Ole Miss coach: Beating TCU would be ‘tremendous win’
TCU approaches each game with an underdog mentality, but Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze sees a chance for a skin on the wall if his team can win Wednesday’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
“It would be a tremendous win against what I consider to be a top program this year and would certainly give us a lot of momentum going into the off-season and into next season,” he said.
No. 6 TCU (11-1) has a higher ranking and a better record than No. 9 Ole Miss (9-3), so it has not been difficult for Freeze to talk about TCU as the favorite despite the Rebels’ big win in the “Egg Bowl” against No. 7 Mississippi State four weeks ago.
“That’s always an interesting concern we coaches have because of the off time. It’s almost like you’re starting over,” Freeze said. “I think playing an opponent of the quality of TCU in one of the ‘New Year’s Six’ games helps hold the attention.”
Patterson said he would be telling Ole Miss the same thing if he were the coach.
“It’s about how do you start next year, because that’s what everybody remembers — they remember the bowl game,” Patterson said. “You’ve got to win. That’s all you play it for. I’m sure Ole Miss is saying the same thing: ‘We were ranked as high as 3 and this is an opportunity for us to beat the No. 6 team and for us to kick-start what we’re going to do next year.’
“If I was Coach Freeze, that’s what I’d be pushing to get done.”
Pass defense
Patterson said he can live with one touchdown pass allowed per game on average for the season. So the 17 allowed this year by the Horned Frogs is over his limit, but he still felt good about the pass defense.
“We gave up seven touchdowns in one game in the high-scoring affair with Baylor,” he said. “So you’ve got to feel like they played well the rest of the way.
“Basically, you allowed less than one touchdown a game passing-wise for the rest of the season.”
Patterson said freshman corners Ranthony Texada, Nick Orr and Torrance Mosley improved.
“No choice. You just grow up,” he said. “It’s just like Kevin White. Here’s a guy who’s going to the Senior Bowl, but as a sophomore he gave up three touchdown passes in the Texas Tech game at our place. And now he’s going to the Senior Bowl. He was the guy who nobody knew about that played beside Jason Verrett.
“So who will be the next guy who will step up?”
Freshman corner
Texada had a rough start to the season, particularly the game at Baylor, but wound up with Freshman All-America recognition from Scout.com.
“He really came on,” Patterson said. “He had a great game against Iowa State.”
Texada recorded his only interception of the season in the regular-season finale against the Cyclones. He finished as the ninth-leading tackler and had seven pass breakups, a sack and a fumble recovery.
“Playing with three young corners opposite of Kevin White, we only allowed 13 red-zone touchdowns,” Patterson said. “Usually that doesn’t happen. They say for every freshman you have to play, that’s usually a loss.”
A night out
Patterson said he might take the chance for a tour of Atlanta on Saturday, a rare free night for him.
“Besides practice and going to the Georgia Dome, I’ve been watching film and getting ready for this ballgame,” he said. “This will be my first night to not have anything that the head coach specifically has to go do. I love the Atlanta skyline. I may get them to drive me around a little bit, get a chance to look around downtown Atlanta.”
The players were scheduled to spend their night at Andretti Karting, an indoor go-kart racing arena.
Sunday, the players from both teams will visit the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
Carlos Mendez, 817-390-7407
This story was originally published December 27, 2014 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Ole Miss coach: Beating TCU would be ‘tremendous win’."