TCU coach: Mayfield hit Frog on purpose
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — TCU coach Gary Patterson said he doesn’t believe it was an errant or accidental pass that hit safety Niko Small in the head as he went on the field for pregame warmups the last time the Horned Frogs played Oklahoma.
Patterson also took exception to how Sooners coach Lincoln Riley responded about quarterback Baker Mayfield nailing Small, a TCU starter who has missed the past two games since playing that night in Norman.
Responding to questions last week after a video surfaced showing Mayfield hitting a TCU player with a pass during warmups Nov. 11, Riley said TCU ran right through the middle of Oklahoma warmups and added, “When you do that, things like that can happen.”
Patterson said there was a crowded sideline. “They had a great recruiting weekend that weekend,” he said, adding that a stadium official didn’t even know which way to send the Horned Frogs.
“Even as the head coach, I had to go through their warmup lines to get down to our end of the field,” Patterson said. “I wouldn’t have said anything if Coach Riley wouldn’t have said that.”
Patterson he “didn’t really appreciate” that Riley implied TCU was in the wrong. Patterson spoke Tuesday in advance of Saturday’s rematch in the Big 12 Championship game.
Small had a season-high nine tackles and forced a fumble in TCU’s 38-20 loss but hasn’t played since. Patterson, who has never elaborated on why Small was out, said the safety is expected to play Saturday.
When explaining why he didn’t believe it was an accident that one of his players got hit, Patterson mentioned Texas Tech, where Mayfield, Riley and TCU co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie all were quarterbacks. Mayfield transferred to Oklahoma, while Riley and Cumbie also had stints as coaches at Tech.
“It was common practice. There was a Texas Tech pretty wellknown quarterback that hit a guy from A&M in the head and they all thought it was funny, to throw balls and do those kind of things back in those days,” Patterson said, never mentioning any names.
While there shouldn’t be any issues Saturday at AT&T Stadium, where the teams generally come out of their locker rooms on different sides, Patterson said he has told his players to keep their mouths shut.
“We’re going to play a game Saturday and hopefully it’ll be two football teams that are playing with high intensity the right way without talking,” Patterson said.