TCU coach Gary Patterson hasn’t lost his edge. He hasn’t lost his fastball. He’s been in this position before where outsiders feel the game has caught up to his defense.

“I don’t pay attention to that. They told me that in 2004,” Patterson said. “If you go back and look at some articles, Jim Reeves, everybody has caught up with Gary Patterson’s defense. Just go back and look at the articles.”

We did.

The article Patterson vividly remembers ran in the Star-Telegram on Nov. 20, 2004 by the great Jim “Revo” Reeves. It came under the headline, “This Frog Song Too Familiar,” as TCU sat at 4-5 with the nation’s worst pass defense.

In the column, Reeves wrote about “two key criticisms are particularly galling, perhaps because they strike too close to the truth.”

“One is that teams are catching up to Patterson’s pride and joy, his defensive schemes,” Reeves wrote. “He spent much time this week defending his system.”

That year’s TCU team went on to finish last in the NCAA in passing defense, the only school that allowed more than 300 yards passing a game. The Frogs finished 5-6 on the season, missing a bowl game a year after going 11-2.

Patterson remembers that season — and column — all too well.

“We ended up last in pass defense in the nation in 2004 — 117th at the time,” he said on Tuesday.

Patterson then rattled off other years where people questioned his defense and abilities.

“I can go back to 2001, 2004, 2013, 2018,” he said. “Let me just tell you this — if they want to be with the chalk last they can come in and get on the board with me if they want to. At the end of the day, nobody has more energy. I will tell you this, I’ve forgotten a lot of football.

“For us, we have to find a way to win one. We’ve been close in two ballgames at the end of the day. But, in this day and age, I wouldn’t tell you 61 is old. Maybe some people think it’s old but it comes down to how you act and what you do. Most can’t do that where they work until 1 a.m. and get up at 6 a.m. and do it four days a week and still be so pleasant like I am.”

Patterson chuckled at the last line. After all, he’ll be the first to remind people there is “Gary” off the field and “Coach P” on the field.

But Patterson reiterated that nobody hates losing more than him. He loves to tell his players that they have to learn to hate losing more than they like to win.

“You guys know how bad of a loser I am. I hate losing,” he said. “The kids are frustrated about it.”

Patterson then went on a tangent about his own frustrations with the TCU fan base selling prime seats to opposing fans.

This isn’t the first time Patterson has expressed his displeasure with Amon G. Carter Stadium having opposing fans in good seats.

“I’m frustrated that we let Longhorn fans sit down on the first row of our stadium, but I can’t do anything,” he said. “Until we change that I’m not going to worry about it anymore. A lot of people are doing it so they pay for their tickets and sell them. I get it all. There’s a lot of sacrifices that are made if you want to win championships and mine is to win ballgames. If I do, maybe that doesn’t happen.”

Well, maybe it’s not a bad thing that TCU is headed on the road for the first time this weekend. The Frogs (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) are set to face Texas Tech (4-1, 1-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday in Lubbock.

TCU boasts the fifth-most road victories in the country since 2009 with 44.

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