The Horned Frogs’ defense still has room for improvement even after the win against the Air Force on Sept. 9, head football coach Gary Patterson said.
The TCU defense came back strong after the loss against Baylor, only allowing the Air Force to score 19 points in a Frog win.
“We tackled a little bit better, but we got a long way to go,” Patterson said.
Quarterback Casey Pachall said coming back and getting a win was very important after losing to Baylor.
“Coach [Patterson] and everybody harped on it all week, ‘Are we going to respond or are we just going to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves?’” Pachall said. “We knew we had to…come out and get the win.”
The Frog defense did not hinder the momentum that mounted at this week’s practices, out-scoring the Falcons 21-3 at halftime. Senior linebacker Tank Carder said the win Saturday was big for the defense, especially after their performance against Baylor.
“Coming off a loss like last week is a heart breaker,” Carder said. “Coming back this week with a win is big.”
Carder said he agreed that they let a couple of passes through and that they still have work and growing up to do as a team. The defense did not let the Falcons offensive slip past them in passing like Baylor slipped by, giving up 167 passing yards and 16 first downs compared to the Frogs’ 24.
“Coming back this week with a win was big…for the defense alone just to try and get our name back…and we still don’t have our name back,” Carder said.
Junior tailback Matthew Tucker said the Frogs needed a win after the Baylor defeat because the team was down. Tucker helped build the lead to give the defense some cushion in the score. He said the difference that resulted in a win was the amount of teamwork on the field.
“We worked hard at practice, and everybody worked together,” Tucker said.
In the fourth quarter, the Frogs gave up one field goal and then let the Falcons slip by again to score a touchdown in the last four seconds of the game. Patterson said the second string is just one of the areas the team needed to improve.
“We’re going to keep on moving forward,” Carder said.
