LISTEN! KillerFrogs Podcast Episode 182: Taking The Next Step

Sean Foushee, Nick Howard, Nathan Hernandez, and Shannon Brazzell discuss TCU's big win over UT on Saturday

The Frogs win on the biggest stage of the season, 17-10, against the #18 Texas Longhorns, not only in front of the second largest crowd in DKR history but on prime time network TV, earning the college football ratings win of the weekend. Shannon (Brazzell), Nathan (Hernandez), Nick (Howard), and Sean (Foushee) talk about the amazing performance by the defense, Max’s toughness, the determination of the offense, and how this team is poised to take the next big step for this program.

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48:40

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The podcast begins with a discussion of TCU’s victory over No. 18 University of Texas Longhorns, at what “was billed as the second biggest crowd in DKR history, and the Number One-rated game on TV.”

Brazzell is the first to contribute. “I’ve been saying from a team standpoint, both defenses both played well. It would be about the first defense to crack. And ours did not crack . . . we shut down the No. 1 draft pick running back.”

Foushee agrees, saying: “We were wanting the defense to figure things out in that first half. I think we can all agree that the 17-10 final score is not indicative of how that game went. The defense only gave up 3 points.”

Regarding the defensive performance, Hernandez contributes: “Quinn Ewers, there’s been talk about whether he’s really good, but he didn’t complete a pass until the second quarter. He was 0 for 8, and we rattled him early on. I think the cold weather had something to do with that, but we ran the football effectively and they didn’t. We were just way more physical than they were.”

Foushee brings Howard in by pointing out that Dee Winters was nowhere to be found in the game. Howard says: “They’ve got guys that are always there. That’s what Sonny Dykes has trained these guys for the whole year for . . . for the next man to step up. Nobody’s jealous of who’s going out. It’s the next man up mentality. That’s always been TCU’s culture . . . is the next man up mentality. You see it early this year with Chandler getting hurt, here comes Max Duggan. Nobody’s hanging their heads, they just go out there, and play team ball. And do what they need to do.”

Regarding Duggan, Foushee says: “It wasn’t a stellar night for either quarterback. How do you feel about Duggan’s determination in this game?”

“What else can you say about his determination?" Howard replies.  "He keeps proving it, night after night, that he doesn’t care about his career after this. He just cares about winning for TCU right now. It’s good to see a quarterback like that, taking charge, staying level-headed, and going out there and making sure he’s keeping his guys level-headed as well.”

Foushee discusses Texas’ scoop-and-score vis-à-vis Duggan’s postgame interview. “He gave credit to that defense and the rest of the guys by saying I’m just glad I’m surrounded by these guys who bailed me out.” Addressing Brazzell, Foushee poses
that's "got to count for something in that locker room.”

Brazzell responds: “It’s the whole family factor. Those guys . . . they love their quarterback. They see what he puts out week in and week out. They’re going to play for a guy like that. Because they see him running through a brick wall week in, week out, so they’ve got his back. I think the defense was playing for Max, because they saw what he was going through . . . Max, he hung in there and did what he had to do. And those guys respect him. And you’ll play your heart out for someone you respect.”

Returning to defense, Foushee asks Brazzell how proud he is of the defensive linebackers, relative to Winters’ absence. Brazzell responds: “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t really notice it until they panned in on him (Winters) on the sideline. And it’s not a knock. That’s what you want to say. He wasn’t missed. If he was missing then we wouldn’t have any depth. We wouldn’t have anybody who could step up and play and take his spot. But those guys were playing. It was a beautiful thing to see. I finally saw the full scope of how our defense was supposed to work. It was beautiful. The linebacker core did great.”

Patterson gets discussed briefly. Regarding a perceived awkwardness of Patterson and his former players, Hernandez says: “I expected it. He recruited guys like Max. Spent a lot of time here with them, trying to develop them, invested in their future. It’s a hard situation regardless. I’m sure he doesn’t blame the players for his leaving. I think he genuinely wants to see the best out of some of those players that he helped recruit and bring in. Especially a guy like Max, a guy who you really can’t root against.”

The guys turn their attention to Dykes and his 10 consecutive wins, a record for a first-time head coach. Brazzell says: “The kids are responding to him. He’s saying things that they respond to. Whatever he came in and said to the first players, they bought in. And then with inviting everybody back and making them feel involved . . . it’s awesome. The formula works . . . I was speaking to a young lady who’s from Texas, she said something about your team is special. She couldn’t put her hand on it either, just like we couldn’t! It’s beautiful to see. You’ve gotta start with the top, with Coach Dykes, and go all the way down to the players.”

Speaking on behalf of his class of 2014, Hernandez says: “Coming from my class where we got screwed over by the playoff committee and were always overlooked, we love it, we love the attention they’re finally able to get. Big Noon Kickoff is going to be at Baylor this week. That’s four hosting shows this season. When we got ranked at No. 7, it was kind of expected—they just don’t respect as much as they should. But they can’t hide from what the truth is forever.”

Big Noon Playoff allows for a good transition to Kirk Herbstreit. Foushee says: “You could literally see the man breaking on camera as the quarters ticked away. It was beautiful.”

“He lost some money,” Howard says.

“He’s one of those guys that you don’t want to watch the game if your team is losing," Hernandez says.  "You don’t’ want to hear him talk about it.”

Foushee continues: “It was maddening to hear him even in the fourth quarter when Bijan (Robinson) had twenty yards to his name. But by the end of the night he wasn’t even touching that anymore. I just loved watching the man break on national television. It was a sight to behold and I’m here for it.”

The podcast ends with Baylor, predictions and what to expect. When asked what his prediction for Saturday is, Howard says: “You know I don’t ever take these predictions seriously, man. I’m going to go with the Baptist Bears scoring 45 with Too Cold University scoring 35.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Brazzell interrupts, humorously. “I know you don’t take it serious. But you saw how our defense played and you’re talking about 45 points. How do we go from that to this?”

“It’s a reverse psychology thing,” Foushee proposes.

“I’ve been doing it all year,” Howard says. “45-35, Too Cold University.”

Brazzell says: “I’m going to go week-to-week with what I see. I don’t think the offensive line will play badly two weeks in a row. I don’t think Max is going to go another first quarter without a touchdown pass. I’m going to go with TCU 37-17, how about that?”

Nathan’s prediction is “TCU, 35-21,” recognizing that “It will be close for a lot of it.”

Foushee concludes: “There was something I saw out of that team on Saturday. They’ve bought in. But I think they now believe in each other. I agree with Shannon, I don’t think Max is going to have the same game twice, especially against this defense. I’m going to say TCU 45, and Baylor 13.” 

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