Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Opening holes
Offensive line use smash mouth football to quiet doubts
By Kelly Morris
Skiff Staff

Head coach Gary Patterson has always been fond of saying the most physical team usually wins on Saturdays.

But for the first two games of the season, Patterson said the offensive line wasn’t playing the physical smash-mouth football it needed to have success.

Saturday against Southern Methodist, it finally did, bulldozing the way for a season high 171 rushing yards.

David Dunai/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Junior quarterback Sean Stilley hands off to junior running back Reggie Holts Saturday. Holts ran for 3 yards on two carries.

“It was good to see those guys get some confidence because it’s those kind of things that allows you to gain momentum,” Patterson said. “I told the offensive line not to worry about making mistakes and to just take somebody and drive them somewhere. I told them quit being hesitate, just come off the ball, hit someone and let the running backs cut off of them.”

And TCU’s running backs did just that against the Mustangs as sophomore Ricky Madison and senior Andrew Hayes-Stoker each grabbed his first touchdown of the season.

With 16 carries and 65 total rushing yards, Madison was the Frogs leading rusher for the second game in a row. Madison’s 7-yard touchdown in the second quarter was the first of five TCU touchdowns scored in an 11-minute span.

Madison said he credits his performance to the offensive line.

“It was all the offensive line,” Madison said. “Once they found they could push (the Mustangs) off the ball, they just took over the game. They gave me holes (in the offensive line), and when I saw a hole, I ran hard.”

Hayes-Stoker, who only had nine carries for 22 yards against North Texas, was the Frogs second leading rusher Saturday with 13 carries for 52 yards.

Hayes-Stoker said while others have doubted the offensive line’s ability, he has always been aware of its talent.

“There are a lot of people that have questions about our offensive line, but I’ve been running with these guys for three years,” Hayes-Stoker said. “I know what kind of players they are, and I know what kind of people they are. It was just a matter of time before we came together and got things accomplished.”

Patterson said the performance of the offensive linemen just came down to them being more physical.

“Instead of having 26 knockdowns (like we had against Nebraska), we had 92 in the SMU ball game,” Patterson said. “It makes a difference.”

The Frogs grabbed 290 total offensive yards against SMU, almost 100 more yards than they gained against North Texas Sept. 1.

And even though only 119 of those were passing yards Saturday, Hayes-Stoker said he has not lost hope in TCU’s passing game.

“Fortunately, the run was working, so we continued to stay with that against SMU,” Hayes-Stoker said. “But I know what kind of receivers and what kind of quarterback we have. I have total confidence in our passing ability.”

And with still two games left before the Frogs face their first Conference USA opponent, junior quarterback Casey Printers said only time will tell how good the offense can be.

“We played a little better Saturday, but I still don't think we’ve reached our full potential,” Printers said. “We like to run and throw, and once our running game gets going, we're going to be a lot of trouble for opposing defenses.”

Kelly Morris
k.l.morris@student.tcu.edu