TCU coach Gary Patterson seems to be more animated first thing in the morning, or at least he was during Monday's 8 a.m. practice in the Sam Baugh Indoor Practice Facility.
Patterson was all over his defense when QB Andy Dalton found Jimmy Young in the endzone on the first play of the red-zone drills. Patterson said he'd take the blame for that TD because, "it was actually a bad call on my part," but it was such a nice catch by Young that there wasn't much anybody could have done.
Later, backup QB Marcus Jackson and receiver Alonzo Adams connected for a TD pass, then TB Jercell Fort made his way into the endzone on a run.
"I was happy with the offense in the red zone, but I wasn't happy with the offense in "May day,"" Patterson said. "We were the No. 1 defense in the red zone in the nation last year, so that expectation level is a lot different than how they just played."
Red Zone defense is not actually an official NCAA stat, and the Frogs were third in the Mountain West last year in red zone defense... Patterson was probably referring to 2006 when TCU was No. 1 in the MWC in that category. They gave up only nine TDs in 26 trips to the redzone that season. The Frogs were No. 1 in the league in 2005 as well (giving up 15 TDs on 37 possessions).
... Redshirt freshman Braylon Broughton, who was already named the preseason Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, had two sacks on QB Marcus Jackson in the morning practice. "He picked it up a notch," Patterson said. "He was really tired at the end of the week. The day off really did him some good."
... Freshman K Ross Evans missed a 50-yard field goal at one point during practice, but then he nailed three consecutively from 37 yards right down the middle. Sophomore Kevin Sharples made his field goal try from 50 and also hit all three from 37 yards.
... Monday morning provided the first real good fracus of practice. LB Robert Henson and DE Clarence Leatch got into it for just a moment while the defense was getting through the frustration of the red zone drills. Henson came up from a few of the plays yelling at his teammates to give more and practice harder so they could improve (in not so many words...)
-- Mercedes Mayer
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