TCU News: “I don’t look at it as pressure. I look at it like I’m supposed to be here.”

Football:

Made for greatness: How Jalen Reagor’s upbringing propelled him to stardom at TCU | Sports Day

Patterson has long said that Reagor is an offensive player with a defensive mentality. That has done him well at TCU.

“When I catch the ball, I’m a running back,” Jalen said. “I’m not a typical receiver when I catch the ball. I didn’t feel out of order. It felt like football .... anything you need me to do I’ll do it, no problem.”

And he has a loyal army -- some on the field, many more watching from the stands -- behind his back. How often he makes highlight-reel plays this fall may very well determine how well TCU bounces back from a bumpy 2018 -- a year in which Jalen’s heroics were just enough to get the team bowl eligible.

“I think the most important thing, as we saw last year, is his growth as a leader on offense,” TCU co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie said. “He has his dad’s mentality.”

TCU felt like home to new commit Jimmy Holiday | 247 Sports

Oh, a recruit felt at home at TCU? Color me shocked. But painting the trees purple? That’s next level stuff, Jimmy’s grandmother.

“They were all fired up about it; I spoke to them ahead a time and they are ready for me enroll in December,” Holiday said.

The Frogs won a huge recruiting battle landing Holiday over Ole Miss and Mississippi State. It’s not typical that a player from the state leaves when he has an offer from the in-state programs. Although he’s going a little further from home, he says he has the full support of his family.

“(They’re) very, very excited. My parents are happy that I’m happy and my grandma is painting all the trees in our yard purple,” Holiday finished.

The Top Sleepers in College Football’s Most Wide-Open Divisions | Yahoo Sports

The pieces are certainly there. But come on, man, I think about the Cheez-It Bowl ALL THE TIME and smile each one.

TCU Horned Frogs (last season: 7–6, beat Cal in Cheez-It Bowl)

I’m guessing you probably wish you never had to think about the ugliness that was TCU’s bowl win last year (at least if you watched any of it) ever again. Nine combined interceptions are, in a word, horrific. But the Horned Frogs are a team that have three New Year’s Six bowl victories this decade and are just two years removed from an 11-win season.

The Big 12 shouldn’t be some juggernaut this year outside of favorites Oklahoma and Texas, both of whom could always slip up. TCU will get the opportunity to host the Longhorns after the mid-October Red River Rivalry game, meaning a win in Fort Worth could give Gary Patterson’s team the chance to control its own destiny. Wideout Jalen Reagor will look to build on a 2018 campaign in which he earned second-team all-conference honors, as the Horned Frogs have no choice but to rebound from a year in which their offense was one of the worst in the Big 12.

TCU HC Gary Patterson happy with progress so far in fall camp | Horned Frog Blitz

Everything looks pretty sharp so far.

From the defensive line to the safeties, there’s not a slow player on the defense. When asked if this is the fastest defense he’s coached Patterson stopped short of saying it’s the fastest, but it’s very fast. He feels both sides of the ball have speed guys.

“I think both sides (have); you’ve got some guys that can go run,” he said.

Perhaps the fastest of the bunch is receiver Jalen Reagor. That speed was on display on Saturday as none of the defensive backs were successful covering him during the one-on-one portion of practice. It’s a plus to have someone like Reagor to cover, it helps the defense get better according to Patterson.

“We flip the corners every day, each of them has to cover Reagor. Everybody gets Reagor work.”