Coaches who recruit multiple four and five star players every year are not even in the same league with Patterson. Give them the same levels as TCU recruits and it would be highly doubtful that they could produce similar results. Every year he develops a new crop of young men into over-achieving athletes who give 110% of themselves to make the team successful. This past year was no exception.
It all started when a large number of 2014 defensive starters graduated. Large gaps were created in almost every aspect of the defense. Red shirts and freshmen were pressed into service from the opening bell and they improved with each Saturday clash. Linebackers were lost and new ones found well into the season. A quarterback was converted into the most efficient linebacker on the team. Players were juggled and switched from game to game as new injuries eliminated additional players. By the end of the season 14 freshmen and 13 red shirts had been active on one side of the ball or the other. The defense was an evolving patchwork of ever improving skills by the end of regular season. The offense started intact, but by the conference finale, key players were either injured or greatly impaired.
And yet they won their first nine games and then stumbled for a couple of games before closing out the season with a win over Baylor in a torrential down-pour in Fort Worth. They finished 10-2 with some very close calls and some extraordinary performances by the whole team. Then the bowl teams were selected and they drew the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. With a month to recuperate and recover from countless injuries, Coach P felt that his team would be as strong as it could possibly be. We would not have our All Big12 center or our consensus All-American wide receiver, but the rest of the team looked good.
Then the fickle finger of fate intervened and the cleanest, smartest young man on the team made an incredibly bad decision. The starting quarterback chose to violate team rules two days before the game and then complicated things by getting arrested for felony assault of a police officer. No one expected such behavior from this outstanding young man. Two days before the bowl game and the starting quarterback was suspended from the team.
I sat in my son-in-law's den, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. I had a polo shirt covering my "Fear the Frog" T-shirt as the game begun. I wasn't wearing my lucky cap because I was not at home.
The opening half of the game revealed the depth of TCU's problems. Oregon scored at will for the first two quarters, running up a 31 point advantage and holding the Frogs scoreless. The TCU backup quarterback showed signs of unsureness and indecision, the defense seemed confused and the wide receivers couldn't hold onto passes that appeared catchable. Even when the defense blocked an Oregon punt near their own goal line, the ball fell into an Oregon lineman's hands and he advanced the ball to make a first down for the Ducks. Oregon did everything right and TCU couldn't get a break. Very late in the second quarter, the dynamics of the game changed. Their starting quarterback was knocked out of the game and the playing field became equal, except for one major difference. Our backup quarterback was far superior to theirs. The first half ended dismally with the Ducks leading by 31-0.
My family wished to spare me the agony of watching me witness the destruction of my Horned Frogs, so they slipped away to bed, and faithful frog that I am, I prepared to hope for a miracle. I took off the polo shirt revealing my purple "Fear the Frog" T-shirt and put on my lucky purple hat just for good measure. I sat alone in the den and awaited the second half.
We are not sure what magic dust the coaches poured onto the Frog team at half time, but they came out a transformed group of young men who believed they could still win the game. As an added touch, Coach P had changed his shirt from black to purple also. And then it started happening, the defense stopped the Oregon offense, TCU's quarterback regained his confidence in throwing and running, the offensive line opened up holes for the running backs, the wide receivers started catching their passes and the Frogs started scoring. And they kept on scoring. Three, then 10, then two more touchdowns, a two point conversion and then with under twenty seconds in the game, they kicked a tying field goal.
An unbelievable performance by an inspired team. Of course, they won the game in triple overtime and became the most talked about team in college football.
The TCU back up quarterback's Dad had passed away in November and Coach P said that he had tried to motivate him by urging him to play well for his Dad. Bram Kohlhausen, your Dad couldn't have been more proud of you; 350 yards passing, 2 passing TD's and 2 running TD's. An awesome performance under unbelievable pressure and a fitting ending to an amazing story of a team that wouldn't quit.
Coach P you may have won the "Coach of the Year" last year, but you deserved it for this year even more. A quote from the coach sums it up, "Our roots are that we are a proud program, That first half was not what we are about."
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Woo Hoo TCU!
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