At Big 12 Media Days 12 months ago, Gary Patterson didn’t know who his starting quarterback would be, wondered which of his linebackers would emerge as key players, and faced questions about a troubled defensive end.

What a difference a year makes.

After a 12-1 season, Peach Bowl blowout and No. 3 final ranking, Patterson’s Horned Frogs enter 2015 as the preseason favorites to win the Big 12 Conference and are widely viewed as College Football Playoff material. His senior signal caller is near the top of a short list of Heisman contenders.

“A year ago, you had to prove people wrong. This year, you have to prove people right,” Patterson said yesterday during the first moments of his opening statement to about 400 media members at the league’s preseason gathering in Dallas. “As a football team, that’s really — from my approach on down — how we’ve tried to handle it. It’s been a great summer.”

Even the weather has been pleasant. Maybe too pleasant.

“To be honest with you, it hasn’t been as hot in Texas. So we’ve had to turn off the air conditioner in the indoor [practice facility] to create the humidity to make sure that we play like TCU teams are supposed to play,” he confessed.

Temperature aside, an upbeat Patterson said he liked the attitude his team has taken in the offseason and the “very business-like manner” in which it has conducted itself, especially in light of the lofty expectations around Fort Worth and the nation.

“It’s a nice feeling, but the bottom line is I’ve been in this business too long to get caught up in it,” Patterson said. “I’ve got to replace six starters on defense. We came a long way in the spring. But the thing I found is, just for me, if I stay even keel with how we need to do things, then my team will because it just kind of all reverberates down.”

TCU and Gary Patterson grabbed most of the headlines on Day 1 of Big 12 Media Days in Dallas. (Photo by Michael Clement)

The coach also likes the mindset of his quarterback Trevone Boykin, who set records in 2014 in the first year of the air raid offense and spent the summer bonding with teammates in Fort Worth, rather than enjoying his newfound stardom elsewhere.

“He’s had a couple of the NFL guys, quarterbacks, the gurus that wanted him to come work out with them this summer, and he told them all no,” Patterson shared. “I think his biggest thing was staying with the offensive group this summer, making sure they were doing seven-on-seven [drills], winning ball games. He knows all that.

“We have a lot of older guys on offense. So the leadership aspect is not just [Boykin]. It’s been Joey Hunt who’s here today, Josh Doctson. You have many that have played in a lot of football games.”

The biggest challenge may be fighting the urge to outdo 2014’s record numbers, Patterson said.

“I think going into Year 2, having not been known for offense, it’s just handling success,” he said. “I think our frustration is understanding that winning is the most important thing and all the rest will come. They don’t have to score more points, have more yards. … We play on the road six tough road games. If you’re going to win those ball games, it’s going to be hard to win by a couple of margins that we did last year.”

TCU was the nation’s most-improved team last season in both total offense (+188.2 ypg) and scoring offense (+21.4 ppg), ranking in the top-five nationally in both categories. The Horned Frogs also set single-season school records for points (604), first downs (331), plays (1,038), passing yards (4,240) and total offense (6,929).

The Frogs will face a tougher road in 2015. After 10 games in the state of Texas a year ago, TCU has six true road tips, including tricky visits to Lubbock, Ames and Manhattan in September and October and showdowns in Norman and Stillwater in November.

A defense that replaces six starters will be tested at linebacker, following the graduation of Marcus Mallett and Paul Dawson, and in the secondary, which lost Sam Carter, Kevin White and Chris Hackett. Patterson said some new faces patrolling the middle of his 4-2-5 may surprise with additional speed.

“Linebacker-wise, we had two guys, both Mike Freeze and Alec Dunham, that came in the spring. Ty Summers redshirted,” he said. “To be honest, it’s back to the numbers we had. Our starting linebackers last year ran 5 flat, 4.8. It was the slowest group we’ve ever had at TCU. The five top linebackers this year average a 4.5-something when we ran at the end of spring. Defensively, not just linebacker-wise, we have a chance to be more athletic than we were a year ago.”

TCU led the Big 12 last season in scoring defense (19.0 points per game), total defense (341.8 yards per game) and pass efficiency defense (106.6 rating). The Horned Frogs were also second in the conference in rushing defense (108.8 yards per game).