PHOENIX – When Texas Christian joined the Big 12 this season, the competition stiffened and the record slipped. At the same time, the Horned Frogs could not have been happier about the move.
After a vagabondian 20 years on the periphery, TCU is back where it feels it belongs – in a power conference where national respect is a natural byproduct of success. That was not always the case in the Mountain West, where the Horned Frogs dominated without the commensurate recognition.
“This is what we wanted,” TCU senior guard Blaize Foltz said. "We wanted to be taken seriously. We wanted the Big 12. We got what we asked for. You always strive to be the best, and you can’t do that without going against the best. To have Big 12 beside your name, it’s a big deal."
TCU (7-5) will extend its school-record bowl run with its eighth straight bowl appearance in the inaugural Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl against Michigan State (6-6) at Sun Devil Stadium on Friday in a game that will match coaches and good friends Gary Patterson of TCU and Mark Dantonio of Michigan State.
The Horned Frogs are in the midst of a strong -- if not quite properly rewarded -- stretch under Patterson, who builds through defense. TCU is one of three teams to have won six bowl games in the last seven years, joining Florida and Utah, and its senior class has won 43 games over the last five seasons, rivaling the Andy Dalton-led group for the best in school history.
Yet since the Southwest Conference broke up in 1994, it has been difficult for TCU to find a national platform -- that held true even as Dalton took undefeated teams into the 2010 Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium and the 2011 Rose Bowl. The Horned Frogs were 12-1 and finished sixth in the final AP poll the first time and 13-0 with a No. 2 ranking the second time.
The 2010-11 season was the last 20 in microcosm. The Horned Frogs led the FBS in defense that year, but there was neither a sniff of interest nor a public outcry when the other two unbeatens, Auburn and Oregon, met in the BCS title game. All TCU could do was beat No. 4 Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl to cap its unforgettable year.
“It was kind of hard to play for a national championship in the Mountain West. We were 13-0 and barely got to the Rose Bowl,” senior linebacker Kenny Cain said.
“I feel like we are kind of a team that was a diamond in the rough. I felt like we needed that exposure to show we can play week in and week out. We didn’t get the respect. We try not to worry about the outside world. We know what we are capable of. But that is a good thing for us personally. They used to give us stuff about being the No. 1 defense in the Mountain West. We came in the Big 12 and still retained the title.”
Indeed. The transition was a little rocky because the Frogs had to change quarterbacks five weeks into the season, as two-year starter Cody Pachall left the program to tend to personal business and redshirt freshman Trevone Boykin was forced to step in. Boykin lost his first start but engineered victories over West Virginia and Texas, the Horned Frogs’ first victory over the Longhorns since 1967. It was the signature victory of 2012, with TCU demonstrating it could play with anyone.
“I’m going to probably get home some time tomorrow and go out in the street and yell,” Patterson said afterward.
The defense, as it had been through the Frogs’ time in the Western Athletic Conference, Conference-USA and the Mountain West, was a constant this season, even with only one senior (Cain) in the starting lineup.
TCU ranked first in the wide-open Big 12 in seven defensive categories, including the big two, total defense and rushing defense. The Horned Frogs also are at the top of the national rankings in seven categories, including interceptions and turnovers gained. They entered the bowl season third with 21 interceptions and sixth with 32 takeaways.
“Leading the conference in defense in a league where they say you can’t play any defense was good for us,” Patterson said.
TCU has led the FBS in total defense five times in the last 12 seasons and is tied with Alabama for the most times leading the nation in that category since statistics were first kept in 1937.
“The thing that’s most impressive about TCU is their longevity in paying defense,” Dantonio said. "That comes from structure, attention to detail, coaching. Coach Patterson has had that reputation for a long, long time. They are built on defense."
TCU’s move already has paid dividends off the field, too. Amon Carter Stadium underwent a $164 million renovation paid for entirely by donors, and attendance is up. So, of course, is TV revenue. So is exposure. Instead of maybe one or two national TV appearances a season, there are double that. Recruiting is less of an obstacle in the fertile Texas area inasmuch as players would rather stay close to home and play against friends than undertake road trips to Fresno, Calif., and Fort Collins, Colo.
“The interesting thing is, perception-wise, I think we gained more respect being 7-5 than we did at 11-2 last year,” Patterson said. "Probably even in our fan base. In people’s minds, they didn’t know whether we could compete. A bit of doubt as to whether we could do it on a week-to-week basis. I think our kids showed we could do that."
Patterson figures it will take three or four years -- after a trip or two to each opponent and continued recruiting success -- to fully integrate. His general approach to the move was straight football, building on the success of the recent past.
“What I told them is, 'Don’t give the other team too much credit,'" Patterson said. "I think the one thing they’re learning out of all of this ... (is) to understand that we’ve got some good players, too."
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