Patterson Discusses Clemson With Media
9/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 22, 2009
FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU football coach Gary Patterson took a break from preparations for Saturday's game at Clemson to hold his weekly news conference in the Four Sevens Team Room.Included below are excerpts from Patterson's comments to the media.
Opening Statement ...
"It's week three and another big game for us, going back on the road into the ACC and facing a very good and athletic Clemson team. They are probably the most athletic team we have faced since Oklahoma a year ago, so we have a lot of work to do."
On Clemson ...
"They have a very loud environment. We will do a lot of sound simulation this week during practice to get our communication where it needs to be. They are a lot more athletic than Virginia. They have a few kick returns and punt returns for touchdowns and are very aggressive on defense. They have eight interceptions and are holding people to a 37-percent completion percentage. Offensively, they have some weapons."
On preparing the Frogs for another road game ...
"In any good program, if you get your team ready to win the games you are supposed to win, the big games will take care of themselves. A lot of this group has played at Texas and Oklahoma. They understand the type of athletes they are going to be facing. We don't have to tell them what they are going into. You have to go take ball games when you're on the road. The home team never gives it to you, so you've got to go play.
"I tell my team this is why you came to TCU. You came here because we go and play teams like Clemson. You come to TCU to play Oklahoma or go on the road to Virginia. We will play the Big 12. Everybody likes to coach or play in these type of games."
The positives that came from the Texas State game ...
"Anytime you give a team two weeks to prepare for somebody and it's their Super Bowl, they are going to come out and play. The part of the game that got overshadowed was our offense. In the end, I'm glad we won. It wasn't as pretty as we wanted it to be and we made some mistakes. The good thing is we are still making mistakes and winning. That's the biggest thing we are trying to accomplish. We will move forward the rest of the season. We had a good practice Sunday night. I really didn't have to say much. We have to keep moving forward, gaining confidence and being more accountable."
