How many losses can the TCU defense withstand?

Dan Wolken | USA TODAY Sports

Show Caption Hide Caption Week 3 Campus Conclusions USA TODAY Sports' George Schroeder breaks down a big weekend of college football.

The TCU season began with an assumption, and it was a pretty good one. Gary Patterson, the greatest defensive head coach of our generation — and yes, that label acknowledges Nick Saban is part of this generation — would be able to recalibrate and reinvent the way he has nearly a dozen times since 2001.

Whether it was losing starters from one year to the next, changing conferences or scheming against new offensive systems, TCU always had Patterson to move some people around, coach 'em up and get stops by any means necessary.

But even genius has its limits, and they are being tested in ways that could ultimately leave the Horned Frogs heartbroken again.

With sky-high expectations of winning the Big 12 and breaking through to the College Football Playoff, No. 2 TCU is facing a personnel crisis bordering on insane three weeks into the season.

Already challenged by the loss of six starters who helped lead TCU to a 12-1 record a year ago, the Horned Frogs appear to be in dire straits heading into Saturday's game at Texas Tech.

The latest development came Monday night when senior defensive end Mike Tuaua (along with a freshman receiver) was charged with robbery with bodily injury after being accused of attacking a student and stealing a case of Keystone Light beer, leaving his status in doubt.

This development follows Saturday's win against SMU in which the Horned Frogs gave up 37 points and lost cornerback Ranthony Texada for the season. It was yet another blow to a defense which already lost defensive end James McFarland, linebacker Sammy Douglas and safety Kenny Iloka to season-ending injuries and linebacker Mike Freeze to a leave of absence. Meanwhile, TCU's most experienced defensive player, Davion Pierson, has yet to play this season at tackle due to a head injury, though he may be back soon.

"This program has been around for awhile, and we've had guys step up whether it's been injuries during the season (or other issues)," Patterson said. "I don't know if I've ever been a part of losing so many starters, especially this early, but you have to be careful about talking about it too much. Now we're going into Big 12 play, and you really need to be thinking about Texas Tech because there's not anything more you can do about the rest of it."

The bottom line, though, is that TCU is already dangerously close to going from college football's best story to its biggest sob story.

Though they're 3-0, the Horned Frogs have not been overly impressive in beating Minnesota or SMU, which got as close as 42-37 in the fourth quarter before TCU's offense put the game away.

It was the kind of game that makes you wonder whether TCU's threshold to withstand these injuries has already been breached and if it's just a matter of time before it translates into a loss.

The Horned Frogs' opponent Saturday has scored 59, 69 and 35 points in its three games, the latest of which was a victory at Arkansas. Even at full strength, it's a game that would challenge TCU's defense this early in the season. Now, with Patterson relying on backups and players who have switched positions, TCU may need to match the 82 points it scored against Texas Tech last season.

"You just plug the next guy in," Patterson said

Maybe it's that simple for Patterson, who has taken TCU from nowhere to national contender through his sheer genius. But for all the world, it sure looks like he's headed for one of those luckless seasons where the promise of what could have been never quite materializes.

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