By Tom C. "Midnite" Burke
Welcome to the Big 12, Andy Avalos.
Indeed, it was a rude welcoming for Avalos to big-time college football as the first-year defensive coordinator for TCU, a position he moved into prior to this season after he was fired as Boise State’s head football coach.
Avalos’ Horned Frogs’ defense was shredded by UCF (Central Florida) in a startling 35-34 comeback victory by the Knights on Saturday, September 14, before an announced sellout crowd of 48,889 (seventh-largest in TCU football history) in historic Amon G. Carter Stadium and a national, prime-time FOX Sports audience.
It also was TCU’s first loss of the season, with the Frogs falling to 2-1 overall, 0-1 in the Big 12.
TCU’s next game is against SMU, in Gerald J. Ford Stadium, in Dallas (life’s too short to live in Dallas!), on Saturday, September 21. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 pm (Central). The game will be televised by The CW.
In improving to 3-0 and 1-0 in the Big 12, UCF amassed 519 offensive yards (289 rushing, 230 passing) against a TCU defense that was hoped to be much improved under Avalos, but which was no match for the Knights’ experienced offensive stars, including fifth-year running back RJ Harvey, a transfer from the University of Virginia.
Against the Frogs, Harvey continued UCF’s top rushing attack in the nation with 29 carries for 180 yards and two touchdowns. The 180 rushing yards were the third most in FBS games for the week. Harvey also caught a 29-yard pass for a touchdown to eclipse 200 total yards.
For his performance against TCU, Harvey was named the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week.
Here are the results of other games last weekend that featured Big 12 teams:
- Arizona State (3-0) 31 at Texas State 28
- UNLV 23 at Kansas (1-2) 20
- Arizona (2-1) 7 at #13 Kansas State 31 (3-0) (non-conference game)
- West Virginia (1-2) 34 at Pittsburgh 38
- #12 Utah (3-0) 38 at Utah State 21
- Colorado (2-1) 28 at Colorado State 9
- Rice 7 at Houston (1-2) 33
- BYU (3-0) 34 at Wyoming 14
- Air Force 3 at Baylor (2-1) 31
- Cincinnati (2-1) 27 at Miami (Ohio) 16
- North Texas 21 at Texas Tech (2-1) 66
- #14 Oklahoma State (3-0) 45 at Tulsa 10
- #20 Iowa State (2-0) (bye)
It was in the second half of the game against UCF that TCU’s defense was particularly bad, allowing the Knights to average 8.4 yards per play and storm back to victory after they had trailed 21-7 at halftime, 28-7 early in the third quarter and 31-13 near the end of the third quarter.
From the 5:03 mark in the third quarter until the end of the game, UCF’s offense outscored the Horned Frogs 22-3 to cast a pall over Amon G. Carter Stadium and Fort Worth.
Kendal Briles, in his second year as offensive coordinator for the Frogs, shares blame for this loss because of the meltdown of TCU’s offense for the last part of the game, for some questionable play-calling by him and for the miserable running game the Frogs displayed.
All things combined and considered, the 35-34 loss by TCU to UCF was an epic loss that, notwithstanding the overall seven losses by the Frogs in 2023, was as disappointing as the heartbreaking 31-28 overtime loss by the third-ranked Frogs to 13th-ranked Kansas State in the 2022 Big 12 Conference Championship Game and the catastrophic 65-7 loss by the third-ranked Frogs to No. 1-ranked Georgia in the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Over their last 18 games, TCU is 8-10, with two of the wins coming against lowly Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams – Nicholls in 2023 and Long Island University this season.
But hey, at least TCU is not this year’s Florida State or Florida.
The Seminoles started the season ranked as high as 10th in the nation and were mentioned as a possible national championship contender. After losing to Memphis, 20-12, on Saturday, September 14, Florida State is 0-3 and further away from this season’s national championship game than the Horned Frogs.
Florida was beaten in Gainesville, Florida, by Texas A&M, 33-20, on Saturday, the 14th. The loss dropped Florida to 1-2 this season and to 12-16 in 28 games under head coach Billy Napier, including 7-15 versus power conference teams.
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell is on the hot seat, and Florida alumni reportedly have pulled together the $26 million it will take to fire Napier, who only has been at Florida since 2022.
The inexplicable loss to UCF diminishes the Horned Frogs’ hopes of competing for a Big 12 title this season. It also, frankly, raises further concerns about the direction of the TCU football program under Sonny Dykes’ leadership and within a college football landscape where every loss is magnified because of the impact a team’s won-loss record has on NIL contributions, recruiting and power-conference status. These days, more than ever, those teams that win the most, benefit the most.
