Air Raid made TCU’s comeback against K-State possible, Patterson says

TCU could not have made its comeback against Kansas State using the offense from two years ago, coach Gary Patterson said.

“I don’t think we would have had the firepower to do what we did the other night,” he said. “And that’s what we changed to. So we were always in a ballgame. If you have good enough ballplayers, you’ve always got a chance to come back, you’re always in a ballgame.”

The Horned Frogs outscored Kansas State 35-10 in the second half for a 52-45 victory, coming back from a 35-17 halftime deficit.

The rally included an interception return for a touchdown by Derrick Kindred, but the offense has done the bulk of the scoring this year. Of the Horned Frogs’ 40 touchdowns, 38 have come from the offense.

TCU, in its second season using the Air Raid passing game, ranks third in the country in offense (615.5 yards per game) and scoring (51.0 points per game).

“That’s all you want — you want a 50-50 chance to be able to come back, be able to win,” Patterson said.

Night starts

TCU faces another night game on the road with the potential for a big crowd. This year, the Horned Frogs have played in front of the biggest crowd at Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium, the second-biggest at Texas Tech’s AT&T Jones Stadium and the third-biggest at K-State’s Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

“Yeah, I think it’s a compliment, but it makes it tougher,” Patterson said. “Because those night games, there’s more emotion. When you play in the daytime, the crowd is not as fired up, the team is not as fired up. It takes more energy on your part to go play those games.”

TCU gets the advantage of a home night game for at least two contests. The Thursday night game against West Virginia on Oct. 29 has a 6:30 p.m. kickoff, as does the Nov. 27 Friday night game against Baylor.

Run first

Running back Aaron Green remembered something interesting about his 86-yard touchdown run to start the game last week.

“First time here at TCU where we actually ran the ball the first play,” he said with a smile. “We’re a pass-first team, so usually, the first drive, we’re always passing. I had an idea I might get the ball the first play. Something told me I was going to score.”

Green said it was a running play from the start, not a check to a run.

“We called that play from the beginning,” he said. “Have to make the most of my opportunities.”

Freshman count

Patterson said 14 true freshmen and 15 redshirt freshmen have played for TCU this season.

“That’s a bunch,” he said, “when you count that there’s 44 starters, first and second team. That’s what your group is. You take 70, so you’re almost hitting 30, so you’re almost half of your football team.”

The Horned Frogs start two true freshmen, receiver KaVontae Turpin and linebacker Montrel Wilson.

Takeaway total

TCU forced two takeaways in the second half last week: Kindred’s interception and Wilson’s strip-sack.

They were only the eighth and ninth takeaways of the season for the Horned Frogs at the halfway point. Last season, they finished with 40 in 13 games.

“That just comes with a lot of guys that are new to the game,” Kindred said. “A lot of freshmen, a lot of first-time players. They’re learning how to track the ball. They’re trying not to give up big plays.”

First-year starting safety Denzel Johnson and reserve safety Michael Downing have the other interceptions for TCU this year. Defensive back Nick Orr has two fumble recoveries, and defensive linemen Josh Carraway, Chris Bradley and Davion Pierson have one each.

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Air Raid made TCU’s comeback against K-State possible, Patterson says."