No. 2 USC. Stanford's three losses this season were to top-25 teams UCLA, Oregon and Arizona State.
Included below are excerpts from Patterson's news conference.
When did you first hear the Stanford-USC score?
"It was on the plane coming back from Wyoming. What's ironic is that I had watched three of their games before I heard the score against USC. I kept telling people that Stanford was very athletic. Everyone then found out they won, so it might have given a little more credibility to what I was saying."
What was the key for Stanford in winning at USC?
"They were able to do some stuff with formations and using the toss to the outside. Their wide receivers are good athletes. One of the things Tavita Pritchard gives them at quarterback is athleticism and a player who can get on the edge. They sprinted out a lot more against USC than they had in the past. The key to that game was their defense. They caused five turnovers."
What are your thoughts on traveling to Stanford?
"I knew this was going to be a tough game because it's on the road. Everyone that I talked to said that Stanford was a lot more athletic than people realized. Stanford doesn't receive enough credit. They have a great history and kids from all over the United States. They have good players and Coach (Jim) Harbaugh has done a terrific job with his players' attitude and getting them to believe."
Has punter Derek Wash been one of the unsung heroes of your team?
"He's probably been the biggest surprise. The new snapper (Clint Gresham) and Derek have allowed us to stay in most games. The reason we had a chance to win the other day was because of special teams."
What were your thoughts on Andy Dalton after the last game?
"I was most impressed with how calm he was on those final couple of drives. You like to see someone who's not too high or too low."
What will it take to get back on the winning side?
"We could easily be 5-1, but we're 3-3. Some years you get the breaks, and some years you don't. When you're not getting those breaks, you have to keep pushing and make a difference."
Talk about the contribution of wide receiver Bart Johnson.
"He definitely had a good game at Wyoming. He's made some plays, including picking up the blocked punt and scoring against SMU. We knew Bart was good coming out of high school. He's one of those guys who does all the intangibles to win."
Have you ever had a team with this many injuries?
"The last time was probably 2004. That's one of the differences from this year to the past couple of seasons. I don't think it's any secret that teams who stay healthy win. That's one of the things that happened to us after the 16-day break last year. We got Aaron Brown, Lonta Hobbs and Jeff Ballard back, and it made a big difference. Depth is probably one of the differences from teams in our conference and those in the SEC. The whole key is how your No. 2 and 3 guys step in when others go down. We've got half the season left, so there's no reason to throw in the towel just yet."
What is the team's focus?
"Our whole thing is taking it one day at a time and climbing back into it. I don't believe our kids aren't playing hard, because you otherwise wouldn't be able to climb back into a game like we did. You just need to keep making plays and finish, which we didn't do."
How would the return of Joseph Turner help the team?
"We need a bigger body to help us on the goal line and in the red zone. If you want to win games, you have to be able to run the ball in the red zone."
How do you rate your team's offense against Wyoming?
"Wyoming is a very good defensive team. With all the missed tackles we had and to still have a chance to win the game was amazing. If we hadn't had the lull in the third quarter, we probably would have had a better chance to win."
What is the current status of your team?
"From the very beginning, we try and get our kids to understand that this is a new slate. Because of the preseason hype and being picked to win the league, people are going to give us their `A' game. The key for our kids and coaches is to do something about it, because we are all in this together. If you aren't playing hard, you have problems. I don't think we have a problem with not playing hard."
