Frogs deal with injuries
By Crystal Jones
Skiff Staff

Recent injuries to key players have plagued the football team during its week off, but head coach Gary Patterson remains optimistic.

Tye Gunn suffered a separated shoulder Sept. 9 after slipping in practice, and senior Ricky Madison suffered a season-ending knee injury against Navy Sept. 6. The injuries have left the Frogs under new leadership on the field, not only at the running back position, but in the hands of redshirt junior quarterback Brandon Hassell.

“I’m not worried about Brandon,” Patterson said. “We won’t change what we do. We just need him to manage the game. Good programs have to find a way to step up.”

Hassell went through the 2003 spring practice camp as the team’s No. 1 quarterback due to Gunn’s injury.

“The good thing for Brandon, and probably a blessing in disguise was his 15 days of practice in the spring,” Patterson said. “He’s the one that did everything that we needed to do, and that’s why I asked him, how he felt at the end of spring, he said ‘I feel good’ and I told him that is the feeling you need to take in right now.”

Hassell has spent three years as an understudy and has seen limited action in his college career. He has appeared briefly in two collegiate games but has yet to throw a pass. The Arlington native has no doubts in his performance for this weekend’s game against Vanderbilt.

“I don’t think too much is going to change on game day,” Hassell said. “I mean, it’ll be the same old pre-game stuff and just get out there and get ready to go. I think a lot of times, guys try too hard to make the big plays, and it’s all about going out there and letting things happen.”

This Saturday marks the fourth meeting of the two schools, with TCU leading the series two games to one.

Patterson said Vanderbilt will pose a challenge, having the best defense and the most physical offense TCU has played so far this season.

He said what you see is what you get with Vanderbilt.

“They’re going to throw the ball, and they don’t make a lot of mistakes. On defense, they load the box and you have to throw on them because of how well they defend the run. They’re a lot more physical than the teams we’ve faced so far.”

The Frogs will go into Saturday’s game with a 2-0 record, ranked 20th in the Associated Press poll and 19th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll.