TCU Sets High Goal

FORT WORTH, TX — TCU is about to start its chase of the national championship but reminders of last season still haunt the program.

The Horned Frogs were left out of the four-team College Football Playoff and finished with a 12-1 record. The lesson is that there is only one way to ensure a spot.

That’s to never lose.

“Our key is to control our own destiny and the best way to do that is to try to win them all,” TCU coach Gary Patterson told reporters. “That’s what we’re going to try to get done. Then we’ll see how everything else falls.”

A 61-58 loss to Baylor kept the Horned Frogs out of the playoffs. The two teams will meet on Nov. 27 in a contest that might keep one team in the national championship picture.

The Horned Frogs began their pursuit with Thursday’s season-opening game at Minnesota. The offense is again loaded as 10 starters return, including quarterback Trevone Boykin — a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy.

But Boykin isn’t interested in resting on his laurels. He’s putting subtle pressure on his teammates to make sure they understand there’s a lot of work to get done.

“You can always improve,” Boykin said. “We weren’t perfect last year. If you feel like you’ve mastered everything, you’re wrong. I feel I have plenty of places to improve.”

While the offense is solid, TCU is young on defense and it will be the improvement of that unit that will most likely influence the direction of the season.