Coach Gary Patterson wouldn’t take the bait.

Three days after a 50-7 beatdown of the Texas Longhorns, did the TCU defense looked as good on film as it had in person? Had the injured-ravaged unit turned a corner? Did the team’s young linebackers and secondary just have a breakout game?

Local beat writers had a good story working. The nation’s No. 2 team had a compelling, new narrative to tell.

Not according to Patterson.

“Oh, we still missed too many tackles. We’ve still got to tackle better,” he told a sparse gathering of media at his weekly press conference Tuesday, that lasted only 17 minutes. “We played faster, but we’ve got to tackle,” he said.

Texas rushed for 191 yards on 51 attempts for a 3.7 yards per carry average. “We can live with that,” Patterson said. “For us, it’s really about the missed tackles. A lot of that is youth, doing it better.”

Despite a career-high 13 stops and a sack by true freshman linebacker Montrel Wilson and another 12 tackles from sophomore linebacker Travin Howard, the coach was more interested in counting the ones the team didn’t make.

“I don’t know that we’ve ever had 22 missed tackles in a ballgame in my lifetime here,” he lamented.

But did the players feel better about themselves?

“Sure. They won. But I told them about the 22 missed tackles,” Patterson said. “They have to grow. There’s a standard for what we play like. We’re on to the next week.”

That means a tricky trip to Manhattan, Kan., to face the Kansas State Wildcats, 3-1 on the season despite their own plague of injuries. K State will start Joe Hubener, who left last week’s game against Oklahoma State with a dinged-up shoulder.

With an experienced offensive line and hard-nosed style, the Wildcats will charge ahead with a mix of option, read-option and power running game, forcing defenders to make plays in the open field, Patterson said.

“They are good at what they do on both sides of the ball. Very methodical. You know that they are going to be physical,” he said.

Saturday’s game, and next week’s contest in Ames against the Iowa State Cyclones, are the last in a critical four-game portion of the schedule, featuring three Big 12 Conference road games. “If you can win these next two, you’re 7-0 before the bye,” he said. “It’s the most important stretch of our season.”

The Frogs may get another contributor back for Kansas State this Saturday in Terrell Lathan. If the senior defensive end plays, he would rejoin stalwarts Mike Tuaua and Davion Pierson, who have returned in the last two weeks, providing “calm” to a unit that is still improving, the coach said.

Patterson also singled out senior cornerback Corry O’Meally and redshirt freshman safety Ridwan “Ray” Issahaku as regulars who also will get better the more they are on the field. On Saturday against Texas, both tried to do too much and “need to stick to their jobs,” he said.

Patterson said he is trusting sophomore cornerback/safety Nick Orr more each week.

While the offense has carried the team through five games, the defense must improve if the Frogs are to remain undefeated, he said.

“Every week, in this league, you need to find a way to hold them to one less, score one more point,” Patterson said.