The loss to the Knights also dampened some positives achieved in the game by TCU’s offense and defense.
TCU converted its first seven third-down opportunities en route to touchdown drives on its opening three possessions.
TCU scored for the 397th consecutive game, the
second-longest streak in NCAA history. No. 1 is Florida at 451 games
(1988-present). The Horned Frogs haven't been blanked since November 16, 1991, at
Texas (32-0).
Despite only managing 58 yards on the ground against UCF, the Horned Frogs had 460 total offensive yards because of another strong performance by TCU sophomore quarterback Josh Hoover and an outstanding game by senior wide receiver Jack Bech, an LSU transfer.
Hoover completed 35-of-52 passes, recorded his third career 400-yard passing game with 402 yards, and tied a personal-best with four touchdown passes, which he set last season against BYU in his first career start. All three of Hoover’s 400-yard passing efforts have been at home.
Hoover leads the nation in pass attempts (119) without an interception. He is third in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in passing yards with 1,022. His 69.7 completion percentage is on pace to break TCU’s season record.
Despite those gaudy numbers, Hoover, unfortunately, was unable to put away the game against the Knights when presented with such opportunities.
After UCF had taken its first lead of the game, 35-34, with 36 seconds remaining in the contest, Hoover drove the Frogs to the UCF 40-yard line, but a pass from Hoover to wide receiver JP Richardson fell incomplete with three seconds remaining.
If that pass had been completed, the yards gained may have made the difference in the Frogs winning, rather than losing.
After the failed pass and on the game's final play, TCU true freshman kicker Kyle Lemmermann’s 58-yard field-goal attempt had the distance but sailed wide right.
“We had a chance right there at the end, but that’s a 58-yarder,” Dykes said. “Kyle hit it really well. We certainly can’t blame him at all.”
Earlier in the fourth quarter, with the Frogs reeling, but nursing a 31-28 lead, the TCU offense mounted a five-minute drive that appeared to be one that would seal a victory for the Frogs.
TCU had third-and-one at the UCF one-yard line. But a false-start penalty against junior offensive lineman Remington Strickland, a transfer from Texas A&M, moved the Frogs back to the six-yard line, from which Hoover threw an incomplete third-down pass to force a crucial fourth-and-goal decision.
Dykes opted to go the conservative route and Lemmermann nailed a 24-yard field goal, his second field goal of the game, to give the Frogs a 34-28 lead.
If the Frogs had scored a touchdown and an extra point, instead of just a three-point field goal, they would have taken a 38-28 lead, with just 8:44 remaining in the game.
“We had opportunity after opportunity to put the game away,” said Dykes. “We had a false start inside the one-yard on third-and-one. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes and win a football game.”
Dykes said if he had it to do over again that he probably would go for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the six-yard line, instead of kicking the field goal.
TCU got another opportunity with 4:37 left in the game to perhaps put the game away with a score, or at least take a chunk of time off the clock. But three straight conservative passing plays netted only eight yards.
The play calling in that scenario was an indictment of a TCU rushing attack that had been nearly non-existent the entire game, but Horned Frogs fans questioned why at least one, even two, running plays weren’t mixed into the play calling at that time.
After a timeout by UCF, the Frogs punted.
With 3:14 in the game, the Knights had the football at their UCF 28-yard line, momentum and a vision for victory.
Ten plays later, UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson, a transfer from the University of Arkansas, who when he was a football star at North Panola High School in Sardis, Mississippi, dreamed of continuing his career at TCU and who was coached by Briles when the pair were at Arkansas from 2020-22, threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Hudson, to tie the game at 34.
UCF kicker Colton Boomer salvaged a rough day for himself by kicking the game-winning extra point. The Horned Frogs had blocked three Boomer kicks -- two field goals and one extra point -- earlier in the game.
“We got up 31-13 and they (UCF) just hung in there and kept chipping away,” Dykes said. “We had a hard time getting off the field defensively and had a three-and-out right there at the midpoint of the fourth quarter. I think we kind of wore down on defense.”
The loss not only spoiled Hoover’s overall excellent game, it also overshadowed a career day for Bech.
Bech had career-best totals of nine receptions for 200 yards, including
a 50-yard touchdown, which is a career-long catch. He is the first Horned Frog
to reach 200 yards receiving since Quentin Johnston had 206 receiving yards at Kansas in 2022. Bech
topped 100 yards for the second time this season and in his career. He had
a then personal-best 139 yards on six receptions in the season opener at
Stanford.
