FORT WORTH, Texas _ TCU football coach Gary Patterson envisioned leaning on a veteran, improved defense to carry the day in Saturday's season opener against South Dakota State while the offense attempted to find its rhythm under new quarterback Kenny Hill.
Instead, the Horned Frogs arrived at halftime in a dogfight with their FCS opponent after allowing the Jackrabbits to produce a 100-yard rusher (Isaac Wallace), 100-yard receiver (Jake Wieneke) and a 100-yard passer (Taryn Christion) in the opening half.
The early struggles caused Patterson to offer his troops a spirited pep talk after Wieneke's 31-yard touchdown grab in the final minute of the first half at Amon G. Carter Stadium upped the visitors' totals to 296 yards and 24 points by intermission. And the numbers kept building in the second half.
Patterson said three key defensive starters missed more than half of fall camp because of injuries: cornerback Ranthony Texada, linebacker Travin Howard and safety Denzel Johnson.
Their lack of conditioning showed.
"We've got to get them in playing shape and get them ready to go," Patterson said.
No. 13 TCU eventually squeezed out a 59-41 victory. But the growing pains on defense, where the Frogs surrendered 461 yards despite the presence of seven returning starters from last season, plus 2014 sack leader James McFarland (missed last year with broken toe), raised eyebrows in the aftermath of an opener that was far more shootout than blowout.
The Jackrabbits had finished with 437 through the first three quarters while exchanging salvos with the Horned Frogs' offense at a rate that made it look like SDSU should be added to the latest list of Big 12 expansion candidates because of its offensive prowess. From what they showed Saturday, they'd fit right in.
South Dakota State crossed the 40-point mark at the 12:02 mark of the fourth quarter, becoming the first FCS opponent to put 40 points on a Patterson team in the coach's 16 seasons at the school.
Although the Frogs surrendered more than 40 points on four occasions last season, TCU won three of those contests (Texas Tech, Kansas State, Oregon). In the Frogs' last four matchups against FCS foes, the Frogs scored lopsided victories over Stephen F. Austin (70-7, last year), Samford (48-14 in 2014), Southeastern Louisiana (38-17 in 2013) and Grambling State (56-0 in 2012).
But that was not the case Saturday against SDSU, a team ranked No. 8 in the FCS preseason poll and an FCS playoff participant last season.
After forcing a pair of punts on the Jackrabbits' first two possessions, TCU allowed scoring drives of 38, 99, 27 and 63 yards before heading into the half facing a 24-24 deadlock. Wallace, who finished with 112 rushing yards, broke loose for an 87-yard touchdown burst that erased the Frogs' early 7-3 lead.
Christion found Wieneke, the team's leading receiver the past two seasons, six times in the first half for 110 yards and the 31-yard touchdown strike that triggered Patterson's sideline talk with his defensive backs.
But the Frogs never completely stopped the Jackrabbits in the second half, either. TCU forced a punt on South Dakota State's second drive of the third quarter, triggering a rare three-and-out possession that allowed the offense to briefly build a two-score lead at 45-31.
However, Christion found Wieneke for a 34-yard touchdown strike, then connected with him for a 52-yard that triggered another Patterson sideline session with his defensive backs. At that point, the gap had closed to 45-41 before the Frogs expanded it to 52-41 on a 46-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Kenny Hill to receiver Taj Williams with 8:36 remaining.
