Horned Frogs ready to hop forward after loss to Buckeyes
Three big plays separated TCU from beating No. 4 Ohio State last week in Jerry World, but the Horned Frogs don’t have time to lament about what could have been — they have turned the page and are deep in preparations for their Big 12 Conference opener on Saturday at Texas.
In fact, TCU coach Gary Patterson helped salve the wound from the loss by saying if he had to choose one game to win — Ohio State or Texas — he’d take beating the Longhorns.
“If you gave me a choice of who you need to beat, it’s conference play,” Patterson said Monday. “You’d want to win the Texas game. Whether that permeated with them, we’ll find out. But that’s the thing you have to understand — to get to the playoffs you’ve got to win your conference, or get to be one of those final two teams (in the Big 12 title game). It starts this week.”
TCU, which dropped from 15th to 17th in this week’s AP polls after the loss to Ohio State, has owned the Longhorns over the past four seasons, winning all four games by an average of 30 points. The Horned Frogs have taken five of the past six from Texas.
Patterson said that there’s a natural rivalry between TCU and Texas because of recruiting battles and the fact that the Horned Frogs’ players grow up watching Longhorns’ games.
“Outside of that, it’s the next ballgame,” Patterson said. “I don’t know if I can explain it except that I worry more about what I can do to make sure TCU is good, not worry about Texas or Iowa State or Oklahoma or Oklahoma State or whoever else we’re playing.
“The biggest thing is just making sure I can control TCU.”
TCU went toe-to-toe with Ohio State, but two turnovers, both of which resulted in touchdowns for the Buckeyes, and having a TD called back because of a forward lateral doomed the Horned Frogs’ chances.
Quarterback Shawn Robinson posted career highs in completions (24), attempts (40), passing yards (308) and total offense (315) in the loss to Ohio State.
TCU is looking to run the table the rest of the way. With how competitive they were against Ohio State, the Horned Frogs think they’re still in the playoff hunt.
“If you could win out, then I think you’d be one of those teams that should give TCU just as much credit for playing a ballgame like this as anybody else you should,” Patterson said. “But, first, we’ve got to do that. And we’ve got a lot of good people we’ve got to play before we get to that point. But, right now, it’s Texas.”
