TCU Update

[50's PONY]

Schedule leaves Patterson speechless



By JEFF WILSON
The 2007 schedule has been finalized, and few around the TCU football offices were pleased with what the Mountain West Conference released Wednesday.
The Horned Frogs will play three league games on Thursday nights, including key matchups against Utah and at BYU, as part of a 12-game campaign that begins Sept. 1 against Baylor and ends Nov. 24 at San Diego State.

But the midweek contests, the first of which (at Air Force) comes only five days after playing at Texas, and another 16-day break during the season left coach Gary Patterson almost speechless.

"If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all," he said after TCU finished a two-hour practice.

A mixed signal of sorts has been sent from league offices. One of the conference's ideas behind creating its own regional network was to control programming so that most teams would play Saturdays.

That's true with the '07 schedule, as only six games will be during the week. But TCU will play in half of them.

The Frogs are 22-3 the past two seasons but only 1-2 on Thursdays.

D gets wakeup call

A defense that ranked second nationally last season and returns nine starters was, in the opinion of some, downright offensive during a scrimmage before spring break.

TCU's offense enjoyed more than 4 yards a carry. Gary Patterson didn't enjoy the defense's performance one bit.

The scrimmage, though, was all the proof the defense needed that it wasn't playing up to par.

"They got after us," junior linebacker Jason Phillips said of the offense. "Toward the end of the scrimmage, you could see us moving around better and start realizing that you can't just be good. You've get to get out there and work at it."

O-line going deep

Injuries to Matty Lindner and Heath Raetz might seem costly to some as TCU tries to patch together an effective offensive line for the upcoming season, but their absences are seen by most as a blessing.

The holes up front have been filled by younger players, and those extra snaps should give TCU more offensive line depth than last season.

Gary Patterson said the Frogs could have an eight- to 10-man rotation.

"I think it's good that we get to have some of the younger players to where they have to step in and we're forced to work together," junior center Blake Schlueter said. "Throughout the season, you never know what's going to happen. Players get injured."

Briefly

Jason Phillips is joined by defensive ends Tommy Blake and Chase Ortiz on the watch list for the Lombardi Trophy. Only Southern California has more players on the list (four).

Blake Schlueter set a school record earlier this month by squatting 870 pounds. He said he hasn't seen footage of the lift but remembers it well. "It hurt," he said.

ONLINE: gofrogs.com

[EastStang]

All three games are against "Gang of Five" teams. Welcome to red-haired step-child life in the MWC. And as I said in the other thread. They thought they were going to get all Saturday games when the moved. LMAO.