TCU feeling refreshed after bye week

In addition to healing some bumps, bruises and other injuries, TCU football coach Gary Patterson said last week’s open date provided a valuable chance for players to get their mental bearings at midseason.

TCU (4-2, 2-1 in Big 12) meets No. 12 West Virginia (5-0, 2-0) in Saturday’s contest in Morgantown, W.V. Patterson said members of his young defense seem more honed in on assignments after a chance to self-scout and focus on fundamentals.

“It was a good rest for us,” Patterson said. “I think guys have come on. The last two weeks, we’ve picked more balls against the scouts than we’ve picked since we started in two-a-days. Guys are moving around, guys are not thinking as much.”

Asked about the open date, defensive end Josh Carraway said: “It was awesome. We were able to get our legs back.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 3:41 PM with the headline "TCU feeling refreshed after bye week."