TCU Coach Impressed with Tigers

Gary Patterson has led TCU to at least 10 wins five times in the last seven years. (Photos: Icon SMI)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Sep 23 18:33:10 GMT-04:00 2009

CLEMSON -- Texas Christian University head coach Gary Patterson said on Tuesday that he is a big fan of Clemson football, but knows that for three hours on Saturday he will have 80,000 orange-clad fans calling for his head. And he has no problem with that.

Patterson’s 15th-ranked Horned Frogs travel to Death Valley for a 3:30 p.m. game against the Tigers, and Patterson said he has always had respect for the Clemson program and is looking forward to Saturday’s game-day atmosphere.

“They have a home field advantage because of how they play at home,” Patterson said. “I like Clemson and the stadium, and their fans are going to hate you for three hours during the game. They love the game and are radical about it. I like their fans and the way they get after it and they like their Tigers.”

Patterson said he was glad to be 2-0 heading into this weekend, but also knows his team needs to make improvements before kickoff on Saturday, and cited the defense as one of those areas.

“We are glad to be 2-0,” he said. “We made a lot of mistakes, especially on defense. But after all is said and done, we are happy with the way we won the ball game. But we gave up too many points.”

The Mountain West Conference looks to be a BCS buster every year, with Utah advancing to the Sugar Bowl last season, but the Utes and BYU both have losses already this season, leaving Texas Christian as perhaps the lone hope for a conference seeking national prominence.

Patterson said that the BCS is not his concern this week as he prepares for Clemson.

“I have never been one of those guys that have talked about the BCS,” Patterson said. “I am not thinking about the BCS anyway, I am thinking about one win at a time. This week we have a team this as talented as any we have played since Oklahoma last year that we have to play this Saturday.”

Patterson said that after watching Clemson on film, he is impressed by how athletic the Tigers are as a team.

“They are very athletic in all three phases of the game,” Patterson said. “On defense, they have five to seven future NFL players starting. They also have explosiveness on offense with [C.J.] Spiller and [Jacoby] Ford. Their tight ends catch the ball well and make something happen every week. We understand it is quite a challenge for us, especially with them playing at home. They are as athletic as any team we’ve seen since we played Oklahoma a year ago.”

With both defenses figuring to be their usual tough selves during the contest, Patterson said the game could down to the same things that play out in every other football game, namely controlling the running game and special teams.

“There have to be no big plays and you have to stop the run,” Patterson said. “Whoever controls the ball and doesn’t turn it over and gets the short field because of special teams will have the advantage. With [junior wide receiver and returner] Jeremy Kerley, we have a guy that makes things happen on returns. We also cannot allow special teams to give the advantage to them.”

Gary Patterson Record at TCU

Yr Over Conf Bowl Game

2000 0-1* 0–0 L Mobile Alabama Bowl

2001 6–6 4–3 L Galleryfurniture.com Bowl

2002 10–2 6–2 W Liberty Bowl

2003 11–2 7–1 L Fort Worth Bowl

2004 5–6 3–5 — —

2005 11–1 8–0 W Houston Bowl

2006 11–2 6–2 W Poinsettia Bowl

2007 8–5 4–4 W Texas Bowl

2008 11–2 7–1 W Poinsettia Bowl