It’s ‘Fort Worth vs. Dallas’, but TCU football is trying to keep its emotions in check vs. SMU
The emotions will be running high when TCU faces SMU on Saturday morning. It’s only Tuesday and even the mayor of Dallas is chiming with some smack talk.
After I tweeted that TCU offensive lineman Steve Avila viewed the Iron Skillet Battle as “Fort Worth vs. Dallas”, mayor Eric Johnson let him know via Twitter that he agreed.
“That’s how I see it, too. And I’ll be at the game to watch my SMU boys defend our crown as the best college football team in the Metroplex,” Johnson tweeted. He even had called out Fort Worth’s Mayor Mattie Parker with some banter.
“Will (Mayor Mattie)be there to cheer on (TCU)? I hope so! She already has an SMU jersey to wear, courtesy of yours truly!” Johnson said.
If the two mayors are going at it, you can only imagine how it will be for the fans. While Sonny Dykes understands the intensity of the rivalry he’s been determined to make sure the Horned Frogs avoid relying on their emotions ahead of Saturday’s game.
“If we’re like this is (game) is a big deal because it’s SMU, what do we say next week when it’s Oklahoma? We’re trying to get out those emotional highs and lows as a program,” Dykes said. “We haven’t beaten SMU, Kansas State, Iowa State or West Virginia since 2018. Those are big games, they’re huge games. We’ve got to treat every single game the same.
“Our players have to learn how to play well every single week and understand that’s our standard no matter who we play whether it’s Alabama or Tarleton, you have to play the very best you can to have a chance to win.”
That messaging is important because it’s likely Dykes won’t receive a warm welcome in his first trip back to Ford Stadium.
The first-year head coach won’t mind the boos. To him it’s what makes college football special.
“If I bought a ticket to the game I’d boo me too,” Dykes said. “It is what it is. It’s not going to bother me.”
Dykes also doesn’t want whatever reception he receives to bother his players. They’ll have enough to deal when they face Tanner Mordecai and his favorite target Rashee Rice.
Veterans on the team says TCU has done a good job of not adding more to more to their mental plate.
“It’s just the next football game on the schedule. We’re not going to take anyone lightly or prepare any different for a team. We’re going to put our heads to the ground and play our hardest game,” wide receiver Quentin Johnston said. “There’s not really any extra pressure.”
It’s harder than ever for athletes to not internalize social media chatter for games like this. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, trash talk is all around them and hard to avoid.
The SMU fanbase has been even more emboldened knowing they’ve won the last two matchups with the Horned Frogs. At the end, Johnston knows there’s only one way to quiet the noise.
“If you’re on Twitter refreshing every five seconds to see what somebody mentioned or was trash talking about, you can’t get caught up in it,” Johnston said. “It’s a football game. You still got to show up, you won’t be on your phone on the field going back and forth.”
For players like Avila, the heightened trash talk is only going to make for a more enjoyable atmosphere to play in.
“This is my first time going to Dallas, I’m excited to see the environment and how things are over there. I know a lot of TCU fans are going to be there and I feel like this is going to be one of those packed games,” Avila said.
In order to leave Dallas with a win, the message has been clear. It’ll take execution over emotion to deliver SMU another loss.
This story was originally published September 21, 2022 at 8:55 AM.
