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| TCU head football coach Sonny Dykes congratulates TCU quarterback Josh Hoover (#10) for leading the Horned Frogs to a 45-23 victory over the University of Cincinnati. --Photo by Tom C. "Midnite" Burke |
By Tom C. "Midnite" Burke
With due respect and credit to the United States Postal Service, neither gloomy skies, rain, lightening, plunging temperatures nor Bearcats could defeat the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday, November 29.
As a result, TCU ended its 2025 football regular-season with a 45-23 Big 12 victory over the University of Cincinnati before an announced crowd of 37,259 in Amon G. Carter Stadium, on the TCU campus in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Frogs closed their regular season with two wins in a row and, for the second straight year, an 8-4 overall regular-season record. It's the first time TCU has posted consecutive eight-plus win seasons since 2014-2015.
Under head football coach Sonny Dykes, the Frogs moved to 19-5 at home, 29-5 when scoring more than 30 points, 29-4 when leading at halftime, and 10-2 when racking up more than 500 yards of offense.
TCU finished 5-4 in the Big 12, which placed the Frogs ninth in the conference due to losses to Iowa State and Kansas State, which also finished with 5-4 Big 12 records.
The Horned Frogs now await their bowl destination, which should be announced by December 7.
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| Tom C. "Midnite" Burke |
“Our last two weeks of practice were exceptional. This certainly was the most complete game we’ve played since North Carolina. We played winning football. We didn’t turn the ball over. We got some turnovers. Our coordinators did a very good job. That’s a good football team. Cincinnati is a good team, very difficult to stop.”
The University of Cincinnati finished its regular season with four consecutive losses and a 7-5 overall record. The Bearcats also finished with a 5-4 Big 12 record, but fell below the Frogs in the standings because of their loss to TCU.
“We got beat up tonight. We about run out of bodies there toward the end of the game,” said Cincinnati head football coach Scott Satterfield.
“We have not tackled well the last four weeks. They stay on their drives and then score. Nobody’s happy when you lose. We’ve lost to three ranked teams, and this (TCU) is an 8-4 team. Really good football teams we have lost to. We’re not good enough to make mistakes and still go win. We can’t turn the football over and still win a game. Tonight, we didn’t play good enough and we got out-manned.”
The Horned Frogs’ victory over Cincinnati featured a 93-minute lightening delay, which began with 7:59 left in the first quarter and TCU leading 7-0, thanks to a three-yard pass from junior quarterback Josh Hoover to senior wide receiver Joseph Manjack IV on the Frogs’ first possession of the game.
This was TCU’s second home game of the 2025 season that was delayed by lightening.
The TCU-Baylor game at Amon G. Carter Stadium on October 18 was delayed three times by lightning in the fourth quarter.
The delays totaled two hours and 16 minutes, resulting in a game that lasted five hours and 50 minutes.
The Frogs didn’t have to wait that long for a victory over the Bearcats.
With the way the TCU offense and defense were dominating, the game essentially was over at halftime, with the Frogs leading 31-17. TCU outscored Cincinnati 14-6 in the second half.
TCU increased its lead to 14-0 on its first possession after the game resumed from the lightening delay. Hoover connected with senior wide receiver Eric McAlister on a 17-yard touchdown pass on the fifth play of the possession.
The Horned Frogs scored another 17 points before the half on a 69-yard touchdown pass from Hoover to junior wide receiver Jordan Dwyer, a 32-yard field goal by sophomore Nate McCashland and a nine-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Jeremy Payne.
TCU’s second-half touchdowns came on a third-quarter Dwyer recovery in the Cincinnati end zone of a fumble by Manjack after a 44-yard reception, and a dazzling 51-yard touchdown run by Payne in the fourth quarter.
“We executed at a very high level,” said Dykes. “Our guys competed hard. Played hard. Made our breaks today. Our performance was excellent.
“We’re looking forward to seeing where we will be playing our bowl game.”
TCU Takes Series Lead
Last year, TCU played its season finale in Cincinnati. It was 32 degrees or colder and snowing. The Horned Frogs defeated the Bearcats 20-13.
This was the fifth meeting, and second Big 12 Conference game, between the two teams. TCU leads the overall series, 3-2, and the Big 12 series, 2-0.
