Frogs the hammer, Hogs the nail

TCU coach Gary Patterson, left, shakes hands with Arkansas coach Bret Bielema after an NCAA college football game in Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday, Sept. 9 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)

— TCU coach Gary Patterson was asked how healthy his team was following a 28-7 win over Arkansas on Saturday.

He might as well have just been asked to sum up the game.

“We had some tweaks, but nothing major,” Patterson said. “If you are the hammer and not the nail, usually it turns out good. If you are the nail, it usually turns out bad.”

The hammer was No. 23 TCU (2-0), which recorded an easy victory with late touchdowns. The Horned Frogs avenged a double-overtime loss to Arkansas last September in Fort Worth, Texas.

“We didn’t come here to think about last year,” Patterson said. “We came here to win.”

He was especially happy for the road win, which was TCU’s fifth in it last six contests away from home.

“I am proud of my kids,” Patterson said. “It’s hard to go on the road and win. This is a tough environment. It’s loud, it’s a tough place to play. We proved last year we could win four out of five games on the road and we start out 1-0 this year.”

The Razorbacks (1-1) put up 130 of their 267 yards of offense in the first quarter, but were held to 18 yards over the next five possessions by the Horned Frogs’ defense. TCU dominated both line of scrimmages and allowed 37 yards rushing in the first half.

The Horned Frogs also stymied the Razorbacks twice in the red zone, both resulting in missed field goals by Cole Hedlund.

“I told you guys in the off-season that we had to get back to being physical,” Patterson said. “The bottom line is that I though we started that direction to getting back to being physical like we have to to run the football. We have good running backs, an offensive line that we are able to rotate.

“We practiced awfully physical in our scrimmages and...I am excited about where we are now."

TCU converted 10 of 14 third downs while limiting Arkansas to only 4 of 14 third-down conversions.

“You have to play good on first down and good on third down,” Patterson said. “We played well last week on first and third down…and this week we were 10 of 14 so we just need to keep going what we are doing that.

“I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we have rotated four or five linebackers, we rotated eight or nine defensive linemen and we rotated three corners and a couple of safeties.

“Arkansas historically has a really good running game, but I thought our kids were really physical and it was really important for us that we rotated a lot of D-linemen and played eight or nine guys.

“We knew if we were going to be able to play in the third and fourth quarter that it was important.”

TCU quarterback Kenny Hill, who started his career at Texas A&M, improved to 2-1 in his career against Arkansas. Hill completed 21 of 31 passes for 166 yards and rushed for 35 more.

TCU out-gained Arkansas 195-129 on the ground.

“At the end, it was nice, but throughout the game it was stressful,” Hill said. “We are just in there trying to roll down the field and score. It was nice not to go to overtime this time.”

Patterson wasn't interested in playing up his team’s win to be anything about the Big 12 and the SEC.

“You guys keep wanting to say Big 12 and SEC, but it was just Arkansas and TCU - that’s all it was,” Patterson said. “Why it happened like it did - I don’t know why.

“But Arkansas is a good football team. They have good players. They are going to win ballgames. I really like their team, love their kids. I like their center, their running backs. I like the way they move around. I like all of it. I like theirs, but I like mine more just because they are mine.”

He also chastised the media for not thinking TCU could win the way it did.

“You guys are all sitting here surprised because you didn’t think it could happen that way and that is why you are asking me these questions,” Patterson said. “I am not surprised. I have been telling you, but you haven’t been listening.”

Hill said this should help the Big 12 shed some of its soft label.

“Everybody thinks we are soft, but we played a good game today,” Patterson said. “It is just about being consistent. We have to come out and be physical every single week or it just goes back to we are soft in the Big 12. Just keep improving, keep showing something and then maybe we can say something about that.”

Patterson was quick to point out to his team that it can’t get too high after this win with SMU on the schedule next week.

“Just like I told them in the locker room, we beat Oklahoma (in Norman) in 2005 and you made it too big a ball game and we played SMU the next week - and we have SMU next week again - and it didn’t turn out well," Patterson said.

“We have to focus and get ready for the next one. I am proud of them to go on the road and the win and we have the first out of six games we have to go away to.”