Frogs in top 10 despite weak defense
By Carlos Alvarado
Commentary

Times are good for TCU football.

The team has cracked the top 10 in both The Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches poll, and the top six of the Bowl Championship Standings. The offense is averaging more than 400 yards a game, and the team is on air waves and televisions across the country as it stands on the verge of making history.

One tiny little question shrouds some of this joy: What happened to the defense?

The once vaunted TCU defense has struggled the past three games, giving up more points to UAB,

Houston and Louisville than it allowed in the entire 2000 season. For a team with a budding defensive tradition, the defensive woes are troubling to fans who expect shutouts not shootouts.

Despite all this, the Frogs are not concerned with the events of the past three weeks.

“We’ve put up a lot of strong games in the past,” senior strong safety Brandon Williams said. “We know we are capable of playing better. We continue to build on things and look for what will help us improve from week to week.”

Head coach Gary Patterson said the team feels strongly that they will be able to turn things around because it is aware of why it has faltered.

“We don’t make excuses for our defense, but we’re starting to get healthy again,” he said. “We’re starting to settle down. A lot of the problems have been tackling.”

Luckily for the defense the offense has played its finest football of the season in that span, allowing the defense to find its way once again.

“We are just looking for consistency in all phases,” Williams said. “It isn’t just the defense out there; it’s a team: special teams, offense and defense.”

The pressure now lies on the Frogs to perform well on both sides of the ball as the team is on the verge of making BCS history. No team from a non-BCS conference has ever been invited to a BCS bowl in the five-year history of the system.

Victories have been tough for the Frogs, as indicated by the five victories which they have garnered by a mere three points. The wins are tougher now as the stakes get higher.

“Every week is a war now,” Patterson said. “Everyone is going to give us their best shot.”

The Frogs face the Cincinnati Bearcats who not only beat them last year 36 -29 but bring in another high scoring attack led by junior quarterback Gino Guidugli.

Senior free safety Jeremy Modkins said the Frogs are interested more in what they do than what Cincinnati is capable of.

“We just want to play within our scheme,” he said. “We know the big plays, the breakdowns are on us, we have to go out and correct these and make plays of our own.”

The Bearcats have a score to settle. They had the same conference record and the assumed tie breaker, yet they did not receive a bid for C-USA’s top bowl: the Liberty Bowl.

The Frogs are not focused with what is on Cincinnati’s mind. They have been in the sights of many teams all year and their recent success hasn’t fazed them. The Frogs are ready for all challengers.

“They’ve been thinking about this game since last spring because they felt like they should have been co-conference champions last year,” Patterson said. “They feel like this is their coming out party. I say ‘stand in line.’”