Frog QB on Last Year's Loss To SMU
Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:51 pm--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Tue, Aug. 01, 2006
Wake-up call still fresh for Frogs
By JEFF WILSON
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
SMU isn't on TCU's schedule this season, and many in Fort Worth wish the Mustangs hadn't been on the 2005 schedule, either.
A 21-10 loss in Dallas last September was the only blemish on the Horned Frogs' 11-1 record. But TCU players and coaches believe that slip enabled the Frogs to roll to their best season in almost 70 years.
The Frogs, who had upset Oklahoma the previous weekend, learned the following Saturday in Dallas that there's no such thing as an automatic win.
As worn out as the cliché "one game at a time" has become, that's the approach that sustains TCU and the one the Frogs will take with them as they defend their Mountain West Conference title this season.
"If we don't lose to SMU, I think we lose to Utah or BYU," coach Gary Patterson said. "The kids realized if you don't come to play every week, you're going to have a hard time winning."
TCU won its last 10 games, including a 27-24 victory over Iowa State in the EV1.net Houston Bowl, and finished No. 9 in the final USA Today Top 25 poll.
The 2005 success is one reason high expectations have been lumped on the Frogs this preseason, from winning the MWC to cracking the BCS under its mid-major-friendly revisions.
The Frogs have lofty goals, too, so an SMU-like slip could dash some of the team's ambitions.
Beat Baylor, and the Frogs better not lose to UC Davis. Sweep BYU and Utah to open conference play, and TCU better not lose at Army or to Wyoming.
"If you look at Wyoming as a weaker opponent, they're going to jump up and beat you," senior quarterback Jeff Ballard said. "That's what happened with SMU last year. We looked down upon them, and they beat us."
The Mustangs forced four turnovers and held their Metroplex rivals to 253 yards of offense a week after the Frogs had forced four turnovers and held No. 5 Oklahoma to 225 yards in a 17-10 win in Norman.
Even though Ballard watched the SMU fiasco from the sidelines, he didn't miss the moral of the story.
"Beating Oklahoma, one of the best teams in the nation at the time, and then turning around and losing to one of the worst teams in the nation, it humbled us, for sure," Ballard said. "It proved to us that we can't take anyone lightly."
And the Frogs, the preseason favorites to repeat as MWC champs, vow they won't overlook anyone this year.
"To be honest, everyone in our league is pretty good," junior defensive end Tommy Blake said. "We can't just pick one team out and say, 'Hey, that team's going to be the best team we're going to play.'
"Every team that's at the top can get knocked off at any time. We have to make sure we handle our business."
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Jeff Wilson, 817-390-7953 [email protected]
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© 2006 Star-Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.dfw.com
Posted on Tue, Aug. 01, 2006
Wake-up call still fresh for Frogs
By JEFF WILSON
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
SMU isn't on TCU's schedule this season, and many in Fort Worth wish the Mustangs hadn't been on the 2005 schedule, either.
A 21-10 loss in Dallas last September was the only blemish on the Horned Frogs' 11-1 record. But TCU players and coaches believe that slip enabled the Frogs to roll to their best season in almost 70 years.
The Frogs, who had upset Oklahoma the previous weekend, learned the following Saturday in Dallas that there's no such thing as an automatic win.
As worn out as the cliché "one game at a time" has become, that's the approach that sustains TCU and the one the Frogs will take with them as they defend their Mountain West Conference title this season.
"If we don't lose to SMU, I think we lose to Utah or BYU," coach Gary Patterson said. "The kids realized if you don't come to play every week, you're going to have a hard time winning."
TCU won its last 10 games, including a 27-24 victory over Iowa State in the EV1.net Houston Bowl, and finished No. 9 in the final USA Today Top 25 poll.
The 2005 success is one reason high expectations have been lumped on the Frogs this preseason, from winning the MWC to cracking the BCS under its mid-major-friendly revisions.
The Frogs have lofty goals, too, so an SMU-like slip could dash some of the team's ambitions.
Beat Baylor, and the Frogs better not lose to UC Davis. Sweep BYU and Utah to open conference play, and TCU better not lose at Army or to Wyoming.
"If you look at Wyoming as a weaker opponent, they're going to jump up and beat you," senior quarterback Jeff Ballard said. "That's what happened with SMU last year. We looked down upon them, and they beat us."
The Mustangs forced four turnovers and held their Metroplex rivals to 253 yards of offense a week after the Frogs had forced four turnovers and held No. 5 Oklahoma to 225 yards in a 17-10 win in Norman.
Even though Ballard watched the SMU fiasco from the sidelines, he didn't miss the moral of the story.
"Beating Oklahoma, one of the best teams in the nation at the time, and then turning around and losing to one of the worst teams in the nation, it humbled us, for sure," Ballard said. "It proved to us that we can't take anyone lightly."
And the Frogs, the preseason favorites to repeat as MWC champs, vow they won't overlook anyone this year.
"To be honest, everyone in our league is pretty good," junior defensive end Tommy Blake said. "We can't just pick one team out and say, 'Hey, that team's going to be the best team we're going to play.'
"Every team that's at the top can get knocked off at any time. We have to make sure we handle our business."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Wilson, 817-390-7953 [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2006 Star-Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.dfw.com