Junior wide receiver Eric McAlister, who is a transfer from Boise State,
scored his first touchdown as a Horned Frog on a 14-yard pass from Hoover to
cap TCU’s opening drive of the game. It was the first touchdown scored in a big
12 Conference game this season. McAlister had four receptions for 54 yards
against the Knights.
Senior wide receiver Savion Williams had the first multiple-touchdown game of
his career with 18- and 16-yard scoring grabs.
Senior wide receiver JP Richardson, a transfer from Oklahoma State, had five
receptions for 46 yards to give him at least one catch in 30 consecutive games.
The streak entered the game tied for seventh longest in the nation.
Freshman running back Jeremy Payne had a 21-yard reception for his first
collegiate catch.
Defensively, the Horned Frogs blocked two field goals and an extra-point attempt. It's the first time for that accomplishment in TCU Football program history.
Senior defensive lineman Caleb Fox, a transfer from Stephen F. Austin, and senior cornerback LaMareon “Scud” James, a transfer from Old Dominion, blocked field goals. Junior safety Bud Clark blocked an extra-point attempt.
The last previous FBS school to block three kicks in a game was Oklahoma State, in its 2023 season opener against Central Arkansas. Before Oklahoma State, it was Miami (Florida) blocking three field goals at Clemson in 2020.
Despite giving up several long pass completions and committing costly pass-interference penalties, senior cornerback JaTravis Broughton, a transfer from Utah, led TCU’s defense with a career-high 12 tackles. Broughton’s 12 stops versus UCF surpassed his previous career best of nine for Utah against Oregon State in 2020. Broughton played in 47 games with 29 starts at Utah.
Senior linebacker Namdi Obiazor and sophomore safety Jamel Johnson each recorded 11 tackles.
Junior linebacker Johnny Hodges, a transfer from Navy, had two tackles for loss among his eight tackles.
TCU’s loss to UCF marked the beginning of TCU Football’s 13th season in the Big 12 Conference.
Let’s hope that this season is not unlucky and quickly improves, or else Dykes may be sitting next to Norvell, Napier and other head coaches on the hot seat.
- TCU-UCF box score: here
- TCU-UCF game highlights: here
- TCU’s Sonny Dykes talks about the loss to UCF: here
- TCU’s Josh Hoover and Johnny Hodges talk about the loss to UCF: here
- UCF head coach Gus Malzahn talks about the UCF’s win over TCU: here
- UCF celebrates its victory over TCU: here
This Saturday, would be an excellent time for TCU to get back on the winning track, when the Frogs play SMU in Dallas.
The Horned Frogs and Mustangs are meeting for the 103rd time. But this is the next-to-the-last of the Iron Skillet-rivalry games, which will be put on “pause” after the two rivals meet in Fort Worth during the 2025 season.
SMU is TCU’s second-most played series. The Horned Frogs’ 102 meetings with the Mustangs trail only the 119 times that TCU and Baylor have met on the gridiron.
The Horned Frogs hold a 53-42-7 edge over the Mustangs in a series that began with a 43-0 TCU win in Fort Worth in 1915.
The Frogs are 24-22-2 versus the Mustangs in Dallas and 29-20-5 versus SMU in Fort Worth.
TCU has won 13 of the last 16 games and 19 of the past 23 games against SMU.
Last season, in Fort Worth, TCU hammered the Mustangs, 34-17, in the Frogs’
fourth game of the season. The win was one of the few highlights of TCU's 2023 football season.
Dykes has been the winning head coach in each of the last four games between the Horned Frogs and Mustangs.
Prior to his arrival at TCU, Dykes, as SMU’s head coach from 2018-21, guided the Mustangs to their first back-to-back victories (2019, 2021) over the Horned Frogs since 1992-93. With wins the last two seasons for TCU, Dykes is 2-0 as TCU’s head coach against SMU.
This will be the first meeting when both TCU and SMU are members of a “power conference” since 1995, when both were members of the Southwest Conference (SWC).
TCU joined the Big 12 in 2012. Over this past summer, SMU’s long efforts to join a major athletic conference paid off when it bought its way into the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), by accepting far less of the revenue than fellow ACC members in the league’s media rights deal.
Prior to this season, SMU was a member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
This is TCU’s second road game this season against an ACC member. TCU won, 34-27, at Stanford in the Frogs’ season-opener.
The Horned Frogs are facing two ACC teams in a season for the first time since 2009, when TCU won 30-14 at Virginia and 14-10 at Clemson.
TCU has a four-game winning streak against ACC opponents. The Horned Frogs are 5-5 all-time against the ACC.
SMU is 2-1, 0-0 in the ACC.
