Allowing big plays ‘unacceptable’ in Big 12-opening loss, TCU football coach says
TCU coach Gary Patterson didn’t get into specifics as to why his defense broke down multiple times in a losing effort against Iowa State on Saturday.
The Cyclones gained 60% of their offensive yardage on five plays, including TD runs of 75, 49 and 32 yards as well as pass plays for 49 and 44 yards to set up scoring drives.
“The bottom line to it is our guys were embarrassed,” Patterson said. “Those kinds of things should not happen against us. It basically came down to five plays and a couple of them where guys were not even blocked. They blocked themselves. I’m not taking anything away from Iowa State, they won the ballgame and got after us.
“For us, we know that we can play a lot better. That’s unacceptable for us. We know that. I expect them to play a lot better this week.”
This week, though, has TCU traveling to No. 9 Texas in Austin. The Longhorns have shown early signs of being an explosive team.
On the Longhorns’ first snap of the season against UTEP on Sept. 12, senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger connected on a 78-yard TD pass to Joshua Moore. Ehlinger also had a 40-yard TD pass in Texas’ 59-3 rout to start the season.
Last week at Texas Tech, there were plenty of fireworks on both sides as Texas prevailed for a 63-56 overtime victory. The Longhorns rallied from a 15-point deficit with just over three minutes left to force overtime.
Texas is certainly aware of TCU being susceptible to big plays in the opener, but coach Tom Herman said it’s a balance between going for the home run ball and taking what the defense gives you.
“You do have to back them off of you, for lack of a better term,” Herman said. “I don’t think Coach Patterson is going to be too worried if you connect on one or two of them. He’s going to continue to do what he does. Those safeties and linebackers are downhill run fitters.
“If you want to run the ball, you’re going to have to find ways to throw it over their head and connect. You know you’re not going to hit all of them, but you want to hit as many as you can to continue to send a message that you’re going to keep doing it if their safeties continue to play as low as they do.”
Texas and Ehlinger are hoping to find more success than last season. Ehlinger completed less than half his passes (22 for 48) and threw a career-high four interceptions in a 37-27 loss in Fort Worth.
Herman addressed the challenges of facing Patterson’s 4-2-5 defense and hinted at ways the Longhorns may go about it this year.
“We’ve got a ton of respect for Coach Patterson and his ability to adjust his defense,” he said. “I think probably the biggest thing is you’ve got to use their rules against them at times. One way is certainly tempo and not letting them get a bunch of calls in quickly. And you’ve got to have some window dressing too. You’ve got to give them some eye candy, some fly motion, some misdirection.”