Big 12 Football Games and Rankings
Here are results of other recent football games involving Big 12 teams:
- Friday, November 28:
- Utah 31 (10-2, 7-2) at Kansas 21 (5-7, 3-6)
- Arizona 23 (9-3, 6-3) at Arizona State 7 (8-4, 6-3)
- Saturday, November 29:
- Houston 31 (9-3, 6-3) at Baylor 24 (5-7, 3-6)
- Texas Tech 49 (11-1, 8-1) at West Virginia 0 (4-8, 2-7)
- Colorado 14 (3-9, 1-8) at Kansas State 24 (6-6, 5-4)
- Iowa State 20 (8-4, 5-4) at Oklahoma State 13 (1-11, 0-9)
- UCF 21 (5-7, 2-7) at BYU 41 (11-1, 8-1)
The Big 12 Championship game on Saturday, December 6, will feature Texas Tech and BYU. Kickoff at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is scheduled for 11 am (Central). ABC will televise the game nationally.
Texas Tech and BYU are at the top of the Big 12, with 8-1 conference records. Tech owns the tie-breaker over BYU by virtue of its 29-7 win over the Cougars on November 8, in Lubbock, Texas.
Bowl-eligible Big 12 teams are: TCU, Texas Tech, BYU, Arizona, Arizona State, Houston, Cincinnati, Utah, Iowa State and Kansas State.
Big 12 teams that did not reach bowl-eligibility are: Baylor, Colorado, UCF, West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Kansas.
In the fifth College Football Playoff ranking that was released on Tuesday, December 2, Texas Tech is fourth, BYU 11th, Utah 15th, Arizona 18th and Houston 21st.
TCU is not ranked.
In the newest Coaches Football Bowl Subdivision top 25 poll, Texas Tech is sixth, BYU 11th and Utah 15th and Arizona 22nd. Houston is 27th, TCU is 37th and Arizona State 41st.
In the newest Associated Press (AP) top 25 poll, Texas Tech is fifth, BYU 11th, Utah 15th and Arizona 22nd. Houston is 27th and Arizona State is 37th.
TCU is not ranked.
In the newest ranking of all 136 college football teams by The Athletic, the Frogs are 35th, up from 41st in the previous week’s ranking.
In the newest ranking of all 136 college football teams by USA Today, TCU is 35th, up from 38th in the previous week’s ranking.
College Athletics News
- Wednesday, December 3, was early signing day across the country. TCU football signed 22 players. Access information about TCU's signees here. Access TCU’s signing-day press conference: here
- The No. 2 TCU women’s soccer team (18-2-3, 9-1-1 Big 12) has reached the NCAA Final Four for the first time in school history, by virtue of a 2-1 victory over No. 1 Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. TCU advanced to the College Cup (Final Four) for the first time. The Frogs face No. 3 Florida State in a national semifinal game at 5 pm (Central) on Friday, December 5, at CPKC Stadium, in Kansas City, Missouri. ESPNU will televise the game. The other semifinal features No. 1 Stanford vs. Duke. The championship game is scheduled for 6 pm (Central) on Monday, December 8. TCU head coach Eric Bell is just the third women's soccer coach in TCU history. He is in his 14th season as the head coach. Prior to coming to TCU, Bell spent the previous six seasons with Florida State. Bell was Florida State's recruiting coordinator his entire tenure in Tallahassee.
- In an unprecedented case of a college football coach taking another job while his current team is in contention to win a national title, Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin has been hired to be LSU’s head football coach. Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding is the sixth-ranked Rebels’ new head coach. Kiffin succeeds Brian Kelly at LSU. Kelly was fired on October 26 and is owed a payout from LSU of about $53 million. LSU reportedly gave Kiffin a seven-year, $100-million deal. Ole Miss went 55-19 over six seasons under Kiffin and won 11 regular-season games for the first time in school history this season. Kiffin is 117-53 as a college coach. He also has coached at Tennessee, USC and Florida Atlantic.
- Kansas State coach Chris Klieman is going to retire after seven seasons with the Wildcats of the Big 12. Collin Klein, offensive coordinator for Texas A&M and a former Kansas State quarterback, will be K-State’s new head coach. Klein was Klieman’s offensive coordinator in 2022 and 2023 before leaving to join the Texas A&M staff. Klieman, 58, was 54-34 at Kansas State, with six bowl appearances and a Big 12 championship in 2022, when his Wildcats beat TCU in the Big 12 championship game. Klieman is second in career coaching victories at Kansas State, behind Bill Snyder, the legendary coach he replaced in 2019.
