A TCU football team in need of a wake-up call after consecutive inconsistent performances will get two of them this week.
For starters, the Horned Frogs (1-1) fell out of Sunday's updated college football polls following Saturday night's 41-38 loss to then-unranked Arkansas in double overtime. The Frogs were omitted from this week's Top 25 rankings by voters in both The Associated Press and the coaches polls.
TCU began the season as the top-ranked college football team in Texas, at No. 13 in AP's preseason rankings, but the Frogs have backtracked in consecutive polls after allowing a combined 82 points in the first two weeks of the season.
The bigger wake-up call comes courtesy of the Big 12 schedule maker and is the one that has the attention of coach Gary Patterson.
TCU opens Big 12 play Saturday against Iowa State (0-2) in Fort Worth, with a chance to get some positive vibes flowing by jumping to the top of the league standings in the first conference game on this year's slate.
Patterson is counting on his crew to show some resilience in the face of a gut-wrenching loss to the Razorbacks that, in the coach's estimation, felt like TCU "gave one away" with too many unforced errors. Arkansas (2-0) moved to No. 24 in both polls Sunday.
"We'll find out what kind of team we have because ... it's a quick turnaround," Patterson said of the Big 12 opener in Week Three, when league peers are still playing nonconference games. "If you've been in the business as long as I have, you end up with a short memory when it comes to tough losses. We'll find out. That's what we do. That's why we've stayed here 19 years."
Patterson, who has overseen the Frogs' program for 16 of those 19 seasons after coming to TCU as a defensive coordinator, acknowledged there are lots of corrections that must be made before TCU can rejoin the national rankings, much less begin climbing in them.
It took two overtimes but Arkansas became the second team in as many weeks to top the 40-point mark against TCU. That had not happened since 2004 when the Frogs fell to Texas Tech (70-35) and South Florida (45-44) in consecutive weeks on their way to a 5-6 record.
No one is suggesting a losing record awaits this team. But more losses are on the horizon unless the defense starts making more timely stops and the offense cuts back on turnovers. Through two weeks, TCU is minus-3 in turnover margin, ranking No. 107 among the nation's 128 FBS teams.
By comparison, the Frogs were even in turnover margin last season when they finished 11-2. During the 2014 season, when TCU finished 12-1 and shared the Big 12 championship, the team was plus-18 in turnover margin.
"We've got 10 more chances. We've made too many little mistakes," Patterson said, summing up the start to a season he still declared as "positive" for the long haul. "You want to beat good teams, you can't make little mistakes.
"You have to feel positive. We've got a lot of football left and I don't think we've played our best football yet."
Not by a long shot. Although Patterson praised the progress made by his defense, which limited Arkansas to two offensive touchdowns during regulation (SDSU had five), he pointed out the need for better play from Ranthony Texada and Jeff Gladney, his starting cornerbacks.
"We've got to start playing better at those positions," said Patterson, who mentioned both players by name. "We didn't play well last week and we didn't play well this week ... We need to do a better job of battling on the outside. That's what TCU does."
Typically, TCU also avoids turnovers. But quarterback Kenny Hill, a transfer from Texas A&M, has thrown three interceptions in his first two starts, including a pick-six in the loss to Arkansas. Hill also drew the coach's ire for drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following his fourth-quarter touchdown run that put TCU up 28-20 with 2:05 remaining. Hill made a throat slash gesture that was captured by ESPN cameras.
The Razorbacks, given a short field after the Frogs kicked off from their own 20-yard line, moved 58 yards in four plays for the tying touchdown and two-point conversion. Moments later, Hill checked to a pass that fell incomplete (and nearly was intercepted) in the end zone instead of the called run to the middle of the field to set up Ryan Graf's 28-yard field-goal attempt that was blocked with 10 seconds remaining in regulation.
"He checked to it because of what they lined up in. No ... Not very happy," Patterson said. "Don't put people in harm's way."
TCU running back Kyle Hicks called the Arkansas loss especially tough because the team had rallied from a 20-7 deficit in the final 10 minutes to seize momentum before the late swoon.
"It hurts more ... because you know you had the game and let it slip away," Hicks said. "But it's over with. We'll have to make adjustments and get ready for the next game."
In retrospect, Patterson said he regrets letting offensive coaches talk him out of attempting a 2-point conversion when the score was 27-20. If successful, the nine-point lead would have sealed the game.
"They didn't feel like they had a good play for it," Patterson said.
But the bigger takeaway is the need to improve for the Big 12 opener.
"Great players make great plays. Good players make good plays. Bad players make bad plays," Patterson said. "We've got to be good, and then great."
