TCU coach Gary Patterson didn’t back down Tuesday from comments he made criticizing referees following the Horned Frogs’ 40-33 loss to SMU last season.
Patterson, whose Frogs play at SMU on Saturday, claimed last year that officials from Conference-USA told him after the game that they would issue a statement apologizing for mistakes the officiating crew made. By the time his weekly press conference rolled around a few days later, no apology had been made, so Patterson took the situation into his own hands.
“The first two touchdowns shouldn’t [have] happened,” Patterson said Oct. 4, three days after TCU's loss. “I mean, I can go down the list of things. It was a poorly officiated ballgame.”
Patterson’s tone remained the same Tuesday.
“One [criticism] I wouldn’t take back was the officiating, I’ll tell you that,” Patterson said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “After that whole situation, I will tell you it was very interesting because I don’t think I ever got an apology, or was there ever a public thing said. They didn’t do a very good job. I’ll leave it at that.”
But Patterson retracted on Tuesday comments he made last year criticizing SMU coach June Jones.
“If I was going to do the press conference over again last year, what I would tell you, after watching film, is that SMU kicked our butts,” Patterson said. “On both sides of the ball.”
Last year, he pointed to the amount of help he and his staff had given to the SMU program over the years and said that respect was not properly returned after the game.
“Their way of thanking us for [help] is to cut us down,” Patterson said during the same Oct. 4 press conference in which he criticized the referees. “I don’t think they should ever look for any more help from anybody here ever again. They’re getting no help from Gary Patterson.”
Patterson was in better spirits Tuesday.
“In this world, wins and losses are what keeps our jobs, but in the end, it’s what people think of you and what kind of person you are,” he said. “No matter how they do, what they do, how they say it, I’m in a position where you’re supposed to act better, to be honest with you.”
Carter gives defense ‘D’ grade
The TCU defense has given up 13 points in three games, and last week against Virginia the Horned Frogs kept the Cavaliers out of the endzone until the final five minutes of the game.
But safety Sam Carter isn’t satisfied – in fact, he barely gave the unit a passing grade.
“A ‘D,’” Carter said when asked about the Frogs’ defensive performance so far this season. “We have a lot to improve on. We haven’t even played our best ball. We watch the film and see the mistakes we made. So we’re not going to be too high, we’re not going to be too low, but I don’t give us a high grade right now.”
Hackett starting Saturday
Safety Chris Hackett will start Saturday, Patterson said.
Hackett, a redshirt freshman, had a big hit against Virginia, which knocked the ball out of receiver Darius Jennings’ hands and prevented a likely touchdown.
