Remember ’13 weather delay? TCU’s Gary Patterson learned valuable lesson

You’re all jacked up, ready to hit somebody before suddenly you have to go into relax mode.

That’s what TCU had to do when the start of its game against Kansas State was delayed almost three hours after a lightning strike near Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday. The original 11 a.m. start was first pushed back to 11:45 a.m., then again to 2 p.m. Even after three quarters were in the books another lightning strike forced an additional hour-long delay.

What a beating.

Horned Frogs players took it in stride, coach Gary Patterson said after the 26-6 win that left No. 6 TCU unbeaten at 6-0 and alone atop the Big 12 Conference standings. Most took naps before the team’s nutritionist brought in food for an energy burst before kickoff.

Before the team headed back out onto the field, the locker room started waking up with some tunes.

“Probably wasn’t my style [of music] but whatever floats their boat,” Patterson said with a smile. “That wouldn’t have been my choice of music but it was good. I did not dance nor did I play. They were all pretty cool.”

Patterson said he learned a lesson the last time the Frogs were forced to wait out a long delay. Against Texas in Fort Worth in 2013, Patterson went directly to the dry erase board in the locker room to do some coaching. Players’ eyes were glazing over.

“They all got bored,” he said. Texas beat TCU 30-7 that night. “So I said, ‘I’m not doing that again.’ ”

This story was originally published October 14, 2017 at 8:50 PM with the headline "Remember ’13 weather delay? TCU’s Gary Patterson learned valuable lesson."