Patterson says TCU can think big, but must be careful

Loaded on offense, explosive at quarterback, ranked second in the nation, last seen leaving an SEC team in tatters, TCU can rightfully think of itself as a national championship contender.

But there is danger in that.

“You can have a goal for it, but you watch teams all the time — when their only goal is the national championship and they lose one game, their season’s over,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said Tuesday at a news conference ahead of the start of practice on Wednesday. “That can’t be the deal. Our goal has to be to just have the best season we can have and win as many games as we can win.”

In the Horned Frogs’ case, that could be more than any other team in school history.

Ten starters are back from a record-setting offense led by Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Trevone Boykin. Patterson believes the defense, despite missing six starters, can be faster and more athletic than a year ago. The experience and confidence from a 12-1 Big 12 co-championship season and the biggest rout in Peach Bowl history — 42-3 over Ole Miss — remain fresh.

The ingredients for the biggest season in TCU history are there.

So don’t think about them, Patterson said.

“Everybody wants to talk about the end of the season and a couple of those ballgames — Oklahoma and Baylor — but to be honest with you, if I don’t take care of business through the rest of it ...” Patterson said and stopped, not having to finish the thought. “For me, it’s about TCU and getting ready for Minnesota.”

The Horned Frogs, who debuted at No. 2 in the USA Today coaches poll last week, open at unranked Minnesota on Sept. 3 in a Thursday night game on ESPN.

“You can’t think about a national championship before you think about Minnesota,” running back Aaron Green said. “It’s disrespectful to the game of football and disrespectful to the people you’re playing. That’s a very good football team. A very good program.”

Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium, expecting the biggest season opener in almost 50 years for Gophers football, is the first stop in a season that Patterson warns will be filled with dangerous road games. The Horned Frogs’ conference road games include Texas Tech, Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

“Any time it’s a ballgame where their fan base is going to rush the field, on the road, you’re going to have that,” Patterson said. “We’ve got to understand that. But we can’t worry about things like that. If you allow yourself to do that, then you’re allowing more pressure.”

The Horned Frogs will have to follow Patterson’s lead on handling pressure. The 2015 players have never begun a season in this position. Patterson’s 2010 team opened as the preseason pick in the Mountain West conference, No. 6 in the AP poll, and finished undefeated with a Rose Bowl championship.

“For myself, individually, I’ve never been on a team that’s been ranked high like this,” receiver Josh Doctson said. “For myself, I’m going to keep working like I’ve been working, like a walk-on two years ago, not getting the big head, staying humble.”

Said defensive end Josh Carraway: “We still have the hunter mentality. We don’t forget that. We know what it’s like to go 4-8. We don’t want that to happen again.”

In a sense, that gives the Horned Frogs the best of both worlds right now.

“We’ll take the mentality of a team that was going into the season last year trying to prove something after they were 4-8, but knowing also they have the confidence level that they can beat the teams at the top of the conference,” Patterson said. “Then you’ve put it all together. But you’ve got to be very careful about putting the cart before the horse.”

Such optimism for a season is almost uncomfortable for Patterson.

“Listening to the positive is worse than listening to the negative,” he said. “Give me a choice, I’d prefer it the other way. ... TCU’s been a lot better with their backs against the wall. Maybe it’s because their head coach is better at that.”

Maybe a shot at the national championship awaits the Horned Frogs. Maybe it doesn’t. Either way, Patterson has prepared an approach for the 12-game march.

“Sometimes, if you’re looking in only one direction, you really miss the best view,” he said. “Sometimes that’s what causes people problems — they’re only looking one direction, and they miss the best view.”

This story was originally published August 4, 2015 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Patterson says TCU can think big, but must be careful."