TCU’s Gary Patterson on late-game calls in 31-16 loss to Texas: I don’t play to lose
TCU coach Gary Patterson defended his late-game strategy in a 31-16 loss to the University of Texas on Saturday.
Patterson made it clear he wasn’t conceding the game when he punted on a fourth-and-4 from his own 38 as the Frogs trailed by two scores with 2:44 left.
Asked if he considered going for it, Patterson said: “No, not on our [38] or whatever it was yard line. I had two timeouts, so – I don’t play to lose. I don’t play to get through it, but I had two [timeouts].
“I know how to manage games. It wasn’t that play that got us beat. I can promise you that. And you had a backup quarterback in the game.”
Patterson simply didn’t want to leave the Longhorns in borderline field goal range if the Frogs were stopped on fourth down. He preferred to take his chances with his defense in more favorable field position, and then hope to recover an onside kick.
But it never got to that point. TCU’s defense forced a three-and-out after the punt, and the offense got the ball back with 1:27 left at its own 22.
Backup Michael Collins led TCU into Texas territory, but couldn’t put together a scoring drive to even threaten a late comeback attempt.
As Patterson said, the game had flipped decidedly before that point. TCU endured a dreadful third quarter stretch for the second time in as many weeks.
Quarterback Shawn Robinson ended up turning the ball over three times – two interceptions, one fumble – including on consecutive drives late in the third quarter.
With TCU leading 16-10, Robinson lost the ball on a 16-yard run. Texas’ Marqez Bimage was credited with the forced fumble and Brandon Jones pounced on it.
Eight plays later, Longhorns wide receiver Collin Johnson laid out to catch a 31-yard post route from Sam Ehlinger to give Texas the lead. That drive featured Texas converting on a third-and-eight; a third-and-seven; and, on the TD play, it faced a first-and-20.
Robinson started TCU’s next drive by throwing an interception into the hands of Caden Sterns, who returned it 33 yards to set up a 2-yard TD run by Ehlinger.
“That’s two games in a row you’ve lost 3-0 [or worse] in the turnover department. It’s going to be hard to win ballgames if you do that,” Patterson said. “You can’t give up a big play. When you go on the road, you’ve got to take ballgames. You’ve got to give [Texas coach Tom Herman] and his group a lot of credit for finding a way to win and go from there.”
TCU saw its win streak over Texas end at four, and has now lost consecutive games for the first time since the end of the 2016 season.
Patterson compared it to the 2007 season when TCU went through similar growing pains with a young Andy Dalton at quarterback. But he is hopeful his team bounces back against Iowa State next Saturday.
He had a clear message to his players.
“Losing is a disease,” Patterson said. “When it’s your turn to make a play, when things are going good, somebody finds a way to make a play. Things aren’t, somebody finds not a way to make a play. You’ve got to find a way to make guys make plays, and there was guys that made plays today, we just need to make more of them.”
The players who spoke with reporters afterward acknowledged they have to do a better job. The defense hasn’t forced a takeaway the past two weeks.
“We just got to get turnovers, really,” cornerback Jeff Gladney said. “We flock to the ball. We’ve been playing great, but we’ve got to get that turnover.”
Said center Kellton Hollins: “Anytime you lose it’s tough, but you’ve just got to learn from it. In life, you lose, so what do you do? You get back up and keep fighting.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2018 at 8:57 PM.