Frogs happy to squeak by SMU
By Carlos Alvarado
Commentary

Winless teams need a few things to finally win a game.

Saturday in Dallas, TCU gave the Mustangs the one thing that can carry a team to victory: hope.

The Frogs, coming off a devastating loss to Southern Mississippi, and the Mustangs, winless on the year, wanted nothing more than a win to put a positive spin on their respective seasons.

The Mustangs were able to use that hope, along with TCU’s mistakes, to hang around and make a game of what many had thought was going to be a blowout of a hated rival. It took a final defensive stand and two late penalties to finally squash SMU’s dreams.

The 20-13 win was far from impressive as the Frogs are now 19th in both The Associated Press and Coaches’ polls. The Frogs stayed put in the AP poll with the victory, but they dropped two spots in the Coaches’ poll.

Head coach Gary Patterson was not surprised that the game was tougher than many had expected.
“That’s what you get when you play rivals; they get up for the game,” Patterson said. “Every time we play this game, there has only been one blowout.”

The blowout Patterson is referring to came in the 2000 season when the Frogs beat the Mustangs 62-7 in Dallas.

Despite only winning by seven points this season, Patterson said the Frogs are happy to walk away with the win and understands how difficult it was for TCU to get up for the game.

“It was a big let-down last week,” Patterson said. “We found a way to get it done.”

As tough as the win was, the Frogs managed to put two players into the record books Saturday afternoon. Junior wide receiver Reggie Harrell broke the single season receiving yards record and Robert Merrill broke Lonta Hobbs’ single season rushing yards record for a freshman, which was set last season.
Aside from the victory and the two fallen records, the talk after the game was focused on TCU’s bowl destination. After much controversy, the Frogs will be playing in the Fort Worth Bowl on Dec. 23.
Patterson made it known the Frogs’ opponent in the GMAC bowl, 17th-ranked Miami (Ohio), is not the reason the Frogs had reservations to play in the game in Mobile, Ala.

“We’re not scared to play Miami (Ohio),” Patterson said. “We wouldn’t walk away from anybody.”

Due to a conflict with final exams, TCU officially declined an invitation Monday to play in the GMAC Bowl. The school maintains that its decision to turn down a matchup with Miami is due in large part to the effect the game would have on the players’ academics.

“I don’t feel like we have to apologize to anybody,” Patterson said. “We do what we think is the best thing for our program.”