TCU sack leader from two years ago ‘definitely back’

It’s probably safe to say James McFarland did not expect to be chatting with reporters last week at a TCU news conference.

Not because he doesn’t meet the requirements. He is, after all, a senior and a starter and a good player.

Rather, he thought he’d be gone by now.

“Most of my happy memories are experiences with guys who I loved, the people who are not here, the senior class that I came in with,” he said. “That was supposed to be my last year.”

Instead, he gets one more, thanks to a medical redshirt after a broken toe almost exactly a year ago made him miss last season. He gets a chance for new memories with the 2016 team, ready to resume his role at right defensive end, where he led the team in sacks two years ago.

“McFarland looks better than I’ve ever seen him,” coach Gary Patterson said.

That could mean good news for the Horned Frogs, who hope McFarland can team with left end Josh Carraway to put them back in the 40-sack range the defense produced in 2014. (Last season, the Frogs had 32).

“I’m a lot more humble now, a lot more hungry,” McFarland said. “I’m looking forward to getting back out there. I feel like my body is definitely back to where it was before all the injuries. I feel healthy. I’m focused.”

Oh yeah. The broken toe wasn’t all. McFarland played the last part of 2014 with a leg injury. Despite that, he earned Peach Bowl defensive MVP honors with a sack and an interception in the end zone against Ole Miss.

He was primed for 2015.

Then he stepped on the sprinkler head. Or something.

“Everyone thinks I was just jogging,” he said with a smile and a shake of his head, like he still can’t believe it. “Naw, it was the last week of two-a-days. It was a Monday. I was going against Aviante Collins. I was trying to make an inside move, so I planted on my outside foot, and I landed on a knot — I think it was a sprinkler head. I never went back out there to go check and see.”

He said adrenalin kept him going the rest of the practice, but by the end, he could hardly walk down the steps to the locker room.

“We went in and X-rayed it, and yeah,” he said.

He wanted to play anyway. He tried a metal plate in his shoe. It was uncomfortable, and his toe hurt. “I wasn’t the same,” he said.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be a big season-ending injury,” he said. “I was expecting it was going to bother me two weeks maybe, something like that. I found out real quick that you need your big toe. It’s kind of important.”

Carraway is glad McFarland hung around. Two years ago, they combined for nine sacks and 74 tackles. Now the 2015 sacks leader is teamed with the 2014 sacks leader.

“I think it was really hard, but he was a great leader in the locker room,” Carraway said of McFarland’s year on the sideline. “He always brought energy. I just think that kind of motivated him to come back even stronger. I know it had to be tough. But I think he did a really good job of it.”

McFarland said it helped that he roomed with receiver Deante’ Gray, also sitting out the year with an injury. They could watch the games together and remind themselves of the next season, he said.

Which is now here.

“It’s ironic, because when I was sitting out, it seemed so long,” McFarland said. “Everything was just a drag. And now that I got back into practicing and working out, everything’s gone so quickly. And now we’re starting at two-a-days again, and we’re right back where we started. Hopefully things go a little bit better than they did last year.”

He’s off on the right foot.

This story was originally published August 10, 2016 at 7:45 PM with the headline "TCU sack leader from two years ago ‘definitely back’."