The forecast for TCU’s game with Wyoming Saturday calls for temperatures in the low 30s with a strong chance of snow.
Think the Frogs are dreading their trip to Laramie?
Hardly. If anything, they’re embracing it.
TCU head coach Gary Patterson said the Frogs (6-2, 3-0) aren’t worried about having to play in less-than-ideal conditions this weekend and are actually looking forward to playing in the unique conditions, something they rarely get to do at Amon Carter Stadium.
“Our kids don’t bring up the weather,” Patterson said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “It’s kind of a novelty for us. Our kids don’t get a chance to play in snow.”
Junior defensive end Ross Forrest said playing in the cold is just something football players have to deal with, and it shouldn’t change how the Frogs play Saturday.
“It’s part of football,” Forrest said. “It’s something that we deal with and something that we’re not going to think about going into the game or let affect us at all.”
Not letting it affect you is one thing, but is Forrest really looking forward to playing in freezing temperatures?
“Absolutely,” Forrest said. “I think it’s exciting. It’s a challenge, and that’s what football’s all about.”
Senior offensive tackle Jeff Olson was just as eager.
“Yes, very ready to play in the snow,” Olson said. “It’s something we don’t get to do a lot. It brings me back to my days in Columbus so all the snow and all that stuff. I guess I’m kind of ready to get up there and get a little different atmosphere. It’s going to be fun.”
Patterson said his team braved the conditions two years ago when they beat Air Force 20-17 in a game played in temperatures that hovered around zero. If his team wants to win a Mountain West championship, they’ll have to do the same thing Saturday, Patterson said.
“Two years ago [at Air Force] you had to play in minus 6 in sleet going sideways and wind,” Patterson said. “I mean, it’s just you want to win a championship. Here’s what I’ve found out about: Whether it’s talking about people coming here with humidity or us going to altitude or weather or cold or whatever, it is usually the teams that are losing that are talking about it. The teams that are winning don’t.”
Anderson steps up in a big way
Redshirt freshman safety Jonathan Anderson was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week Monday after collecting 17 tackles and an interception in the Frogs’ 38-28 win over BYU Friday night at Cowboys Stadium. Anderson, who sat out his first year on campus last season, is starting to get some playing time in the young TCU secondary.
Patterson said Anderson’s play Friday night and the experience he gained from it will be invaluable for the future of his career.
“You can tell a freshman all you want to how you want to do things a certain way,” Patterson said. “But you put a freshman in Cowboys Stadium if they’ve never been in that kind of venue before, then they’re going to act differently. So he learned some things. He made tackles. He got the big interception. Down the road for us, I don’t even think you could put a price on what it’s going to mean for him to keep moving forward.”
