Casey Pachall's growth as TCU QB: Forged by uncertainty, refined by failure

The greatest leaders are forged in the heat of uncertainty and refined by failure. TCU quarterback Casey Pachall glanced at the scoreboard during his first career college start and saw his team down 24 points to in-state rival Baylor. Pachall did the only thing he knew to do: fight back. Pachall and the Horned Frog offense scored 25 straight points to take a lead late in the 4th quarter. But it ultimately wasn't enough. A drive deep into Bear territory ended with an incomplete pass by Pachall and a field goal. Another drive - this one to ultimately win the game - ended with a Pachall interception. Fast forward one month. The Frogs once again find themselves trailing an in-state rival heading into the final frame. This time, it's SMU: a team TCU has not lost to since 2005, and a team that has not won in Amon Carter Stadium since 1993. Once again, the defense had all kinds of trouble stopping a potent passing attack. Once again, Pachall found himself trailing by double digits heading into the final frame. And once again, Pachall rallied the troops. The Frogs scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, the last of them on a touchdown pass from Pachall to fullback Luke Shivers with 1:16 on the clock to force overtime. TCU could not keep the Mustangs out of the end zone on the first possession of overtime. Trailing 33-26, Pachall faced a 4th-and-2 to keep TCU's chances of winning alive. He fired a dart to freshman wideout Brandon Carterbut Carter couldn't hang on, and the Mustangs shocked the Frogs in their own stadium. Forced by uncertainty. Refined by failure. Those two losses seem like a lifetime ago after Pachall threw for 473 yards and five touchdowns in a monumental upset of Boise State on the blue turf. The sophomore gunslinger garnered national player of the week honors from several outlets, and his play helped put TCU back on the map, both as a Mountain West Conference champion for the third consecutive season and as an outside contender for a spot in the BCS. Facing a hostile crowd in Boise dogging him for his unique appearance -- Pachall shaved "TCU" and his number (4) into his hair before the game, and has tattoos covering most of his right arm -- the Frogs' quarterback could have shrank from the moment. Instead, he embraced the ribbing, going back and forth with the Bronco fans in Boise. It came as no surprise to senior guard Kyle Dooley, who said Pachall performs better with the deck stacked against him. "Everyone talks about going from the prototypical quarterback look of Andy to the way Casey looks. People are going to rag on him. They're going to dog on him and everything. But Casey just wants to prove everybody wrong," Dooley said. "He's going to be a great quarterback. He already is a great quarterback." Dooley said Pachall's personality is closely aligned with his blockers: although he has plenty of confidence, he doesn't allow his emotions to overwhelm his decision-making. It explains why Pachall, despite not pulling out victories against Baylor or SMU, rallied his team to beat the Bears and Mustangs by a combined score of 48-9 in the fourth quarter. "Casey's a lot like our offensive line. He's a real laid back person, a real laid back quarterback on and off the field," Dooley said. "When things are going well, he's obviously amped up. But when things are going bad, he's right there with us, saying he's not worried about it and everything's going to take care of itself. We're going pick it up; we're going to hit highs and lows during the game. So he's really not that affected." Previously, Pachall and the offense talked about the need to stay focused for an entire game. "I feel like we get a little too relaxed whenever we get out there," Pachall said after TCU beat Louisiana-Monroe earlier this season. "That's going to get fixed. With all of us being young, you've got to keep everybody going for all 60 minutes." The Boise victory seemed to be a culmination of all that the Frogs were working toward. TCU could have headed downhill in a hurry at the beginning of the second half, when a fumble by receiver Antoine Hicks was returned for a touchdown. Another score by the Broncos extended their lead to 28-20, and things looked bleak for the Frogs. But drawing on past experiences and an innate toughness -- forged from uncertainty and refined by past failures -- Pachall marched the Frogs down the field on a nine-play, 86-yard drive for a touchdown. Then Pachall bootlegged to his right, absorbed a hit and stretched over the goalline for the two-point conversion to tie the game. It was a drive that saved the Frogs' chances and showed how far the entire offense had come since its bouts with inconsistency at the beginning of the year. Head coach Gary Patterson, always calculating and careful in analyzing his players, said he is not surprised at Pachall's success, but needs to see Pachall continue to perform consistently. "We handled Andy Dalton the same way. We don't make him be somebody special," Patterson said. "You manage ballgames. Get the ball in the hands of the people who are supposed to get it. We ran slant-and-go's: they (Boise State) bit on them, and we threw it over their heads. It's as simple as that." "As we all know, when guys play well in big ballgames, then we make them more than that. But he still has two more games, plus a bowl game, plus two more years after that," Patterson said. "We'll see how he handles that, and if he handles it the right way, then TCU has a chance to win a lot more football gamesand maybe even more games than people are giving us credit for to win in the Big 12." Patterson noted that Pachall, an early enrollee from Brownwood (Tex.) High School, had three spring and summer sessions on campus to learn the offense before he assumed the starting role. Pachall also had the benefit of learning from Dalton, one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play at a university with a rich history of legendary passers. "It does feel like I've been here a long time," Pachall said. "I've learned a lot since I've been here...what I took from Andy is how he conducted himself, on and off the field. The poise he had whenever things might have looked a little bleak; the way he reacted. And then the way he performed under pressure really stood out to me." Assuming the starting role after Dalton's unprecedented run of success could have been intimidating for a guy like Pachall, who had only attempted nine career passes at TCU before the 2011 season. Andy Dalton was a beloved figure at TCU who kept his hair cut short and said all the right things. But Pachall has made it clear from the start that although he respects and credits Dalton with providing a perfect example of how to thrive as a college quarterback, Casey Pachall is his own person. Regardless of what opposing fans may say about his appearance, Pachall is comfortable in his own skin. "I can't let that get to me," Pachall said earlier this season. "All I do is think about playing football like I have my entire life, because people are going to say what they want, whether it's good or bad. I just focus on playing ball." "It's fun to hear all that kind of stuff," Dooley said about the back-and-forth between Pachall and opposing fans. "You have to look at the kind of person Casey is. Casey's the kind of person who wants to prove everybody wrong. Everyone says, Oh, he's never going to be like Andy.'" "He's probably going to be better than Andy, I feel."