Perseverance key to Frogs’ win
By Carlos Alvarado
Skiff Staff

Saturday was a scary night for Frog fans.

With 8:23 left to play in the third quarter, the TCU defense allowed consecutive touchdown drives to Alabama-Birmingham. The two scoring drives, which opened the second half, gave the Blazers momentum and a 24-16 lead out of the locker room.

Moments later, the fate of the game and the season appeared to be in the hands of junior quarterback Brandon Hassell, following another Tye Gunn injury.

Dreams of an undefeated season and a Conference USA championship seemed to be in jeopardy, as fans watched Gunn being carted into the locker room. The situation looked bleak for the Frogs. Not only were the Frogs without their starting quarterback and trailing by eight points, but they were also down to two healthy cornerbacks and both starting tackles were on the sideline.

Despite the unfavorable circumstances, senior defensive end Bo Schobel said the team was able to find a way to win.

“It seems like no matter what happens, no matter what situation we’re put into, we find a way to score one more point,” Schobel said. “We knew things didn’t go right early, but we kept playing hard and kept going.”

The Frogs extended their record to 7-0 and are still tied for the national lead in consecutive wins with Oklahoma at nine games. The victory moved the Frogs to No. 15 in the Associated Press poll. TCU remains No. 13 in the Coaches poll.

Head coach Gary Patterson said even though the Frogs are one of five undefeated teams remaining in the nation, they are not concerned about where they are ranked, especially with the first BCS standings coming out Monday.

Instead, he said TCU is getting ready for next week’s matchup with Houston.

“We’ll move forward,” Patterson said. “In this day and age you just have to be ready to play.”

With only five games remaining this season, the Frogs are one of only a handful of teams that still have dreams of an undefeated season and a possible BCS bowl berth.

Patterson said the team cannot afford to dream. He said the Frogs have some tough games remaining in front of them.

“Every game gets tougher,” Patterson said. “That’s what happens when you have a bull’s-eye on your back.”

Freshman running back Robert Merrill said TCU needs to remain focused on playing well and preparing for tougher competition the rest of the way this season.

“We know what to do,” Merrill said. “We need to stay humble and keep fighting. UAB is tough and Houston is tougher. We have to keep playing.”