Frogs might need more ‘luck’ vs. West Virginia
After a stretch of three straight losses, a series of injuries and some just plain ol’ bad play, TCU finally had the ball bounce its way on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs have never lost four consecutive games in the Gary Patterson era in Fort Worth, but it took a missed PAT by Kansas State last week in a 14-13 win over the Wildcats to make sure that streak stayed intact.
TCU (4-5, 2-4 Big 12) has struggled to force turnovers department this year but produced three against the suddenly hapless Wildcats, marking the first time it’s been on the winning side of the turnover equation since its season opener over Southern.
“Finally, we got a little luck,” Patterson said.
“For today. We’ll take it one at a time. For today. It was kind of like Santa Claus hopes I had a good year because it hasn’t been very good for me to be honest with you up to this point — on or off the field.”
For a team that used to winning but went the entire month of October without a victory, last Saturday’s result may mark a turnaround to the season.
TCU needs to win two of its final three games to earn a bowl spot, but the first of those challenges, a road dustup versus No. 9 West Virginia on Saturday, may be too tough of a hill to climb. It’s more realistic that the Horned Frogs can win at Baylor and then at home against Oklahoma State.
Horned Frogs cornerback Jeff Gladney, who set a career-high with 10 tackles in the win over Kansas State, including a career-best three for loss, said he and his teammates would be ready for West Virginia.
“You could tell that he’s maturing and playing the best since he’s been here,” Patterson said about Gladney. “He didn’t practice all week because of injury and didn’t do great versus Kansas, but it could have been worse without him. He’s more mature handling things on and off the field great. It’s been awesome. More of a leader.”
