The Overweight Armchair Sooner: A NOD TO THE FROGS...YOU KNOW THE NOD

TCU HORNED FROGS

2013 Predicted Conference Finish: 3rd

Horned Frogs at a glance:
Head Coach: Gary Patterson (entering 13th season /record of 116-36)
Stadium: Amon G Carter Stadium (45,000) / Fort Worth, TX
2012 Record 7-6 (4-5)
   Home 2-4
   Away   5-1
   Neutral Site/Bowl 0-1
2012 Bowl Game: Yes. Lost to Michigan State 17-16 in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl played in Tempe, AZ
Returning Starters: 13
     Offense         5
     Defense         8
Frog Warts: Stop being their own worst enemy. 2013 is off to a bad start already...The frogs have already lost an all conference lineman and a starting linebacker.
Key Game: @ Tech September 12th. First conference game it is important for the Frogs to win this one, since two of next three Big 12 games are road trips to the state of Oklahoma.
2013 vs OU: TCU visits Norman on October 5th

DID YOU KNOW?

That TCU played 16 true freshmen last fall....which was tops in the nation. By contrast, TCU only had 11 scholarship seniors on the roster.

I was just about a year ago that Gary Patterson and I had an early dinner together at a place here in Ft Worth called Hoffbrau. OK, well, maybe some of that isn’t totally true...I wasn’t actually with Coach Patterson, and we didn’t actually eat dinner together, but we were both at Hoffbrau at the same time about a year ago.

I was sitting at an otherwise empty bar when he came in and plopped down two seats to my right about 4:00 one afternoon. As he settled into his chair he gave me ‘the nod’…you know the nod….it’s that single down then up head motion that an important person gives to a not so important person. If the nod could speak, it would say something like “Look, I can tell by the way you are staring at me that you are either retarded and / or recognize who I am, but please don’t be a moron and try to talk to me.” So, hard as it was too do, I didn’t.

Over the next 15 minutes, I figured out why Coach Patterson had chosen to sit in one of the two chairs to my right, when there were about 15 open to my left…I was the happy hour version of a left guard. I was meant to be a barricade, but it didn’t work. The next 14-18 people that entered the bar area, were on the coach like a Kardashian on a twinkie. He couldn’t get more than two bites in a row of his smothered steak without someone interrupting him with some such version of “Coach, I don’t mean to interrupt your dinner, but I just wanted to tell you what a great job you’re doing. I think you are the best”.

After coach finally finished dinner, autographed a menu for one of the waitresses and paid his tab, he rose from his barstool to leave. I decided to give him the nod…you know the one… it’s that single down then up head motion that an unimportant person gives an important person when they know they aren’t supposed to talk to that important person. But I guess the coach didn’t recognize it, because instead he looked at me and said, “What’s the deal? Why are you the only person in Hoffbrau that didn't tell me how great I am?” Then he laughed and walked out.

When I asked for my tab a couple crown on the rocks later, Amber told me that the coach took care of it. Said I was the only one who didn’t interrupt his dinner and he appreciated it. “Pretty cool, huh?” she said. I just smiled…and then I gave her the nod…you know the one...

2012 Frog First in Big 12

Depending on whom you ask, TCU's first season in the Big 12 could be viewed as either a disappointment, a success or both. The Frogs were crippled by injuries, hampered by youth, and staggered by the loss of their QB Casey Pachall to suspension. The fact that TCU was able to hold it together and finish with a winning record against Big 12 competition, speaks to the character of this team and their coach. But there also could be a case made for 2012 being a pretty big disappointment. The suspension of Pachall, the home loss to Iowa State after starting the season 3-0, and a 56-53 triple over-time loss to Texas Tech at home were all things that could lead one to argue that the Frogs let a more memorable season get away. In my opinion, the 2012 TCU season was more success than failure. Despite a plethora of obstacles, the Frogs finish with a winning record and a bowl bid. They got a young core of players playing time and experience that will serve them well this year and next and last but not least... they beat Texas, in Austin, for the first time since 1967.

Truth be known, predicting TCU to finish third in the Big 12 in 2013, might be a little ambitious, or maybe a year early. In light of the fact that the Frogs are still very young, have already lost a starter on each side of the ball and have a schedule that requires visits to Norman, Stillwater and Manhattan this year...a middle of the pack conference finish wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine. But two words keep me from believing middle of the pack when it comes to TCU: Gary Patterson. I'm not sure that any coach in the country, save Saban at Alabama, means more to their program than Patterson does TCU.

Call it the Patterson effect, but I am taking a flyer on TCU this year to surprise some people. I just hope one of those they surprise isn't the Sooners. TCU comes to Norman to play OU on October 5th. If you have to come to Norman, this is a pretty good spot on the schedule to do it. With the Texas game on deck for the Sooners, TCU might be able to catch OU making the mistake of looking ahead.

TCU has won in Norman before. In 2005 the Sooners were breaking in a red-shirt freshman QB when they lost the season opener to TCU. Gary Patterson would love to do it again to Bob Stoops and the Sooners. If it were to happen, I would fully expect Patterson to give Stoops a nod as they left the field...you know the nod...it’s that single down then up head motion that a winning coach gives to the losing coach. If the nod could speak it would say something like..."Hey, Bob...aren't you going to tell me how great I am?"

TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson