MAKE PROPER
ADJUSTMENTS
By O.S. Hawkins
I was in the stands and personally
watched one of the most amazing
s p o r t i n g eve n t s o f a l l t i m e — t h e
greatest comeback in college football
bowl history. It took place at the
Alamo Bowl in 2016 between Oregon
and Texas Christian University (TCU),
both ranked in the top ten nationally.
Playing with a quarterback who had
never before started in a major college
football game, TCU found themselves
down 31–0 at halftime. Many of their
fans had given up hope and had headed
for the exits. Hundreds of thousands of
television viewers across the country
changed the channel or just turned off
their televisions. However, there was
one person who still believed, who still
held to the hope of a comeback even
when the situation looked so bleak.
72 • Solutions
Coach Gary Patterson took his team
into the locker room at halftime and
made some proper adjustments. He
changed the defensive scheme. He
instilled within his team the attitude
that it was never over until it was over.
Then he turned to his inexperienced
quarterback, Bram Kohlhausen, whose
father had recently died. The coach
looked into the young man’s face and
said, “Your dad has passed away, but
he is watching. Can you imagine if you
came back? Can you come back? Can
you go out there and win this football
game?” By the time halftime ended,
the TCU players practically broke the
locker room door down trying to get
back on the field.
The result of those halftime