By Tom C. "Midnite" Burke
Don’t be surprised if TCU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Buddie asks Abilene Christian University (ACU) to refund some of the $500,000 that TCU reportedly paid the Wildcats to roll over and play dead on Saturday, September 13, in Amon G. Carter Stadium, on the TCU campus in Fort Worth, Texas.
That’s because ACU refused to go quietly into the night, which is what Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Power-Four Conference schools like TCU expect lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools, like Abilene Christian, to do when invited onto the big boys’ playgrounds.
In their strike-it-rich game against TCU, the Wildcats played the woe-is-me part in Oscar-winning fashion for the game’s first half.
Through the first 30 minutes, the Horned Frogs scored on all four of their possessions and roared to a 28-0 halftime lead.
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| Tom C. "Midnite" Burke |
After all, TCU came into the game as a 37.5-point favorite.
Abilene Christian, however, had other thoughts. Evil thoughts.
The Wildcats turned an assumed blowout loss into a respectable 42-21 defeat by winning the game’s second half, 21-14, much to TCU’s and their fans’ dismay.
The Horned Frogs should have known better.
Last season, ACU nearly upset Texas Tech in Lubbock in a 52-51 overtime loss, as the Wildcats enjoyed their best season in their Division I era (since 2013) with a 9-5 overall record, a conference championship and a trip to the FCS Playoffs.
Who invited these pesky Wildcats to Fort Worth, anyway?
With the closer-than-expected victory, which came before an announced sold-out crowd of 48,094, and after TCU honored its 25 seniors in a pre-game ceremony, the Horned Frogs improved to 2-0 (TCU has not played a Big 12 Conference game).
TCU has a six-game winning streak, going back to the 2024 season, when the Horned Frogs won six of their final seven games, including their final four.
The Frogs are 19-0 in their last 19 games against FCS opponents. The last loss to an FCS team came in 2001. It was a 27-24 overtime loss to Northwestern State, in then-head coach Gary Patterson's first season of leading the Frogs.
Patterson, of course, rebounded from that harrowing loss and went on to become TCU’s winningest head football coach, compiling 181 wins with the Horned Frogs.
The victory over the Wildcats gave TCU head coach Sonny Dykes his 100th career head coaching win. Dykes is in his fourth season as head coach of the Horned Frogs. He has won 29 games as TCU’s head coach.
TCU has won 22 of its last 24 home openers and is 3-0 all-time against Abilene Christian.
TCU has scored in 409 consecutive games, the second longest streak in NCAA history, trailing only Florida’s 464 consecutive games.
In the week 4 Coaches poll, TCU was 32nd, with 49 points
In the week 4 Associated Press poll, TCU was 30th, with 67 points.
In other recent Big 12 Conference action:
- Friday, September 12
- Colorado (1-2, 0-1) 20 at Houston (3-0, 1-0) 36
- Kansas State (1-3, 0-1) 17 at Arizona (3-0) 23
- Saturday, September 13
- Samford 7 at Baylor (2-1, 0-0) 42
- Oregon State 14 at Texas Tech (3-0, 0-0) 45
- Northwestern State 0 at Cincinnati (2-1, 0-0) 70
- Pittsburgh 24 at West Virginia (2-1, 0-0) 31
- Iowa State (4-0, 1-0) 24 at Arkansas State 16
- Utah (3-0, 0-0) 31 at Wyoming 6
- Texas State 15 at Arizona State 34 (2-1, 0-0)
With the loss to TCU, Abilene Christian, which is located in Abilene, Texas, fell to 1-2, and fell from the 13th-ranked FCS team in the country to the 15th-ranked.
ACU’s other loss this season was 35-7 to Tulsa in its season-opener. The Wildcats’ win was a 28-20 victory over Stephen F. Austin, of Nacogdoches, Texas, on September 6.
“I thought we played a pretty clean first half,” Dykes said about the Frogs win over ACU. “I wish we would’ve ended the game a little cleaner than we did, but unfortunately, that’s kind of the way some of these games go.
“Sometimes, we just seem like at halftime, we just come out and don’t have the same kind of mindset and killer mentality we need to in the second half. And I’ve got to do a better job getting our players ready when they have that kind of situation.
“I didn’t think we had as good of a week. I didn’t think we were as focused in practice as we were going into the North Carolina game,” continued Dykes. “I had that sense a little bit. I told the guys in the locker room that we just can’t afford to not prepare and play our best. Especially in the Big 12, week-in, week-out you’re going to get beat if you don’t play well and if you’re not excited to play. And so, it just seemed like we lost a little bit of our edge at halftime, being up 28-0. And that’s something that we have to do better. We’re trying to get there as a program.”
