TCU Football, Matthew Baldwin win eligibility appeal

With a bye week on deck, Gary Patterson decided to throw reporters a bone during the post-game press conference following the Frogs’ 39-7 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday night, casually dropping the news that Matthew Baldwin’s waiver appeal had been granted. When asked how he felt about how the two quarterback rotation went in the season opener, he spoke of Mike Collins getting better and closer to playing and then added “I’m not sure, but I think my man Baldwin - his appeal was okayed. So he’s also eligible, so here we go.”

Baldwin, who is originally from the Austin area, came to TCU after one year at Ohio State where he redshirted as a true freshman. With a coaching change and the transfer in of Justin Fields, the former four star prospect looked for an opportunity to change his fortunes closer to home, landing in Fort Worth as a somewhat surprising late addition. He did not arrive healthy, though, undergoing a procedure prior to fall camp, and to this point is still limited. He has yet to be fully cleared to play, according to Patterson.

The Frogs played two quarterbacks in the season-opener, as redshirt senior Alex Delton and true freshman Max Duggan split snaps and alternated series. Though both had bright spots, both struggled at times, too - and Patterson made it clear that the competition is and will remain open until a candidate separates themself. With Collins expected to return from injury soon, and Justin Rogers still in the fold - but not fully healthy himself - we could be looking at more drama and intrigue before the Frogs next take the field in week three. Patterson knows it, and knows we will be talking about it. “So, I mean, that’s a whole new conversation for you guys to do since we have an off week. You can weave five of them into your conversation now.” He then quipped “in fact, I’m going to move a couple of them to safety. Maybe a couple will play nose guard.”

Hey, it seemed to work out for Ty Summers okay.