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TCU coach Gary Patterson was quick to provide his fourth-ranked Horned Frogs a fresh example about the danger of overlooking an opponent.
''I told them in the Sunday meeting we didn't need to be the next Ole Miss losing to another Ohio Valley school,'' Patterson said Tuesday.
TCU (1-0), up two spots in the new AP Top 25 poll, plays its home opener Saturday against Tennessee Tech of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Golden Eagles (0-1) are in the same league as Jacksonville State, which pulled off one of the biggest opening weekend shockers with its double-overtime victory at Mississippi.
''Not very long, not very long,'' receiver Bart Johnson said when asked how long it took Patterson to reference the SEC team's loss.
TCU may have already crossed one of its biggest hurdles to another undefeated regular season with the 30-21 victory Saturday over then-No. 24 Oregon State. But Patterson isn't going to let his team overlook Tennessee Tech - or anybody else. He still has memories of his first home game as TCU's head coach in 2001, a 27-24 overtime loss to Northwestern State.
''I still remember what I felt about that one,'' Patterson said. ''I thought I was going to be cleaning my office out that Sunday.''
Since that 2001 loss to Northwestern State, TCU has had little problem with FCS teams, those formerly known as Division I-AA. The Frogs beat UC Davis 46-13 in 2006, Stephen F. Austin 67-7 two years ago and Texas State 56-21 last September. All of those were home openers.
Patterson will point out, though, that only Utah scored more points last season against TCU than Texas State.
Tennessee Tech, coached by Watson Brown, is coming off a season-opening 44-3 loss at No. 14 Arkansas of the SEC. The Golden Eagles didn't have a turnover in the game, and led 3-0 after the first quarter. It turns out that one of Patterson's first coaching jobs was as a graduate assistant at Tennessee Tech while working on a masters in educational administration that he finished in 1984.
He has now made it to his 10th season as a head coach, and the Frogs finally became a BCS buster last year with their first undefeated regular season since their only national championship in 1938. The Frogs realize they likely will have to have another undefeated regular season for another BCS chance after losing to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl last season.
Boise State is still third in the AP poll after its comeback 33-30 victory over then-No. 10 Virginia Tech on Monday night. The Broncos are the only team from a league without an automatic BCS bid ranked higher than TCU.
Patterson insists he wasn't rooting against Boise State, which next year is moving to the Mountain West Conference.
''I had to root for Boise,'' Patterson said. ''They're going to come in the conference. You had to root for Boise (even though) they could hurt us.''
TCU and Boise State will face each other during the regular season each year once the Broncos are part of the MWC.
''I'm excited about it. We get a chance to play them every year,'' Patterson said. ''I'd rather have somebody that I get a chance to play on the field, and control my own destiny, than somebody that I'm going to compete with in the polls.''