Abilene Christian University head coach Keith Patterson was complimentary of the Horned Frogs and of his Wildcats.
“Hats off to TCU,” said Patterson. “Their quarterback (junior Josh Hoover) is a really, really good football player. Their receivers do a great job of creating space and running their routes. They made some contested catches that were impressive. Hats off to those guys.
“I’m very proud of our young men. We played very hard. We didn’t get out of the game, even when we were down 28-0. And then in the second half, we executed at a very high level.”
Besides being TCU’s home-opener of the 2025 season, the game was special in another more significant way.
Over the past two months, Texans have used green ribbons with bows to commemorate the lives lost in the July 4 Hill Country flooding, which killed more than 100 people, including more than two dozen girls and counselors from Camp Mystic in Hunt.
Green is significant because it’s Camp Mystic’s official color.
For recent games, several Texas college football teams, including TCU, have sported ribbons, in the form of a special decal on players’ helmets depicting an outline of the state of Texas with a green bow at its center.
TCU players again wore the helmet decals in the game against Abilene Christian.
TCU’s initial show of solidarity with victims and their loved ones originated with TCU head coach Sonny Dykes’ wife, Kate.
TCU’s Offense Excels, Again
TCU’s offense got off to a roaring start against Abilene Christian University. The Frogs scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game, just as they did in their season-opening win over North Carolina on September 1, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
In fact, the Frogs are ranked 14th nationally in scoring offense (45 points per game).
With less than four minutes gone in the first period against ACU, Hoover connected with senior tight end Chase Curtis on an 11-yard touchdown reception, and TCU had a 7-0 lead.
Just over seven minutes later, TCU freshman wide receiver Ed Small recorded his first touchdown catch of his career, on an eight-yard pass from Hoover, and the Frogs went up 14-0.
The Horned Frogs’ other two touchdowns in the first half came on a one-yard touchdown run by senior running back Trent Battle and a 15-yard touchdown reception by Small.
TCU’s two touchdowns in the second half came on a 21-yard pass from Hoover to junior wide receiver Jordan Dwyer in the third quarter and a two-yard run by freshman running back Jon Denman in the fourth quarter.
Against the Wildcats, TCU had 489 yards of total offense: 361 yards through the air and 128 yards on the ground.
Against ACU, Hoover continued his superior play. He completed 21-of-27 passes for 337 yards and four touchdowns. He was not intercepted and he was not sacked.
Through two games this season, Hoover has completed 48-of-63 passes for 621 yards. He has thrown six touchdown passes. He has been intercepted once.
With two more touchdown passes, Hoover will pass Max Knake (1992-95) for fourth place on the school's career passing touchdown list.
Backup senior quarterback Ken Seals entered the game against the Wildcats in the fourth quarter. He completed four-of-five passes for 24 yards. He was intercepted once.
The two touchdown receptions by Small were the first of his career. Additionally, he had four other catches.
For his accomplishments in the Abilene Christian game, Small was honored by the Big 12 Conference with its Big 12's Freshman of the Week honor.
Small is the first Horned Frog to be named the conference's Freshman of the Week as the award this year replaced the Newcomer of the Week award. Among that group, Small is the first to be recognized since linebacker Johnny Hodges earned the Newcomer of the Week distinction on November 7, 2022. Prior to that, you have to go back to the 2019 season, when quarterback Max Duggan was recognized with the conference's Newcomer of the Week honor.
Twelve different players caught passes for TCU against Abilene Christian.
Senior wide receiver Joseph Manjack IV led Horned Frogs receivers. He caught four passes for 114 yards, with a long reception of 51 yards. This was the first 100-yard receiving game in Manjack’s career.
In addition to his touchdown reception, Dwyer caught four other passes. His five receptions totaled 89 yards.
TCU senior wide receiver Eric McAlister caught two passes for 46 yards, including a long reception of 33 yards.
On the ground, TCU again was led by senior running back Kevorian Barnes, who rushed 10 times for 43 yards.
During the first half of the game, Barnes suffered a lower-body injury. He left the game, went to the locker-room and did not return to the sideline. His status is day-to-day.
Sophomore running back Jeremy Payne added 29 yards on the ground, redshirt-freshman running back Nate Palmer added 27 yards, Battle added 19 yards in addition to his one-yard scoring run and freshman running back Jon Denman had eight yards of rushing, in addition to his two-yard touchdown run.
Defensively, TCU shut down the Wildcats in the first half, but the Frogs took a pounding in the second half, giving up several long passes and allowing Abilene Christian to continue drives by converting on third downs.