The Mustangs began their 2024 season on August 24, when they beat Nevada, 29-24, in Reno. On August 31, SMU won its home-opener, 59-7, over Houston Christian. The Mustangs’ most-recent game was on Friday, September 6, when they lost at home to BYU, 18-15. SMU had a bye on September 14.
Prior to their loss to BYU, the Mustangs had enjoyed a nine-game home winning streak. The Mustangs are 9-1 in their last 10 home games at Ford Stadium going back to 2022.
SMU is 25-5 at home since the start of the 2019 season, which included a 6-0 mark in 2023, a 5-1 record in 2021 and a 6-0 record in 2019.
Saturday’s game is a sellout and SMU students have requested the most tickets ever for a home game.
Offensively, SMU is averaging 34.22 points a game, 195.3 rushing yards per game and 226 passing yards per game. The Mustangs have scored six touchdowns on the ground and four through the air. Their offensive line only has allowed three sacks.
Two quarterbacks have been leading SMU’s offensive attack.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Kevin Jennings (#7) has completed 29-of-51 passes for 342 yards. He has thrown one touchdown pass and one interception. He has a long-pass completion of 35 yards.
Redshirt junior quarterback Preston Stone (#2) has completed 25-of-43 passes for 336 yards. He has through three touchdown passes and one interception. He has a long-pass completion of 49 yards.
Third-year SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee has indicated he is switching from Stone to Jennings as the Mustangs’ starting quarterback. Jennings adds a running element to the position. He has nearly 100 yards rushing on 15 carries.
Senior running back Brashard Smith (#1) leads SMU’s rushing attack. He has run 35 times for 253 yards. He is averaging 7.2 rushing yards per carry and 84.33 rushing yards per game. He has scored three rushing touchdowns. He has a long run of 47 yards.
Redshirt junior running back LL Johnson, Jr. (#11), and freshman running back Derrick McFall (#20) each have scored a rushing touchdown.
Junior tight end RJ Maryland (#82), who is 6-4, 233 pounds, is SMU’s leading receiver. He has caught 10 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown. He has a long catch of 49 yards.
Senior wide receiver Key’Shawn Smith (#9) has caught six passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. He has a long catch of 35 yards.
Graduate wide receiver Jake Bailey (#12) has seven receptions for 93 yards and one touchdown. He has a long catch of 28 yards.
Junior wide receiver Jordan Hudson (#8), a transfer from TCU, has caught one touchdown pass. Hudson was a top-100 recruit in the Class of 2022.
Defensively, SMU is allowing 16.33 points per game, 105.3 rushing yards per game and 158.33 passing yards per game. The Mustangs have allowed four passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. SMU’s defense has four interceptions and five sacks.
SMU's defense ranks 15th in the country with six turnovers forced.
The Mustangs have held opponents to 24-or-less points in six straight contests, dating back to 2023.
Junior safety Ahmaad Moses (#3), graduate linebacker Kobe Wilson (#24) and redshirt junior safety Isaiah Nwokobia (#23) are leading SMU’s defense.
Moses has 18 tackles, including one tackle for loss. He has one interception.
Wilson has 18 tackles, including one tackle for loss. He has one interception.
Nwokobia has 18 tackles, including one tackle for loss.
Graduate linebacker Kobe Ahmad Walker (#34) has 17 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss.
Junior defensive end Isaiah Smith (#58), a transfer from St. John’s, has three tackles for loss and two sacks.
Senior defensive lineman Jared Harrison-Hunte (#81), who is 6-4, 294 pounds and a transfer from the University of Miami (Florida), has one tackle for loss, one sack and one interception.
Graduate defensive lineman Kori Roberson, Jr. (#92), who is 6-3, 303 pounds and a transfer from the University of Oklahoma, has an interception.
Graduate punter Isaac Pearson (#49), a transfer from the University of Texas, has punted nine times. He averages 41 yards per punt. He has a long punt of 52 yards. He has not had a punt blocked this season.
Junior placekicker Collin Rogers (#41) has made eight-of-nine field goal attempts this season. He has a long field goal of 53 yards this season. He has not had a field goal attempt blocked. Rogers’ eight field goals is tied for the lead in the nation in made field goals. In the loss to BYU, Rogers set a program record with five field goals, highlighted by two from 50-plus yards.
SMU redshirt sophomore cornerback Kyron Chambers (#21), who was a three-star player out of Dallas South Oak Cliff High School, is another transfer from TCU. He has appeared in all of SMU’s games this season. He has recorded two tackles.
TCU is a 2.5-point favorite over SMU. The over/under for total points scored in the game is 57.5.
TCU ‘s Dykes talks about TCU’s game against SMU: here
SMU’s Lashlee talks about SMU’s game against TCU: here
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