Gary Patterson warned media members to tap the brakes on any world-beating predictions during his Tuesday press conference. “I wish I could be more positive,” he said.

The straight-talking coach admitted to voting several teams ahead of TCU in the Amway Coaches Poll. Despite his downgraded confidence, the Horned Frogs will take a No. 3 national ranking into Saturday’s home opener against Stephen F. Austin.

A rash of injuries is already taking a toll on the young season. Starting linebacker Sammy Douglas left early in last week’s Minnesota game with an undisclosed injury and will not return for the rest of the year. Senior defensive end James McFarland also is unlikely to see any 2015 action, though Patterson held a slim hope he might return. Receiver Deanté Gray and defensive tackle Davion Pierson will both miss a second consecutive game on Saturday.

Seven Frog defenders made first-time starts at Minnesota, and Patterson said the cumulative inexperience yielded mixed results. “As a defense we played hard. We didn’t play real smart at some times.”

A steep learning curve accounted for the squad’s inability to implement the full defensive playbook, he said. In other areas, insufficient effort was the cause of Patterson’s pessimism: “We didn’t play very well on special teams, and that’s usually an indication of what kind of football team you have.”

“If we can change our mindset, then we’ll have a chance to add more purple to the pyramid,” he said. “If we don’t change our mindset, then we won’t.”
Gary Patterson

Despite TCU’s offense gaining 449 total yards in Minneapolis, the Frogs needed receiver Josh Doctson’s sure hands to grab the Golden Gophers’ fourth quarter onside kick to secure a 23-17 victory. “We have the potential to play a lot better football than what we played last Thursday,” Patterson said.

The coach, now in his 15th season leading the Frogs, did praise several student-athletes. He said sophomore receiver Desmon White made some “unbelievable catches” in tallying 61 yards. True freshman KaVontae Turpin impressed and will add kickoff returns to his punt team duties, and new long snapper Matt Boggs made a promising debut.

Patterson said he expects seniors Josh Doctson, Kolby Listenbee and Aaron Green to recover their offensive play-making swagger as the season unfolds. Receiver Doctson missed three of the four weeks of preseason camp but caught a touchdown at Minnesota. With one more scoring grab, he will move into second-place all-time in the TCU record books.

“It’s a distraction,” Doctson said about individual achievements. “Everybody’s goal is to be better than we were a year ago, and everything else will work itself out.”

Patterson mentioned stellar performances and senior leadership from Trevone Boykin and Derrick “Peanut” Kindred but said he was displeased with the overall team attitude coming off of a 12-1 season.

Without mentioning specific people, the coach said he did not appreciate the team’s “buy-in” or practice-field effort. Without directly saying so, Patterson suggested that 2015’s big dreams could end up in disappointment if the guys don’t get down to business. “If we can change our mindset, then we’ll have a chance to add more purple to the pyramid,” he said. “If we don’t change our mindset, then we won’t.”

TCU carries a nine-game win streak, good for third into the nation, as well as a string of 13 consecutive home-opening victories into the contest with the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin. Despite SFA’s membership in the Football Championship Subdivision, Patterson said the matchup would not be a cakewalk.

FCS teams revel in playing spoiler. Patterson’s 2001 Frogs lost to Northwestern State, and Kansas and Washington State both fell to FCS teams on opening weekend.

While the game, like all on the schedule, will present a challenge, the pre-Big 12 slate offers the Frogs two more weeks to work out any kinks before opening conference play at Texas Tech.

Mike Freeze was the first true freshman to start at linebacker in the Patterson era. Ty Summers spelled the injured Sammy Douglas, and true freshman Montrel Wilson and former safety Travin Howard are now in the mix.

“We’ll be a work in progress defensively all year,” the coach said.

“Everybody’s goal is to be better than we were a year ago, and everything else will work itself out.”
Josh Doctson

The subdued talk did not sound as if it originated from the leader of the nation’s No. 3 team, and Patterson seems to have discarded any rose-tinged glasses just one game into the season. Being picked first in the Big 12 preseason poll does not an eventual champion make.

“We may win a lot of football games, but it’s not going to be as easy as it was last year,” he said.

In spite of the critical analysis of the season opener, Patterson did credit his friend Jerry Kill’s Golden Gophers: “That’s a lot better Minnesota team than we played a year ago.”

The coaching staff will have ample opportunity to judge the team’s progress, attitude and effort on Saturday against SFA, then again the following week versus a much-improved SMU team. The season is still young, and problems in mindset and execution can be rectified before they sabotage future contests.

“Did you learn from it?” he said he’d ask his team about week one mistakes. “That’s the key that we’re going to find out.”