- Texas Tech head football coach Joey McGuire has agreed to a new seven-year deal with the Red Raiders.
- Florida has hired Tulane’s Jon Sumrall as the Seminoles’ new head football coach, at an average of nearly $7.5 million per year.
- Alex Golesh is leaving the University of South Florida to be the new head football coach at Auburn. South Florida is hiring Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline as its next head coach. Hartline is expected to continue coaching at Ohio State through the College Football Playoff. He has been on the Buckeyes staff since 2017.
- Vanderbilt head football coach Clark Lea has agreed to a new six-year deal to stay with the Commodores. Lea is 17-8 over his last two seasons with the Commodores. At 10-2 overall for this season, the Commodores achieved their first-ever 10-win season.
- Oregon State has hired Alabama co-offensive coordinator JaMarcus Shephard as its new head football coach. Shephard is a former Washington and Washington State assistant coach.
- Stanford has hired Tavita Pritchard as its new head football coach. Pritchard is a former Stanford quarterback who was quarterbacks coach for the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
- Arkansas has hired Memphis head football coach Ryan Silverfield as its new head football coach. Silverfield was 50-25 at Memphis
- Michigan State fired head football coach Jonathan Smith after two seasons and a 9-15 record (4-8 this season) and replaced him with ex-Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has been out of coaching since he was fired by Northwestern ahead of the 2023 season.
- Kentucky has fired longtime head football coach Mark Stoops, who was the winningest head football coach in school history. The school hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein as its new head football coach. Stoops finished 72-80 in 13 seasons. His contract calls for a $36-million buyout.
- NC State head football coach Dave Doeren is returning in 2025 for a 14th season with the Wolfpack, said athletic director Boo Corrigan. NC State is headed to a bowl game for the 11th time in Doeren's 13 seasons.
- UCLA is hiring James Madison head football coach Bob Chesney as its new head football coach, replacing DeShaun Foster, whom UCLA fired earlier this season. In two seasons at JMU, Chesney led the Dukes to a 20-5 record. This season, JMU is 11-1 and won the Sun Belt East Division. The Dukes are playing Troy in the Sun Belt Championship Game on Friday, December 5.
- North Texas football has an 11-win season for the first time in program history. A Playoff spot will be on the line when the Mean Green (11-1, 7-1) play Tulane in the American Conference Championship Game on Friday, December 5.
- Oklahoma State of the Big 12 has hired North Texas head coach Eric Morris to be its new head football coach. Morris is 22-15 at North Texas. The Mean Green have scored at least 50 points in six-of-11 games this year and lead the nation in scoring at 46.3 points per game.
- North Texas has hired Neal Brown to replace Eric Morris as its new head football coach. Brown joins North Texas with 10 seasons of experience as a head coach at the FBS level and 23 years of collegiate coaching experience. At Troy and most recently West Virginia, of the Big 12, Brown compiled a 72-51 overall record, with his teams making seven bowl appearances. This past season, Brown was a special assistant to University of Texas head football coach Steve Sarkisian.
- No. 2 Indiana achieved a 12-0 regular-season record for the first time ever in the football program’s 139-year history. Indiana began the 2025 season as the losingest program in college football history. The Hoosiers will be in the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time. No. 2 Indiana plays No.1 Ohio State on Saturday, December 6.
- Kansei “Tokyo Toe” Matsuzawa tied the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) record set in 1982 by Washington’s Chuck Nelson, hitting all of his first 25 field goals this season. He missed his 26th field-goal attempt.
- Iowa has joined Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State as the only programs to win at least eight games in each of the last 10 full football seasons.
- Coastal Carolina fired head football coach Tim Beck after three seasons. Beck went 20-18 at Coastal Carolina, which ended the 2025 regular season at 6-6 and on a three-game losing streak.
- NC State and Virginia will open their 2026 football seasons in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, becoming the first-ever FBS game played in Brazil. A new event, College Football Brasil, is scheduled for August 29, 2026, in Week 0, at Nilton Santos Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
- Arizona State and Kansas will play each other in London in Week 3 of the 2025 season, in the first Union Jack Classic.
