Gary Patterson has had issues with player behavior this season. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
TCU’s early-season issues are turning the program into Team Turmoil as it enters Saturday’s game at Texas Tech.
The third-ranked Horned Frogs (3-0) lost their seventh defensive starter of the season on Monday and it had nothing to do with the injuries — and one of leave of absence — that caused the previous attrition.
Senior defensive end Mike Tuaua was one of two players arrested on felony robbery and assault charges — redshirt freshman Andre Petties-Wilson was the other — and has been indefinitely suspended from the program.
Tuaua and Wilson were charged with assaulting three students on Sept. 4 — one was beaten badly enough to be transported to a hospital — and stealing their case of Keystone Light beer.
Tuaua had missed the last two games under mysterious circumstances as coach Gary Patterson lumped his uncertain playing status in with the host of injured players.
Turned out he wasn’t sitting out due to injury, and Patterson used part of his Tuesday press conference to minimize the incident and take a shot at Big 12 rival Baylor.
“In this kid’s case, Mike Tuaua, we’ll find out what the facts are,” Patterson said. “It will all come out. I just hope you report just as strongly as what you want to do here, because it’s not even close to what happened south of here.”
Patterson was alluding to the situation at Baylor in which defensive end Sam Ukwuachu — who also had issues at Boise State before transferring to the school — was convicted of sexually assaulting a now-former Baylor women’s soccer player. The school recently hired a law firm to independently investigate how the sexual assault complaint was handled.
Patterson defended Tuaua during the press conference and said it is important for his players to know that he will back them.
“My job is to protect the university, my job is to protect the football team, my job is to also be a father to my players,” Patterson said. “And if they screw up, they screw up. And in my time at TCU — 18 years — we’ve had a few of those but not as many as others.”
NOTES, QUOTES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Trevone Boykin passed for 433 yards and set a school record with seven touchdown passes in last season’s 82-27 rout of Texas Tech. He is primed for another strong outing after passing for 454 yards against SMU last Saturday — his second-highest total and the fourth most in school history. Boykin passed for five touchdowns against the Mustangs to become the first player in TCU history to throw for five or more scores on multiple occasions. He has passed for 985 yards and 10 touchdowns in three games.
–WR Josh Doctson waved good-bye to a slow start with a spectacular showing against SMU as he had five receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns vs. SMU. Doctson has 18 career receiving scores, second in TCU history behind Josh Boyce (22 from 2010-12). He raised his season numbers to 17 catches, 326 yards and three touchdowns while quieting talk from coach Gary Patterson about his conditioning not being up to par.
–LB Travin Howard is a converted safety who is plugging up a hole in the defense. The Horned Frogs are thin at linebacker, and the move of Howard in the offseason has paid off as he has a team-leading 4.5 tackles for losses. He stands just 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, but his athleticism and speed are making up for the lack of bulk.
