57° Fort Worth
All TCU. All the time.

TCU 360

TCU 360

All TCU. All the time.

TCU 360

Students discuss religious topics in a small group. (Photo courtesy of tcuwesley.org)
Wednesday nights at TCU’s Methodist campus ministry provide religious exploration and fellowship
By Boots Giblin, Staff Writer
Published Mar 27, 2024
Students at the Wesley said they found community on Wednesday nights.

Patterson, TCU send message in Peach Bowl win

Patterson%2C+TCU+send+message+in+Peach+Bowl+win

When the dust settles, TCU’s 42-3 rout of Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl is not about the College Football Playoff.

That’s the message head coach Gary Patterson and game MVPs Trevone Boykin and James McFarland sent to the media after their 39-point victory on New Year’s Eve.

Anyone searching for Horned Frog CFP support should look to Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze, who spoke freely about TCU’s 2014 success after the game.

“TCU is a very good team, they deserve every mention they got this year to be one of the top four,” Freeze said. “They certainly, rightfully deserve to be in [the College Football Playoff] with the others.”

Patterson refused to say his football team deserves a spot in college football’s final four.

“Somebody in this world needs to start taking the high road, whether it’s football, politics or anything else that you’re doing,” Patterson said.

TCU’s all-time winningest coach admitted college football’s current postseason has flaws.

“This playoff system’s not perfect, neither was the BCS, neither was anything I’ve been a part of in 33 years,” Patterson said.

But at least for today, Patterson stressed his team had different motivations.

“For us, I think today was more about what we were trying to get accomplished,” Patterson said. “Playing the best football game we could as a TCU football team, and I don’t think we could play any better.”

Boykin added the Horned Frogs were looking to make a statement, regardless of which bowl they played in.

“When you go into a game you always have something to prove,” Boykin said. “It would’ve been a blessing to be in the CFP, but we’re now Peach Bowl champions for the rest of our lives.”

The junior quarterback said his teammates promised each other they’d never lose again this season after the 61-58 defeat in Waco.

“After Baylor…we put in our heart that we would never lose again,” Boykin said. “I’ve never seen our defense fly around like they did today.”

And the defense did soar. TCU sacked Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace five times in the first half, forced three interceptions and held the Rebels to 120 total yards of offense.

Senior safety Sam Carter, who decided to forgo the NFL Draft to return for one more year as a Horned Frog, wasn’t completely satisfied with his defense’s performance.

“Nobody gave our defense any credit, we wanted to come out and make sure they didn’t score,” Carter said. “I’m a little upset they got three [points].”

TCU’s fast-paced offense also disrupted the Rebels’ top-ranked scoring defense.

“We knew [in the SEC] they don’t run fast-paced offenses like we do,” Boykin said. “We wanted to play our tempo and it helped us.”

TCU returns nearly all of its offensive starters, which has Patterson excited about the future.

“We have an opportunity with a lot of players coming back to be the team we want to be going forward,” Patterson said. “This sets a precedent.”

Boykin praised the desire of his teammates and the infectious crowd for spurring TCU on to victory.

“When we put on this purple it means something for us,” Boykin said. “We played with a lot of passion.”

As 2014 draws to a close, the Frogs now begin the long offseason and start looking toward the future.

But after turning last year’s 4-8 team into this year’s 12-1 squad, it’s hard not to celebrate this peach of a season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm0O2zXY5tg&feature=youtu.be

More to Discover