- With Penn State courting BYU head coach Kelani Sitake to fill its head football coaching vacancy, BYU, of the Big 12, responded by offering a long-term extension, which Sitake accepted. Sitake has been BYU's head coach since 2016. He led BYU to an 11-2 record in 2024. The Cougars are 11-1 this season, their third in the Big 12. BYU has won at least 10 games in four of the past six seasons at BYU.
- Cal has targeted Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi to be its new head football coach.
- Conference championship games:
- Big 12: Texas Tech vs BYU
- SEC: Georgia vs. Alabama
- Big 10: Indiana vs. Ohio State
- ACC: Virginia vs. Duke
- American: North Texas vs. Tulane
- CUSA: Jacksonville State vs. Kennesaw State (Every program to ever reach a title game within two years of joining FBS: 2023 Jacksonville State and 2025 Kennesaw State )Sun Belt: Troy vs. James Madson
- Mountain West: UNLV at Boise State
- MAC: Miami (Ohio) vs. Western Michigan
- SWAC: Prairie View A&M vs Jackson State
Hoover, TCU’s Offense Nearly Perfect
Against Cincinnati, the Frogs started fast offensively, and finished strong.
TCU scored for the 419th consecutive game, the second longest streak in NCAA history, trailing only Florida’s 471 consecutive games of scoring.
TCU scored a touchdown on its first offensive possession and scored 21 first-quarter points, its most in any first quarter since the 24 scored against Iowa State on November 26, 2022.
The Frogs took a 31-17 lead into halftime.
The Horned Frogs’ 31 first-half points were the most since the Frogs scored as many against BYU on October 14, 2023.
TCU’s 45 points were the most since the Frogs scored 48 in their season-opening win (48-14) over North Carolina
TCU totaled 544 yards of offense: 306 yards through the air and 238 yards on the ground.
Hoover was masterful in leading the Horned Frogs’ offense. He had more touchdown passes than incompletions.
Hoover completed 19-of-22 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns. He did not throw an interception. He was sacked once.
It was Hoover's 16th game, in 31 career starts, throwing for 300-plus-yards, the most in TCU history.
For his performance, Hoover earned his second weekly honor from the Davey O’Brien Award as one of their "Great 8."
Hoover also has been named a semifinalist for the 2025 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, which will be given to the top offensive player in college football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell.
Against the Bearcats, Hoover’s top target was McAlister, who had eight receptions on eight targets for 101 yards. It was his sixth game of at least 100 receiving yards this season and his fourth in his past five games.
McAlister passed Quentin Johnston and moved into second place on the single-season charts with 1,121 receiving yards on the year. He trails only Josh Doctson (1,327) on the program’s all-time single-season receiving yards leaderboard.
Hoover connected with McAlister on a 17-yard touchdown pass in the second period.
McAlister moved into a tie for third place all-time, with Mike Renfro and Jeremy Kerley, on the team’s single-season receiving touchdown leader-board with 10 on the season, trailing only Doctson’s 2014 (11 receiving touchdowns) and 2015 (14 receiving touchdowns) seasons.
McAlister has set personal season-highs in catches (64) and receiving yards, and has doubled his previous best single-season touchdown mark (five).
McAlister has been named to the All-Big 12 First Team Offense, and he has been named a semifinalist for the 2025 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, which will be given to the top offensive player in college football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell.
Dwyer caught three passes for 84 yards. He scored two touchdowns, on a 69-yard reception and on a fumble recovery in the end zone.
Manjack caught five passes for 59 yards and one touchdown.
Payne, who recorded a touch on seven of the game's first 13 plays, ran for a career-high 174 yards on 26 carries and added a career-long 44-yard reception, bringing his all-purpose yardage against Cincinnati to 218. The 218 yards were the most yards from scrimmage by a TCU running back since Robert Merrill tallied 231 at Houston on October 25, 2003.
This was Payne’s second career and second consecutive 100-yard rushing game. He had 103 yards on 18 carries in TCU’s previous game, a 17-14 win against the University of Houston.
This was the first time a TCU running back had consecutive rushing performances of at least 100 yards since Emani Bailey in 2023.
Payne's 26 carries were the most by a Frog since Kendre Miller rushed for 185 yards at Texas Tech during the 2021 season.
Payne had two rushing touchdowns against Cincinnati. In the second period, he scored on a nine-yard run. He completed TCU’s scoring on a 51-yard sprint for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
For his performance, Payne earned his first Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honor.
