TCU football hopes to get better, get healthy during bye week after deflating loss
TCU coach Gary Patterson likes to refer to bye weeks as “get-better” weeks. Well, the Horned Frogs could use a “get-healthy” week this week too.
TCU was missing a number of players in its 24-6 loss at West Virginia on Saturday, and Patterson said afterward that 10-12 players have been in and out of practice the last week battling strep throat.
That included returner Derius Davis, who has become a difference-maker on special teams.
“We lost a lot of guys that had strep throat,” Patterson said. “It’s been a lot worse than COVID has been.”
Playing short-handed is among a list of issues facing the Horned Frogs. On the field, the offense produced the fewest points (six) since the 2016 regular-season finale. The defense failed to produce a takeaway and finished with two sacks. The special teams had a costly turnover on a muffed punt.
But the team is ready to move on and finish the season off as best as possible.
“The bye week is going to give us some time to recoup, get our heads straight, figure out what we need to do to come out this next week against Kansas and win,” said junior safety Trevon Moehrig, who had a career-high 10 tackles against WVU.
“I think a lot of guys are also hungry to play. It sucks having a bye week after a loss like this, so I think the guys are going to come back hungry, especially this week in practice.”
Following the bye week, the Frogs (3-4) travel to lowly Kansas on Nov. 28 before hosting Oklahoma State on Dec. 5 in what could be the regular-season finale. However, there is a chance that TCU makes up its game against SMU.
A source said no decision has been made on whether TCU and SMU will play this season. The scheduled game on Sept. 12 was postponed following a COVID outbreak among TCU’s program.
Regardless of what happens with the SMU game, TCU still has a chance for bowl eligibility even if it doesn’t finish at the .500-mark. The NCAA has waived the bowl eligibility requirements this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As Moehrig said, the players know there’s plenty at stake despite an up-and-down season. This time a week ago, the Frogs were feeling good about themselves following consecutive victories over Baylor and Texas Tech.
Now it’s a different story with college football analysts such as Urban Meyer wondering what’s wrong with the program.
Asked how the team regroups after a deflating loss, Moehrig said: “That starts with our leadership, just getting everybody to get their heads up and to come to practice with the mindset of, ‘We’ve got to get better even if it’s something small.’ We’ve just got to get better at that something every day.
“It was a tough loss, but it’s in the past now. We can’t do anything to change it. We’ve just got to keep moving forward.”
Briefly
▪ One positive on offense? TCU had its longest pass play of the season with a 52-yard completion from quarterback Max Duggan to running back Emari Demercado in the fourth quarter.
▪ True freshman RB Kendre Miller made his first career start and finished with a team-high 58 yards rushing on eight carries.
▪ Patterson on the team’s energy going into the WVU game: “I didn’t think we had as much as we had the last couple of weeks and I told them that in the locker room. But that’s my job to get them where they need to get to.”
