Drug scandal rocks TCU football program

TCU Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson (C) celebrates defeating the Wisconsin Badgers at the end of the 97th Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California January 1, 2011. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

According to several published reports, four football players were among 17 TCU students arrested on drug charges Wednesday. An arrest warrant for one of the players also alleges that at least three players were dealing drugs.

Three of the four players arrested were from Gary Patterson’s defense, including junior linebacker Tanner Brock, junior safety Devin Johnson, and junior defensive tackle D.J. Yendrey. Sophomore tackle Tyler Horn was the lone offensive player.

Brock entered the 2011 season as a starter and was regarded as one of the team’s best defenders after leading the Horned Frogs in tackles with 106 in 2010. But the former All-Mountain West player hurt his ankle in September and missed the rest of the season.

Here are more details about the arrest courtesy of an ESPN report:

The investigation continued for several months, and on Jan. 18, the officer asked to purchase a half-ounce of marijuana from Yendrey. The warrant states that Yendrey said he was out, but a friend could get the drugs. The officer then was able to buy marijuana from a man who turned out to be Brock.

The officer allegedly again bought marijuana from Brock a few days later. On Feb. 1, the officer was alerted by the TCU police force that the football team was surprised with a drug test. The officer contacted Brock and spoke about the test on the phone.

The officer went to Brock’s residence and bought $220 worth of marijuana, according to the warrant. The officer told Brock that the drug test was “bull—-,” and Brock responded, “I failed that b—- for sure.”

According to the warrant, Brock said that he wasn’t worried because there “would be about 60 people being screwed.” Brock is alleged to have said that he and Horn had looked over the TCU roster and concluded that only about 20 players could pass the test.

The officer then asked Brock if he could get him any Xanax or hydrocodone pills. According to the warrant, Brock said he knew a girl who could get them and that he used to buy pills from two other football players, but they had graduated.

Per the report, TCU released a statement late Wednesday afternoon that said the school tests its athletes for drug use “on a regular basis.” Thus, it’s unclear at this point whether or not Brock embellished the number of players that would have been able to pass the drug test.

Either way, TCU has become the latest college football program to come under major scrutiny.

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TCU forgets how to play defense

Baylor defeated TCU 50-48 in a thriller last night, finishing with 564 yards in total offense. TCU coach Gary Patterson had harsh words for his defense after the game, singling out the play of his corners, but he needs to look in the mirror as Lee Corso pointed out this morning on ESPN. TCU lost a bunch of players on defense from last year’s tough squad, and Patterson should have known he had weaker corners. He should known he had to play more conservative defense. Instead, he left his corners out there alone on an island and they got torched. Then he had the nerve to call them out after the game. His own arrogance got him in trouble but he won’t admit it.

Experience carries Boise State in the end

Maybe we should have seen it coming from the start: There was TCU, a college football juggernaut this season, wound as tight as a rubber band ball and failing miserably to shake the nerves.

Maybe we should have known that the 2010 Fiesta Bowl was going to play out exactly how it did. Boise State, the more experienced team, managed to limit its mistakes and stay within itself on its way to a 17-10 win on Monday night. TCU, a team playing in its first BCS bowl game, looked incredibly nervous from the start and seemingly couldn’t get out of its own way for four quarters.

Chris Petersen’s Broncos had been there before after shocking Oklahoma in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. They knew what playing in a BCS bowl was all about and they executed that way. They were the more settled team and they parlayed patience into a 7-0 lead when TCU made the first mistake of the game when Brandyn Thompson picked off Andy Dalton and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown.

What’s interesting is that wasn’t the best Boise State can look. Kellen Moore, who statistically was the best quarterback in the nation coming into the game, wasn’t particularly crisp and an offense that is predicated on consistency and rhythm looked out of sync from the start.

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TCU fails to prove that they deserved a crack at a national title

I wanted TCU to be successfully – I really did. I kept waiting for its high-powered offense to settle in and start lighting up the scoreboard like it had all season, and for the Frogs to make a definitive statement on national television that they deserved to at least be in the national title discussion.

But it never happened.

TCU’s 17-10 loss to Boise State in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl left little doubt that Glendale was all the Frogs deserved this year. Their No. 1 rated defense was good, but not great as Kellen Moore and the Broncos’ offense routinely moved the ball into TCU territory. Andy Dalton looked nervous the entire night and the same could be said for his offensive line and receivers.

The Frogs failed on many levels last night. They failed to move the ball, they failed to prove that they deserved better and they failed to entertain. I was one of the many who watched them dismantle Utah earlier in the year and think to myself, “Damn, this team is special. This team has something and it can contend with the big boys in the SEC, Big 12, etc.”

But they can’t, or at least, not based on what they showed last night. Special teams score more than 10 points in BCS bowl games when they averaged 35-plus during the regular season. Special teams have quarterbacks that can consistently throw the ball vertical with success. Special teams have receivers that can make plays and make routine catches in crunch time.

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TCU’s Gary Patterson named AP Coach of the Year

After leading TCU to its best season in 70 years, Gary Patterson was named the Associated Press Coach of the Year.

In a close vote released Wednesday, Patterson received 21 votes from the AP college football poll panel to edge Brian Kelly. The former Cincinnati coach, now with Notre Dame, received 19 votes and Alabama’s Nick Saban, who won the award last season, got 14 votes.

But he agreed to a new contract earlier this month intended to keep him at TCU through 2016. Patterson said TCU has everything he needs and he doesn’t think reaching the BCS means the job is done in Fort Worth.

“For us it’s been a dream come true, but we understand there’s a fine line between penthouse and outhouse,” he said. “People my thing we reached the pinnacle. No, we haven’t. We want to play for the national championship. We want to be the USC of Texas. The private school that competes for championships.”

The award is well deserved. Hopefully Patterson stays at TCU and continues to build a successful program – one that remains in national title contention, even if the BCS refuses to give them an opportunity to play for a championship.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

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