The Horned Frogs’ offensive line was named the Big 12’s Offensive Line of the Week for their efforts paving the way for Payne and TCU’s running game against the Bearcats.
TCU's 238 rushing yards led all Big 12 teams on November 29 and four different TCU running backs averaged over four yards per carry against Cincinnati: Payne (6.7); Trent Battle (5.5) Nate Palmer (4.1); and Franklin Estrada II (4.0).
This was the first time this season TCU’s offensive line received the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week award.
“Our quarterback (Hoover) had more touchdowns than incompletions,” said Dykes. “Josh was really on point. Eric McAlister had an excellent game. He’s gotten better and better and better. He and Hoover were really on the same page.
“We were able to run the ball. We haven’t been able to do that in a while. And this (Cincinnati) was a good, tough, physical football team and we were able to run the football, even when everybody knew we were going to run it. Our backs ran extraordinarily hard. But it all begins up front.
“Great win for our guys. Proud of them. Wish we could have played like this, a little bit more consistently, this year. “
TCU’s Defense Controls Cincinnati
After several weeks of senior linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr dominating TCU’s defense, several more Frogs got in on the action against Cincinnati.
Five TCU defenders recorded four or more tackles. Sophomore safety Jordan Lester led the group with six tackles.
Elarms-Orr, who has been named All-Big 12 First Team Defense, had five tackles against Cincinnati. He led the conference with 119 total tackles, including 57 solo stops and four sacks.
TCU’s defense set the tone early, getting a fourth-down stop in Cincinnati’s territory on the Bearcats’ first possession, after which the Frogs’ offense scored a touchdown on its first possession.
Cincinnati’s offense was held to 397 total yards: 282 passing yards; 115 rushing yards.
Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby completed 23-of-33 passes. He threw three touchdown passes. He was not intercepted. He was sacked three times.
Senior defensive end Devean Deal, junior defensive end Paul Oyewale and true freshman safety Julius Simms each recorded a sack of Sorsby. All three also had a tackle-for-loss, as did senior linebacker Namdi Obiazor.
Deal and safeties Bud Clark and Jamel Johnson were named All-Big 12 Second Team Defense.
Obiazor earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Defense.
Cincinnati’s leading receiver was Caleb Goodie, who had five receptions for 67 yards.
Sorsby was the Bearcats’ leading rusher, with 59 yards on 10 carries.
Running back Tawee Walker had 48 yards on six carries.
“Defensively, a key was we started pressuring the quarterback,” said Dykes. “Their quarterback is a really good football player. Our guys made great adjustments on defense. The players did a good job of talking to each other and making in-game adjustments. The stop on their first fourth-down play was a huge momentum play for us.”
Additional TCU-Cincinnati Insight
- Box score: here
- Game highlights: here
- TCU post-game remarks: here and here and here
- Cincinnati post-game remarks: here
TCU and Football Bowl Games
TCU’s 2025 bowl destination should be determined and announced by Sunday, December 7. Here are the most probable bowl games for TCU:
- December 26: Rate Bowl (Phoenix, Arizona)
- December 27: Pop-Tarts Bowl (Orlando, Florida)
- December 27: Kinder's Texas Bowl (Houston, Texas)
- December 30: Valero Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, Texas)
- December 30: Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl (Shreveport, Louisiana)
- January 2: AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis, Tennessee)
This will be TCU’s 37th bowl game in program history (not counting the 2023 national championship game).
The Horned Frogs are 19-16-1 in bowl games.
Over the last 20 seasons, TCU is 12-3 (.800) in bowls for the best record by any team nationally with at least 10 bowl appearances in that stretch.
In 2014, TCU became the fourth college football team in history to have competed in all six of the modern-day College Football Playoff bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Cotton, Peach and Orange). TCU, Florida State, Miami (Florida) and Tennessee are the only schools to have earned this distinction. TCU has a 6–5–1 record in those bowls, notching wins in all but the Orange.
TCU was selected to the 2020 Texas Bowl versus Arkansas, but the game was canceled because of COVID concerns.
The 2022 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl against Michigan was the first bowl game for the Horned Frogs since the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl, a 10-7 overtime win against Cal.
Last year, TCU defeated Louisiana 34-3 in the 19th annual Isleta New Mexico Bowl, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday, December 28.
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