When he talks about the best defenses, TCU coach Gary Patterson usually points to three ingredients.
Toughness, smarts and speed.
For him, all three have been in abundant display in the Horned Frogs’ 2-0 start, which includes a shutout of Jackson State, an FBS school, and a smothering of SEC member Arkansas on the road.
“We’ve got some guys in our intelligence positions that are making good checks and doing things,” Patterson said. “Any time you get a defense to play hard and have a little smarts to it, then you’re going to have an opportunity to stop people.