Patterson Holds Weekly Presser
9/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 20, 2011
FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU football coach Gary Patterson held his weekly news conference Tuesday in the Four Sevens Team Room.The 20th-ranked Horned Frogs host Portland State Saturday at 1 p.m.
Included below are excerpts from Patterson's meeting with the media.
On facing Portland State Saturday with in-state opponent SMU next week ...
"We have to get through Portland State first. Our kids know who they're playing this week. They've progressed and gotten better over the last two weeks. What puts things in perspective is that two games before we won the Rose Bowl, we gave up several touchdown passes to San Diego State. We didn't have a bad defensive back group then. We won the Rose Bowl. For us, you've got to keep growing up."
On continuing his team's progression throughout the season ...
"If you look across the nation, you have to be a healthy football team. For us, that's the biggest thing. We need to be where we can rest a little bit, and we're not going to get that until after San Diego State. In the next three weeks, we've got to find a way to win three more ballgames. Then we'll have an off week, where we're not just going at it for seven days and playing another ballgame."
On playing a more complete game ...
"I told them on Sunday, we need to get where we play a complete ballgame as a group. You can't just play three quarters. For three quarters against Louisiana-Monroe, we played really well defensively compared to what we've done. Offensively, we didn't finish the fourth quarter. If you look at the Air Force game, besides the double pass, we played very well other than the last two drives. The ultimate thing you try to get done is to play a complete game. The teams that do that are usually smart and mature."
On his team growing up quickly ...
"We're going into our fourth ballgame. Once you start playing football games, you're not young anymore. You've got to grow up and be smart. People who use the excuse of being young usually end up not winning many games. You have to mature your team. They have to grow up and make plays. Before we started two-a-days, the two things I told them they needed to grow up in were in being physical and a smart football team. Those are the kinds of things that help younger players mature. You need to be physical, and you have to be smart."
On the offense thus far this season ...
"Casey Pachall and the offense have surprised some people. We moved a tight end (Robert Deck) to tackle. Ed Wesley has been down, other than a half of a football game and he hasn't played since. The other running backs have played well. You have freshman wide receivers who have stepped up. Josh Boyce and Skye Dawson have made plays."
On the play of the TCU linebackers ...
"Kris Gardner came in and played. We kept Kenny Cain out, so it was really good we could come through and get a win. Deryck Gildon, a true freshman, got in the game and played. Tank Carder was a leader and did things he needed to do. Kenny will be back full strength this week because we were able to sit him out. Hopefully, at some point, Tanner Brock will be."
Players Mentioned
