TCU’s Patterson sees South Dakota State ahead, not big picture

The media poll has TCU second in the Big 12. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit made the Horned Frogs a sleeper College Football Playoff pick.

To the experts, it looks as though it’s either Oklahoma or TCU as the season starts Saturday.

But not to Gary Patterson.

Not now.

“Who are the experts?” he said Tuesday at his weekly press conference, asked if he minded being one of the two favorites for the league title. “Right now I’m trying to beat South Dakota State, to be honest with you. If I don’t beat South Dakota State, I won’t even have to ask who the experts are.”

Patterson resisted taking a look at the Horned Frogs in the big picture, instead remembering an overtime loss against another FCS team, Northwestern State, in the 2001 home opener, his first as head coach, that still fuels him.

“You guys are talking to wrong person when it comes to worrying about anything that happens down the road,” he said.

But TCU will wind up down the road, anyway, likely with a chance for that conference title if it can get off to a strong start.

Saturday’s season opener against South Dakota State is followed by a home game against Arkansas of the SEC, then the Big 12 opener against Iowa State.

After a Friday night game at SMU, October begins for TCU with the game that might wind up as the biggest of the year — Oklahoma at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

By then, Patterson will know if the Frogs belong in the conference title picture. Or more.

“Right now, everybody thinks they can win a conference title, and they should,” he said. “Why play the game if you aren’t going to try to find a way to win the conference title?”

But first things first, and the players have gotten the message.

“Coach has harped on us to not look ahead, and we know that,” receiver Deante’ Gray said. “We take it one game at a time. Right now, our focus is South Dakota State, so we’re not even thinking about the other games we have right now.”

The Frogs are 11-4 in season openers under Patterson and 71-39-9 all-time.

Patterson said he remembers each of his home openers at TCU.

Since that loss to Northwestern State, TCU has won 14 consecutive home openers. This will be only the fifth time TCU starts the season at home under Patterson.

“You try to win a ballgame, and that’s what the goal is,” Patterson said. “The goal is to win a ballgame so you get to Game 2.”

And keep the experts talking.

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 2:23 PM with the headline "TCU’s Patterson sees South Dakota State ahead, not big picture."