The Wildcats converted 12-of-17 third-down plays. They also scored all four times they reached the red zone. They did, however, fail to convert two field-goal attempts and all three of their after-touchdown attempts.
ACU head coach Keith Patterson and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell obviously made some adjustments to the Wildcats’ offense that paid off in the final two quarters, and the Horned Frogs admittedly lost some of their focus and intensity.
Interestingly, Harrell was Texas Tech's starting quarterback during the 2006 season when Dykes was Tech’s co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach, and ACU running backs coach Jason Smith was a football player at Baylor in 2008, which was TCU’s offensive coordinator Kendall Briles' first season on the Bears’ coaching staff.
Stone Earle is Abilene Christian University’s quarterback. He is playing his sixth year of collegiate football. He started his career at ACU, then transferred and played at Marshall and North Texas before transferring back to ACU. He is nearly 24-years old, married and has a degree from the University of North Texas.
Against TCU’s defense, Earle completed 22-of-29 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came in the second half. He was sacked four times.
ACU wide receiver JB Mitchell was ACU’s leading receiver. He caught five passes for 88 yards and one touchdown. He had a long reception of 32 yards.
Wide receiver Dudley Dallas caught four passes for 78 yards. He had a long reception of 42 yards.
Tight end Bryan “Itty” Henry had four receptions for 50 yards and one touchdown. He had a long reception of 42 yards.
Running back Rovaughn Banks, Jr., was ACU’s leading rusher. He ran for 105 yards on 19 carries. He scored a touchdown on a one-yard run to start the Wildcats’ scoring in the second half.
Running back Jordon Vaughn had 52 rushing yards on 11 attempts.
- TCU-Abilene Christian box score: here
- TCU-Abilene Christian game highlights: here
- TCU postgame press conference: here
- ACU postgame press conference: here
Battle for the Iron Skillet
TCU (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) closes out its nonconference portion of its 2025 season when it hosts the SMU Mustangs (2-1) on Saturday, September 20, in Amon G. Carter Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 am (Central). The game will be televised by ESPN2.
This last-scheduled "Battle for the Iron Skillet" between TCU and SMU is being billed as a white-out, with TCU fans encouraged to wear white TCU-branded clothing.
Halftime of the game will feature the TCU Block T Hall of Fame recognition. The nine Hall of Fame inductees are: Julien Brun '15 (men's golf), Matt Carpenter '09 (baseball), Whitney Gipson '12 (track & field), Preston Morrison '15 (baseball), Glen Norris '78 (track & field), head coach Gary Patterson (football), Charles Silmon '14 (track & field), head coach Richard Sybesma (swimming & diving), and Jason Verrett '13 (football).
The Horned Frogs are aiming to go undefeated in non-conference play for the first time since 2022 and for the third time in the past 10 seasons (2017, 2022).
TCU also is aiming to start a season 3-0 for the first time since 2022 and for the third time since 2017.
This is the 104th Battle for the Iron Skillet.
The Battle for the Iron Skillet is the third-oldest rivalry game involving a pair of Texas FBS schools, trailing only Texas-Texas A&M (1894) and TCU-Baylor (1899).
The iron skillet tradition began in 1946, though there are variations of the story on the how and why a skillet became the trophy. One version claims the idea was presented by the SMU student council, which TCU accepted. Another claims an SMU fan was frying frog legs and a TCU fan wagered the skillet go to the victor.
Southern Methodist University, which is located in Dallas, Texas, is TCU’s second-most played series. The Horned Frogs’ 103 meetings with the Mustangs trail only the 120 times that TCU and Baylor have met on the gridiron.
But this is the last of the Iron Skillet-rivalry games, which is being put on “pause” after this Saturday’s game.
The Horned Frogs hold a 53-43-7 edge over the Mustangs in a series that began with a 43-0 TCU win in Fort Worth in 1915.
The Frogs are 24-23-2 versus the Mustangs in Dallas and 29-20-5 versus SMU in Fort Worth.
TCU has won 13 of the last 17 games and 19 of the past 24 games against SMU.
Dykes has been the winning head coach in four of the past five 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.
TCU is 2-1 against SMU since Dykes took over, including a humiliating 66-42 defeat last season in Dallas. In the second half, Dykes was ejected for arguing with officials.
This will be the second 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 the summer of 2024, 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 conference’s revenue than fellow ACC members in the league’s media rights deal.
Prior to last season, SMU was a member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
Coming off a College Football Playoff appearance and being runners-up in the ACC last season, the Mustangs started the 2025 season as a top-25 team but fell out of the poll after losing in double overtime to Baylor on September 6.
