Daily Skiff

Senior tailback Aaron Brown's suspension was lifted Saturday, just in time to beat longtime rival SMU. And he was back just in time to get a tune-up for the game against No. 2 Oklahoma this weekend.

While it is unfortunate the suspension of players has become a part of the modern game, coaches usually will say either what happened or for how long the suspension is.

But head coach Gary Patterson, by his own admission, chose to keep details of Brown's suspension under wraps in an effort to throw off defenses.

I can't think of another coach in the nation who has taken a player's suspension and turned it into an ingenious coaching ploy to keep opposing defenses off balance.

Patterson did a good job of keeping members of the media off balance by giving replies to the questions about the status of Brown with answers such as "I don't know" and "You'll see him when you see him."

Nothing against the play of Ryan Christian and Joseph Turner; they did a great job of carrying the workload in the backfield while Brown wasn't playing for a still unknown reason, but Brown had become known as one of the biggest playmakers and a fan favorite on this team.

It's one thing to not tip off opposing coaches and to dodge questions from a room full of journalists, but do the fans not deserve an honest understanding of the situation?

I get it.

Why risk losing your competitive edge on opponents for answers to questions that people who are spending time and money to support the Horned Frogs want to know?

Patterson's strategy of secrecy regarding one of his team's most explosive weapons did work in the first four games, as the Frogs outscored their opponents 172-31.

Sports editor Billy Wessels is a senior news-editorial journalism major from Waxahachie.

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