With his team facing a trip to Boise State for a Mountain West battle with the Broncos, TCU head coach Gary Patterson questioned the conference’s decision to move the game from Fort Worth, where it was originally going to be played.
Patterson said the Frogs’ match-up with Boise was originally scheduled at TCU. The Broncos joined the Mountain West last fall and, according to Patterson, the general thought within the league was they would replace Utah on the 2011 conference schedule, which meant they would play the Frogs at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
But after TCU announced its decision to join the Big East, Mountain West officials voted to move the game to Boise, Patterson said.
Based on how TCU has represented the conference over the years, the move came as a surprise to Patterson.
“I just thought we had done more and tried to handle ourselves with the kind of class as a program for the Mountain West that I just thought we’d be treated differently,” Patterson said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “Obviously it’s still about ‘what have you done for me lately?”
What Patterson found even more interesting was that after the game changed in the Bronco’s favor because of TCU’s imminent departure, Boise State more than likely will be leaving the conference, as well.
“I think it’s kind of ironic that if they do leave and go to the Big East that for all the things people did for them that they will no longer be [in the Mountain West] either,” Patterson said.
Regardless, Patterson said his team’s goal remained the same.
“Now we’re going to go try to win the conference title this Saturday in Boise,” Patterson said. “That’s what we’re going to try to get done against a really, really good football team.”
Patterson: Boise is the real deal
Patterson praised Boise State as a program and said its No. 5 ranking in the polls was completely justified. If anything, the Broncos should be ranked higher, Patterson said.
“There’s a reason why they’re No. 5 in the nation,” Patterson said. “I’m not sure they shouldn’t be ranked higher, to be honest with you.”
Over the past few years, the Broncos performance of two Fiesta Bowl wins, four conference championships and an undefeated record at home has proven that Boise State, led by head coach Chris Petersen, is one of the more top-tier programs in the country, Patterson said.
“They have done nothing in the last two or three years to say that they shouldn’t be,” he said. “They’ve done everything besides the tough loss to Nevada [last year], which was a tough place to play in a blizzard against a really good football team. Besides that, they haven’t done much wrong.”
Patterson said his team will have to ratchet up its focus if it wants a chance to beat the Broncos Saturday.
“You can’t make mistakes we made last week and win this ball game,” Patterson said. “You don’t have to play perfect, but you have to make your own breaks and by doing that you have to play fast. You have to play physical, and you have to play smart.”
