Share
Oklahoma Sooners put it on the line against Nebraska defense
Tebow’s four-score day puts him back atop pack
Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
As a walk-on freshman in 2006, Bart Johnson, along with his scout team teammates, took as much joy out of TCU’s 12-3 stomping of Texas Tech early in the season as any of the starters who played in the game.
Johnson and fellow wide receiver Curtis Clay took great pride in showing the Horned Frogs’ defense the myriad routes the Red Raiders’ wide-open offense was going to show in the game. It paid off as the Frogs held Texas Tech, which averaged 32.5 points a game in ’06, to a season-low 3 points.Both receivers went on to earn scholarships and are integral to the current TCU offense. But they first became valuable Frogs as unsung scout team personnel."We had a good time on the scout team our freshman year, me and Curtis," Johnson said. "Going against the No. 1 guys, and at that time we had a really good defense, so we were making them better each day."The 2009 TCU defense isn’t too shabby, either. The Frogs rank No. 1 in the nation, allowing opponents 235.8 yards a game. The Frogs are third in the nation in points allowed per game with 11.1. Of the approximate 40 players on this year’s scout teams, most are walk-ons, dedicated to improving and maybe one day following in the footsteps of players such as Johnson and Clay. About 15 players on the scout teams are scholarship recruits being redshirted and groomed for future spots on the field.The readiness and preparation for the starters this season has been enhanced by superb scout teams, coach Gary Patterson said. Graduate assistants Trey Haverty and Adam Lechtenberg have thankless jobs, said Patterson, who showed his appreciation by taking the GA staff to The Squire Shop and buying them shirts and ties."It’s a 24-hour job," Patterson said. "They don’t get paid enough or thanked enough."Patterson attributes much of the defense’s success to the scout team offense coached by Haverty, who is in his third season at TCU after an All-America career as wide receiver at Texas Tech. Lechtenberg, who coaches the scout-team defense for the offense, graduated from Nebraska in 2002. "The faster you can get [the scout teams] to go the better off you are," Patterson said. "I’ve had great defenses that had a lousy scout team and we deteriorated as the season went on. This year every week we’ve gotten better and a lot of it is because of the look we’ve got."Longtime starters such as cornerback Rafael Priest certainly detect a difference in the quality of the practices."I think this is one of the best scout teams I’ve been around since I’ve been here," said Priest, a four-year starter. "The players over there want to get better while they’re practicing against us. They’re not on the two-deep [roster] right now so they’re trying to work on their game and give us a good look at the same time, so everything is going full speed. The guys on the scout teams this year are not just going through the motions. They’re giving us great looks."
@Nyx.CommentBody@