FWST: Fresh wrinkles lead to win, but TCU football still seeking answers

If nothing else, TCU football coach Gary Patterson proved to be a man of his word Saturday. Patterson promised he would have “a couple of surprises” in store for Iowa State in his team’s Big 12 conference opener at Amon G. Carter Stadium but did not elaborate during his weekly news conference.

Instead, he trotted out one of his team leaders, receiver Deante Gray, as a starting cornerback in place of Ranthony Texada. He had last week’s leading tackler, linebacker Sammy Douglas, yield his starting spot to Travin Howard before getting into the flow for something other than special teams duty late in the second quarter.

Perhaps the most welcomed fresh wrinkle: quarterback Kenny Hill did not punctuate his second-quarter touchdown run in Saturday’s 41-20 victory with an end-zone celebration that could be viewed as an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Instead, Hill tapped a few teammates’ helmets after putting the Horned Frogs ahead 17-7 with 7:22 remaining in the first half.