By Gil LeBreton
glebreton@star-telegram.com
The field goal was good.
The Oklahoma tackle should have been ejected for twice punching Stansly Maponga.
The holding call -- the first of the game -- that wiped out TCU's potential tying touchdown with 38 seconds left seemed awfully convenient (wink, wink) for the Big 12's BCS plans.
And that wasn't pass interference on the Horned Frogs' last play.
But enough about that.
The bottom line to Saturday's Big 12 throwback game -- 15 punts, sure-handed tackling, a mere five combined offensive touchdowns -- was that the Oklahoma Sooners protected their likely stake in the Sugar Bowl by staving off a TCU team that refused one more time to accept the cynical presumption that it didn't belong.
Oh, the Frogs belong, all right.
If nothing else was proved during this final month of TCU's regular season -- a daunting initiation gauntlet of West Virginia, Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma -- it was that the Frogs are not out of their league.
"I read where somebody said that in this game we could change the perceptions," TCU coach Gary Patterson said after Saturday's 24-17 loss. "But I think it's already changed."
Patterson ran down an abridged list of Things The Horned Frogs Overcame.
Losing their No. 1 quarterback. Seeing their best running back suffer a season-ending injury. Falling in triple overtime to Texas Tech.
Having to play 35 first-year players, etc., etc.
"I think we've done what we needed to do," Patterson assessed.
And he's right. Patterson wasn't grasping for moral victories or silver linings. He was just trying to put a neat bow around what could have been a monumentally messy inaugural trek through the Big 12.
In so many ways, the home finale symbolized the Frogs' scrambling season.
Even after surrendering a quick touchdown just before halftime, and even after watching Oklahoma's Damien Williams score right after intermission on a 66-yard run, the TCU defense kept the Frogs in the game.
"We had a chance to win the ballgame," Patterson said. "That pretty much sums it up.
"We gave up an easy touchdown. A couple of freshmen blew an assignment.
"We need to find a way to score."
After allowing 34, 49 and 48 points in successive weeks, the OU defense rediscovered itself. The option plays and cut-back runs that worked so well for TCU against Texas last week were often snuffed and smothered by the disciplined Sooners.
Two OU players, Williams (115 yards rushing) and receiver Jalen Saunders (seven catches, 108 yards), seemed to hurt the Frogs' defense more than the others.
There is no shortage of offensive firepower with Oklahoma.
The Frogs' arsenal, meanwhile, was thinned early in the season with the loss of Casey Pachall and Waymon James, and TCU never fully recovered.
"We've got to keep growing up," Patterson said.
The loss dropped the Frogs' record to 7-5 -- as many defeats as Patterson's team has suffered in the four previous seasons combined.
"I'm not upset with them," he said. "This has been a long season. It's been like a 13-0 season with what these kids have gone through. And a lot of it hasn't been their fault."
The controversial plays Saturday all seemed to play a role, big and small, in the eventual outcome. Referee Rick Loumiet and his crew had a shaky afternoon.
But officiating didn't beat the Frogs on Saturday. A talented Oklahoma team that's BCS bowl-bound did.
When you play an Oklahoma, as Patterson put it, "You've got to come out with both guns blazing."
There were lessons learned in this first Big 12 season, he said.
"They've learned some valuable lessons in some tough situations," Patterson said, "and how to play these kinds of games."
The 7-5 record isn't what they've been accustomed to, but Patterson knows it came with hopeful footnotes.
TCU's 35 redshirt and true freshmen should be around for three more football seasons, he reminded.
The Big 12 introductions are over. Now comes the growing and maturing.
I think they can handle it.
Gil LeBreton, 817-390-7697Twitter: @gilebreton
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