Thus, a streak that TCU started almost 20 years ago continues. The last time TCU hosted a ranked non-conference opponent in Fort Worth was September 16, 2006. The late Mike Leach brought his No. 24 Texas Tech Red Raiders to Fort Worth, and left with a 12-3 loss.
Since then, TCU has played three ranked non-conference opponents.
In 2010, en route to the Rose Bowl, TCU defeated No. 24 Oregon State at AT&T Stadium.
In 2013, the Frogs lost to No. 12 LSU, and in 2018 they lost to No. 4 Ohio State. Both of those games were played at AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas.
SMU is 2-1 overall, 0-0 in the ACC.
The Ponies opened their season with a 42-13 win over East Texas A&M, in Dallas.
Baylor defeated SMU in Dallas 48-45, in double overtime.
On September 13, in Springfield, Missouri, SMU sleepwalked to a 28-10 win over Missouri State. SMU trailed 10-0 after the first quarter.
SMU’s offense is averaging:
- 38.33 points per game
- 435.3 total yard per game
- 156.7 rushing yards per game
- 278.67 passing yards per game
The Mustangs have scored eight rushing touchdowns and six passing touchdowns. They have been intercepted three times and allowed nine sacks.
SMU’s offense is led by dual-threat redshirt-junior quarterback Kevin Jennings (#7), who is from South Oak Cliff in Dallas.
Jennings has completed 62-of-88 passes (70.45%). He has thrown six touchdown passes and three interceptions. He has a long completion of 75 yards.
Jennings has run 24 times for 69 yards and one touchdown.
The Mustangs’ receiving corps is led by redshirt-senior wide receiver Romello Brinson (#3), who is a transfer from Miami (Florida). He has caught 15 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns. He is averaging 104.67 receiving yards per game. He has a long reception of 75 yards.
Freshman wide receiver Jalen Cooper (#1) has caught 12 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns. He has a long reception of 75 yards.
Senior tight end RJ Maryland (#82), who is from Southlake, Texas, has caught eight passes for 66 yards and one touchdown.
Senior running back TJ Harden (#27), who is a transfer from UCLA, is the Ponies’ leading rushers. He has carried the football 42 times for 253 yards and five touchdowns. He is averaging six yards per rush and 84.33 rushing yards per game.
Redshirt-sophomore running back Chris Johnson, Jr. (#6), who is a transfer from Miami (Florida), has rushed 18 times for 111 yards and one touchdown. He is averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
Freshman running back Dramekco Green (#21) and Jennings also each have one rushing touchdown.
SMU’s defense has allowed:
- 23.67 points per game
- 426.67 total yards per game
- 107 rushing yards per game and three rushing touchdowns
- 319.67 passing yards per game and five passing touchdowns
The Mustangs’ defense has intercepted five passes and made six sacks.
SMU’s leading tackler is redshirt-senior safety Isaiah Nwokobia (#23). He has made 21 tackles, including .5 tackles for loss. He has one interception and three pass breakups.
Sophomore linebacker Brandon Booker (#28) has made 18 tackles, including one tackle for loss. He has been credited with .5 sacks.
Senior safety Ahmad Moses (#3), of Mansfield, Texas, has made18 tackles. He has one tackle for loss, one sack and one interception.
Senior defensive end Cameron Robertson (#9), of Plano, Texas, has made 15 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss. He has two sacks and one pass breakup. He has forced two fumbles and recovered one fumble.
Redshirt-junior cornerback Jaelyn Davis-Robinson (#13), who is a transfer from LSU, junior linebacker Alexander Kilgore (#54) and redshirt-freshman cornerback William Nettles (#0) have one interception each.
Redshirt-freshman Wade McSparron (#43), of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, is SMU’s punter. He has punted 11 times. He has an average of 42.36 yards per punt. He has a long punt of 53 yards. He has not had a punt blocked this season.
Field-goal kicking chores have been shared by senior Collin Rogers (#41) and redshirt-freshman Sam Keltner (#95, who is from Keller, Texas.
Rogers has made one-of-four field goal attempts. He has made a long field goal of 43 yards. He has not had a field goal attempt blocked this season.
Keltner (#95) has missed his only field goal attempt of the season.
TCU is a seven-point favorite. The over/under is 64.5 points.
An historic collegiate gridiron rivalry is coming to an end on Saturday, September 20, appropriately in the city in which it began 110 years ago.
It should be a football game that will be remembered and talked about for decades.
TCU's Dykes and players talk about the upcoming game: here
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