Frog fans flock for season opener against Midshipmen
COMMENTARY
Brent Yarina

The football team’s season home opener Saturday night had a refreshing feel to it. For the first time in a while, a game at Amon Carter Stadium had the atmosphere of a big-time college football game.

Whether the welcomed atmosphere was because of the fact that it was the beginning of a brand new season for a team with extremely high expectations, or because people are finally starting to buy into the reality of TCU as a perennial powerhouse, Saturday’s game was special.

Nearly 36,000 screaming fans attended the game, helping lead the Frogs to a 17-3 victory over Navy.

The record crowd of 35,688 fans was the largest at Amon Carter Stadium in the past decade.

“I want to thank the community for the support they gave us Saturday. It was great,” head coach Gary Patterson said. “I’m glad we were able to give them a win.”

In order to keep the attendance levels up, however, the Frogs must play like they did in the second half of Saturday’s game. Not the first half. If they can consistently play to their expected level, big crowds, like the one against Navy, should become the norm.

After completing the toughest part of their schedule, where the team played two games in six days, the Frogs are happy to have off this week. They can get everyone healthy and rested before their next home game against Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. Sept. 19.

Junior safety Marvin Godbolt said the team enjoys the exposure of playing on ESPN and didn’t mind having to play two games in one week.

“We want the exposure,” Godbolt said. “We want to be on TV and show TCU is good, but we need a break.”

Patterson said he plans to have a hard week of practice this week as if the team was playing a game Saturday. Next week’s practices are expected to be lighter. Patterson said he must get the team playing better football during this off week if they want to beat Vanderbilt. His biggest challenge will be trying to get the Frogs to take better care of the football because they have lost the turnover battle in each of the first two games.

“Vanderbilt is a vastly improved club,” he said. “We will have to play much better ball to beat them because they are a SEC team.”

With two full weeks of practice to prepare for an SEC opponent, the Frogs hope to take advantage of the stadium’s new atmosphere and show the fans they can play big-time college football.

Brent Yarina