Watching rankings not recommended for TCU by Patterson

TCU got what could be considered a “style-points” win last week with its 50-7 victory against Texas.

But coach Gary Patterson cautioned against tracking poll positions. He doesn’t do it, and he said if the players do it, they may be in for something they don’t expect.

“If they’re worried about that, then Sunday they’ll be disappointed,” Patterson said. “Because if you don’t win by ‘X’ amount or you don’t do this, don’t do that, you’re going to drop anyway.”

TCU opened the season at No. 2 in both polls but dropped spots after narrow wins against Minnesota, SMU and Texas Tech. The Frogs were heavily favored in each game, but the SMU game was a one-possession contest into the fourth quarter, and the Minnesota and Tech victories were not complete until the final play.

“What we can control is trying to beat K-State,” Patterson said.

Patterson said one game isn’t enough to judge.

“We gave up 61 points to Baylor, but that didn’t make us a bad defense last year,” he said. “Every week in this league, you just need to find a way to hold them to one less and score one more. If we can do that, then everybody stays pretty happy. If you don’t do that, no matter how you played, if you got beat 3-0, it doesn’t matter. There’s somebody upset.”

Bye ahead

The Horned Frogs are in the midst of a stretch of seven games in seven weeks. They get a bye week following the two road games at Kansas State and Iowa State, which wraps up a stretch of three road games in four weeks.

“That’s why I felt like it was the most important stretch of our season,” Patterson said. “If you can somehow win the next two ballgames, then you’re 7-0 and you’re going into a break and you can get some people healthy, get some people back.”

TCU will have an 11-day break before the West Virginia game at home on Oct. 29, a Thursday night. Then there is an eight-day break before the game at Oklahoma State.

Patterson called the extra rest a “big deal.”

“Guys’ mindsets are a little bit different — you can get in the weight room, put your bodies back together a little bit. That’s a big deal,” he said.

Short practice

The Horned Frogs shortened practice Sunday again in hopes of keeping their legs fresh. Last week they did not practice on Sunday, sticking to film study and jogging.

Patterson was pleased with the result against Texas, and he said the indoor practice facility is also a factor.

“It has really made a big difference in helping us with all that, compared to our early years,” Patterson said. “I think it’s a big deal. And one of the things about playing at 11, being done by 2:30, is we’ll basically gain another full day by playing at 6:30 on Saturday night. So you’re gaining eight to 12 hours of rest.”

Stat watch

Trevone Boykin shares the national lead for touchdown passes, 19, with Baylor’s Seth Russell.

Josh Doctson is second in the nation in touchdown catches with eight. He trails Baylor’s Corey Coleman, who has 11.

TCU ranks fifth in the nation in third-down conversion percentage, 52.7.

This story was originally published October 6, 2015 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Watching rankings not recommended for TCU by Patterson."