Gary Patterson praises Kenny Hill’s professionalism at TCU

Kenny Hill has been “a professional” with his approach since he came to Fort Worth, and the players are rallying around him, coach Gary Patterson said.

“No. 1, he’s really studied. He’s been a professional about it ever since he’s been here, he’s been a great student, he’s done everything right,” Patterson said Monday during the Big 12 coaches conference call with reporters. “Every week, he keeps becoming a better and better leader. Our kids just rally around him. That’s what you’re looking for with a quarterback.”

Hill had completions to nine receivers, led by Taj Williams with 11 catches for 158 yards and a touchdown in the Frogs’ season-opening 59-41 victory over South Dakota State. He averaged 9.0 yards per attempt, including a 60-yard touchdown catch-and-run by Jaelan Austin.

“We have so many new faces on offense this season that needed to step up, guys that needed to make plays, so it was really good the other night just to watch us execute.”

Hill bounced back from interceptions on back-to-back throws in the second quarter.

“I thought for a first ballgame, he managed it,” Patterson said. “We understand Arkansas is a lot more talented as a defense, a lot more athletic, a lot more physical one than the one we just played. We know we have to get a lot better at what we’re doing to be able to play like we need to.”

‘1,000 points’

TCU did a bad job of tackling and lining up against South Dakota State last week, and if it doesn’t improve, Arkansas could put up “1,000 yards and 1,000 points,” Patterson said.

“When you do that, you’re not going to give your kids a very good chance of being successful,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll do a lot better job as a coaching staff of getting them put in position against Arkansas. If not, they’ll have 1,000 yards and 1,000 points. We’ve got to do a lot better job this week.”

The Frogs gave up 461 yards and 41 points to South Dakota State. It was the most points given up at home for TCU since the 2013 season finale against Baylor, the last time the Frogs lost at home.

Praising Hill

The last time Arkansas saw Kenny Hill, he was throwing for 386 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-28 victory for Texas A&M on Sept. 27, 2014, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

“He’s a much more improved player than the last time we saw him,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema told reporters Monday in Fayetteville.

The 2014 game against the Razorbacks was the last game Hill won before last Saturday night when he made his TCU debut.

Last week he threw for 439 yards and two touchdowns and ran for three touchdowns for the Frogs.

“His decision-making was very good,” Bielema said. “He throws the ball with a lot more accuracy and has more velocity on it, and I think as the game wore on, he settled into the plan they were giving him a lot better. He looked to have the answers just by his athleticism and his ability to throw the football.”

Praising Texas

Texas victory against Notre Dame “helps all of us” in the Big 12, Patterson said.

“It’s good to see Texas play the way they did,” he said. “Obviously it helps the conference, it helps all of us. Even the teams that lost, we’ve got a lot of really good football teams in this league this season. Every week’s going to be a challenge.”

It will the day after Thanksgiving before TCU has to worry about Texas, which used quarterbacks Shane Buechele and Tyrone Swoopes to overpower Notre Dame late in the 50-47 two-overtime victory.

The Frogs are 3-1 against Texas since joining the Big 12.

Asked if Big 12 expansion hopeful Houston, which defeated Big 12 favorite Oklahoma 33-23, improved its case for joining the league, Patterson said, “I was very impressed by the game they played. But outside of that, it’s above my pay grade to decide who, why.”

This story was originally published September 5, 2016 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Gary Patterson praises Kenny Hill’s professionalism at TCU."