Gary Patterson’s time on the Big 12 Coaches’ Teleconference was short Monday, but the TCU head coach did expound a bit on the freshmen that have received extensive playing time on defense this year.
Four freshmen or redshirt freshmen -- Ochaun Mathis, Colt Ellison, Ar’Darius Washington and Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson -- started for the Horned Frogs on defense against Baylor. Several more saw the field, including Nook Bradford, Kee’yon Stewart and Dee Winters.
“We have some really good redshirt freshmen that have played up to four games, or had to play,” Patterson said. “Our overall freshman group, our overall safety group is going to be a really good group as they grow older.
“Really, we’re excited.”
Some of the freshmen have started due to a series of injuries in the defensive secondary. Others, like Mathis, earned the job out of spring and fall camp. And of course, the Horned Frogs are lead on offense by a freshman quarterback, Max Duggan. For the most part, the freshmen have delivered. Against Baylor, Mathis had seven total tackles and 1.5 sacks, Washington had four tackles and two pass breakups and Hodges-Tomlinson and Bradford each had three tackles.
TCU’s main objective is to win football games, not provide playing time for young players. In recent games, the coaching staff has had to hope the latter is the key to the former. Either way, Patterson says he’s not using youth as an excuse.
“You play games to win, and that’s the bottom line to it,” he said. "In my 22nd year, this is not the first year we’ve had -- in 2012, we played 17 true freshmen. This is not our first rodeo, not the first time it’s happened.
“One of the things I always thought was funny when I went to the national convention, guys would say, ‘Well, we have 18 starters back, we’re really looking forward to the season, we’re going to be really good.’ And when they say ‘Well, we’re missing 18 starters, we’re not going to be any good,' that’s how you stay only three or four years at an institution. It’s my job and our job to find a way to win more than we lose. And when you have such a young football team, that’s what we’re trying to get accomplished here in the last three ball games."
That young 2012 squad was TCU’s first year in the Big 12, and posted a 7-6 record. After a down year in 2013, those 17 true freshmen turned into a class that won the Peach Bowl and Alamo Bowl in back-to-back seasons.