Before matching up with the Sooners in Norman three weeks ago, TCU’s football team was involved in a pre-game incident with polarizing Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Big games typically mean big recruiting weekends, and the Oklahoma game was no exception. With a large recruiting presence on the sideline, Patterson and the Frogs had to run through the Oklahoma warmup session to get to the field.

As the Frogs jogged across the field, Mayfield pegged Horned Frog safety Niko Small in the head. Small missed the next two games against Texas Tech and Baylor with a concussion. It’s unclear whether the hit caused the concussion.

Head coach of the Sooners Lincoln Riley blamed TCU and Patterson for the incident, saying the team prompted the hit by running through the stretch line. Patterson disagreed and defended his team following the situation.

“We don’t act that way,” Patterson said. “We won’t ever, and we’ve had plenty of teams try to get us to do it. That’s not the way we act.”

Patterson refused to blame his team, instead shifting the guilt on Mayfield as well as Oklahoma’s inability to control their own sidelines and some of Oklahoma’s history with Texas Tech.

“You can’t say we are in the wrong because [it] was okay to let a quarterback throw the ball and hit a guy in the head that hasn’t played for two weeks,” Patterson said.

Riley and Mayfield both began their careers with Texas Tech, a place that– according to Patterson– praises incidents like this.

“This was common practice,” Patterson said. “There was a pretty well-known quarterback at Texas Tech who threw a ball and hit a player from A&M in the head, and they all thought it was funny.”

Patterson said he won’t let the Big 12 title rematch be about the exchange.

“If they want to bring it out in the open, they can do it,” Patterson said. “They’re saying we were the ones trying to cause all the problems, I beg to differ.”

Kickoff for TCU and Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game is set for 11:30 a.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium.