For TCU alums, the most faithful of Frogs, the moment of glory has finally arrived

Ellen Saunders is proof that giddy knows no age limit.

Just ask her about her beloved TCU Horned Frogs football team, which happens to be playing Georgia for a national championship Monday night at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The very thought of her alma mater hoisting the trophy around has the 93-year-old making plans to stay up late — and hopefully be doing some celebrating.

“I have my house shoes that are purple, my nightgown is purple, I’m just waiting for the day,” said Saunders, a 1949 graduate who lives at The Stayton senior living facility.

“I’m so enthusiastic, I’ve got everyone here excited about them,” Saunders said.

Like so many other Horned Frogs fans, Saunders has dreamed of this moment. She only wishes her husband John, who died four years ago, was able to share it with her. They met at TCU, as did her daughter Pat and husband Harold, as well as her granddaughter and her husband.

“Purple blood flows through our veins,” Saunders said. “This is absolutely wonderful, but it also does break my heart a little. John would have loved to have seen this.”

During her four years at TCU, the Horned Frogs posted a record of 16 wins, 20 losses and five ties. That is actually one of the better spans the team had as the program languished before re-establishing itself as one of the nation’s elite programs in the past quarter century.

Saunders’ excitement is shared by a lot of people, folks who endured one- or two-win seasons, and even the 0-11 season in 1976. Before Dennis Franchionne and Gary Patterson came along — and now Sonny Dykes — there were students who didn’t see 13 wins — perhaps 14, come Monday — in their entire four years at TCU, much less in a single campaign.

“A lot of people never saw this opportunity in their lifetime,” said Kevin Haney, who played quarterback, defensive back and fullback from 1978 to 1981 at TCU. His teams were a combined 7-34-3.

“Hopefully, we’ll never go back to those times,” Haney said. “I don’t think we will.

“This actually should have happened in 2014. We’re about eight years behind on having this chance, but now we should all embrace it, enjoy it and realize it’s a special time.”

Haney recalled a point in the 1980s when the program appeared to be turning a corner under coach Jim Wacker. The Horned Frogs were coming off an 8-4 season in 1984 and started 3-0 in 1985. Then, Wacker suspended All-American running back Kenneth Davis and five other players for receiving cash from an illegal boosters fund.

The Horned Frogs lost their final eight games that season and had only one winning campaign in the next nine years.

“He exposed what he knew. He did what he thought was right and he wasn’t going to allow that on his watch,” Haney said. “It was a serious blow to the program and took us a while to get past. But we were starting to build something.”

‘A lot of great memories’

Tom Garrity, a 1986 graduate, remembers those early Wacker years well. The Horned Frogs were 15-28-2 during his tenure, with more than half of those wins (8) coming in 1984.

“I still have my Wacker Backer bumper sticker, a lot of great memories,” he said. “I believe the gnashing of teeth and 40 years in the wilderness escapes the current fan.”

Garrity referenced a quote by TCU legendary coach Dutch Meyer, who led the Horned Frogs to their only two national championships to date in 1935 and 1938, the first with Sammy Baugh at quarterback and the second with Davey O’Brien calling signals. Meyer’s famous quote was, “We’ll fight ‘em until Hell freezes over, then we’ll fight ‘em on the ice.”

Garrity said this season’s Horned Frogs epitomize that statement.

“Look at (quarterback Max) Duggan against Kansas State. He was just not going to give up,” he said.

A flicker with Sullivan

A couple of winning seasons (7-5, 6-5) came about under coach Pat Sullivan in the mid-1990s. He eventually left in disgrace, however, with a 1-10 record in his final season in 1997.

Rob Wright graduated from TCU in 1999 and grew up watching the Horned Frogs. He recalled when winning five or six games was considered a great season. The team was 20-26 during his time at the school, with 15 of those wins coming in Wright’s final two years after Franchionne came onboard.

