TCU Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson. Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Gary Patterson found himself in unfamiliar territory.
His TCU Horned Frogs football team was mired way down in the preseason Big 12 rankings before start of the 2014 season.
Lindy’s ranked them seventh in the 10-team conference, emphasizing their offensive shortcomings.
“A bumpy offseason is slowing implementation of a new offense,” the commentary said. “… the offense is too limited.”
Lindy’s wasn’t alone in that forecast, as no analysts or media outlets put TCU among the leading contenders for the league title, much less a place among the College Football Playoff group of six bowls.
But, seventh place! Before the disappointing 2013 campaign when TCU did finish seventh, no Frogs team with Patterson as head coach had ended a season that low, regardless of the conference. Last year’s squad won just two Big 12 games and the 4-8 overall record was only the second losing season in Patterson’s career.
The 14-year TCU head coach had built an impressive career resume. In four seasons in C-USA, he led the Horned Frogs to one league title and another 11-win season. He captured four Mountain West championships in seven seasons, claiming double-digit wins in all but one campaign, including a 13-0 mark and a Rose Bowl win in 2010.
But, the first two seasons in the Big 12 had been less than impressive and now there was the seventh-place preseason ranking.
“One of the things we wanted was to become relevant again,” Patterson said midway through the 2014 season.
Spring practice didn’t give indication that relevance was around the corner. In the final open scrimmage, which took the place of the traditional “spring game,” the Horned Frogs didn’t put up an offensive point. Not even one.
“I didn’t feel really good about today as far as offensively,” Patterson said in an understatement after the scrimmage. “We’d have liked to have a lot more success.”
That success didn’t take long to appear.
The season opener was against the Samford Bulldogs with head coach Pat Sullivan. The former Auburn Heisman Trophy winner had started the TCU program turnaround, coaching the Frogs from 1992-1997. They won the Southwest Conference title for the first time since 1959 and beat Texas for the first time in 25 years. Next, Dennis Franchoine and running back LaDainian Tomlinson won three Western Athletic Conference titles before the head man moved to Alabama.
Patterson followed Franchoine and built on that foundation. Some of the program’s greatest years came with him in Fort Worth, but could that continue in 2014?
The Horned Frogs won the first game, 48-14, as Trevone Boykin passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third. The quarterback, who played multiple positions a year earlier and wasn’t even established as the starter coming out of spring drills, threw for 320 yards, while the defense allowed the Bulldogs only 143 total yards and one scoring drive.
The Frogs had found their quarterback and the die was cast for the season.
After three runaway wins, including a 23-point victory over improved Minnesota, TCU knocked off No. 4 Oklahoma, 37-33. It was the Frogs’ first win over the Sooners since joining the Big 12, after having lost the last two games in the series by a combined 10 points. Oklahoma led by a touchdown in the third quarter before the comeback.
“Our group last year, they fought and came back,” Patterson said. “This group here learned how to fight back. We just didn’t have quite enough firepower last year.”
This year, TCU had the firepower. After the win with a 4-0 record, college football fans around the country finally started to take notice. Except for one fourth quarter collapse, in the 61-58 loss to Baylor, the Horned Frogs took care of business the rest of the way.
Some of the wins were dominating … Texas Tech (82-27), Oklahoma State (42-9). Some of the wins were barely wins at all … West Virginia (31-30), Kansas (34-30). But, by the end of November, TCU was putting the icing on the cake. The 48-10 rout of Texas in Austin set the stage for the season finale and a chance for the Big 12 title and consideration for the College Football Playoff semi-finals.
“You know, this team deserves to go home and win a championship,” Patterson said after the win, looking ahead to the Iowa State game the next week. “We’ve got one more to do it, and I’m very proud of them. But, we’ve still got to get ready to play Iowa State.”
The Horned Frogs were ready for the Cyclones, winning 55-3 … so here they are, facing Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
“It’s a lot easier to be the hunter than the hunted,” the head coach said late in the season. “It’s always been that way. … You’re going to get everybody’s best shot.
“It’s just part of what you deal with. That’s why you don’t worry about it. … We just have to be the best football team that we can.”
TCU did prove itself to be one of the best teams in the country this season..
Not bad when you were picked seventh in your own conference. Seventh!