“If we could actually beat one of the big three — Arkansas, Texas or Texas A&M — that would be an amazing season, no matter how bad our record was,” Wright said.

As for this season, Wright said, “I keep pinching myself to see if this is all real. If I’m asleep, don’t wake me up because this is the dream of all dreams.”

What might have been

The only other time TCU won 13 games in a season was in 2010-11, concluding with a 21-19 Rose Bowl victory against Wisconsin. Tank Carder preserved that win for the Horned Frogs with a deflection of a pass on what would have been the game-tying two-point conversion with two minutes remaining.

Carder sees similarities between his 13-0 squad and this season’s team.

“I think a lot of it comes down to the camaraderie and culture. When we’d go into a game, it was with a calm confidence,” Carder said. “The raw confidence we all had, this team is just like that.”

Like many, Carder believes his team could have won a national title if given a chance to play for one. Instead, they were bypassed by what was then the BCS (Bowl Championship Series), which matched the top two teams. Despite Auburn, Oregon and TCU all ending the regular season undefeated, the Horned Frogs were the odd team left out.

“If we ever got our shot, we knew what we could do — but there’s no denying us now,” he said.

Carder’s seasons as a Horned Frog (2008-11), in which the team posted a 47-5 record, is the best four-year run in program history.

This one’s for the longtime faithful

“I have definitely doubted that we would ever reach this point, but never totally counted us out,” said Mary Mac Elliott, who received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from TCU in the 1970s. During that time, the Horned Frogs were a combined 18-58-1.

“I am proud of the path TCU has taken to reach this milestone,” she said. “The huge commitment TCU has made to the athletic program by changing conferences as needed, by upgrading the facilities to be some of the best in the country, by following the rules and by reaching out for support from the Fort Worth community has paid off many times over.”

Elliott has been a TCU fan since age 5, when her family moved to Fort Worth from Kentucky so her father, Gentry Shelton, could teach at TCU.

“I fell asleep in dad’s lap during my first football game. He stood up for an exciting play, dropping me to the stadium floor,” she remembered with a chuckle.

“As a professor, dad was a liaison between the faculty and the athletic department. As a result, our family got to travel with the team for games, in those days by bus or train.”

Elliott said life was sometimes not easy growing up a Horned Frogs fan.

“I was often an easy target for mean comments about TCU when I was in middle and high school, so I had to grow thick skin,” she said. “So, yes, this game is for our coaches, players and fans from days long gone by, as well as for those of us relishing the excitement of playing for a national championship.”

Impatiently waiting

Though Saunders still goes to almost every regular-season home game, she did not make the trip to Arizona for the win over Michigan, and she won’t be in Los Angeles on Monday night. She will, however, be watching with excitement from the comfort of her home at The Stayton and staying in contact with her daughter, Pat Muckelroy, a 1974 graduate who will be at the game with her husband, Harold, a former safety for the Frogs from 1971-74.

They saw the Frogs go 15-28-1 in those four seasons.

“All of those years getting killed by the University of Texas, them and Arkansas were two we could never get,” Muckelroy said. “But we’ve always gone to every game and stayed until the bitter end — but they’re not so bitter anymore”

Their son, Zach, walked on for one season and played for Franchionne in his first season in 1998. The Frogs went from 1-10 a year before to 7-5 and a Sun Bowl victory. Ever since, the program has steadily risen to now be one of America’s best — and perhaps after Monday, the undisputed best.

“It was so exciting when Zach played that season, that was the start of the turnaround, and it’s continued to be special ever since,” Muckelroy said.

Meanwhile, her mom waits, albeit not so patiently, hoping and praying that the dream of a lifetime for her and many others comes true Monday night.

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so excited about something,” Saunders said. “But whatever happens I am so proud of these young men. But oh my, wouldn’t it be so wonderful if they could win a national championship for all of us who have been so loyal for so long?”

This story was originally published January 8, 2023 at 6:00 AM.