No. 10 BYU heads into Fort Worth with momentum, rest and a defense that has been hard to crack, while TCU is trying to steady itself after an uneven 2-2 start that already includes a pair of rough losses.
The Cougars are 3-0 for the fourth straight season, and last week’s early bye gave them extra time to reset. They’re averaging 42 points a game and allowing 15.7, with a plus-4 turnover margin that has helped drive the start. BYU also comes in with a fresh memory of last season’s 44-11 rout of TCU, even if the Cougars have not won in Fort Worth since 2006.
TCU, meanwhile, is sitting at 2-2 and 0-1 in Big 12 play after setbacks against UNC and UCF. The Horned Frogs are scoring 29.3 points per game and giving up 12.5, but the bigger issue has been the mistakes: they’ve already drawn 30 penalties in four games and have fumbled nine times. That’s a tough combination for a team that badly needs an upset to change the mood around its season.
A lot of this matchup will come down to the ground game. TCU has been excellent against the run, holding opponents to just 76.0 rushing yards through four games.
BYU, on the other hand, is putting up nearly 200 yards more than that per game on the ground. That clash could tell the story.
So could ball security, with BYU’s defense built to create havoc and TCU’s offense already showing shaky hands.
There’s also the question of how BYU comes out of the bye. Kalani Sitake’s teams have had their share of slow starts after time off, so the opening stretch matters. And for sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier, this is a different kind of test: he has been excellent so far, but he has not yet faced a Big 12 road challenge.
Up front, BYU will also be leaning on a fresh face. Freshman offensive tackle Bott Mulitalo is set for a bigger role with veteran Andrew Gentry sidelined indefinitely after ankle surgery.
Mulitalo has logged 40 snaps off the bench and looked good in that work, but Saturday will be his first real extended run. That matters because TCU has shown it can get after the quarterback, with nine sacks already and the Big 12’s second-best pass rush, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Horned Frogs will likely test the freshman right away.
Sitake said BYU used the bye week with game-week focus intact: “We feel like our guys accomplished what we wanted to get done last week for the bye. We were ready to play a game.
We just didn’t play one, but the guys put in time and they put in a lot of work, and we got some bodies healed. But we still practiced with the intention of playing a game.
The intensity and everything was still there in terms of our practice. … We are looking forward to seeing them play this weekend.”
TCU coach Sonny Dykes said his team is searching for answers after the losses: “We’re disappointed, we’re hurt, but we realize if we sit around and pout about it, that’s not going to make it better ... We obviously are evaluating every aspect of our program, trying to figure out why we’re not playing as well as we need to play to win games.
“We talked about this when the season started, a big point of emphasis for us is the number of one-score games that we’re going to play in and the formula to win those games, and that’s win the turnover battle and limit penalties and mistakes.
“Unfortunately for us in those two (losses), we haven’t done those things. So we’ve got to figure it out as a staff and investigate every reason why that’s been the case.”
After this one, BYU gets Iowa State on Oct. 9, while TCU heads to Baylor on Oct. 17.
BYU’s remaining schedule includes Iowa State, Notre Dame, at UCF, Arizona State, at Utah, Baylor, at Kansas and Cincinnati.
In Other News...
BYU Heads To TCU With One Big Chance To Silence Doubts
Advanced metrics say BYU should walk into Fort Worth with a real opportunity to back up the record and quiet some of the lingering skepticism around the program. Several projection systems are on the Cougars side, including SP+, FPI and FEI, all of which tilt toward BYU in a matchup that looks more favorable on paper than the road setting might suggest. Most of the forecasts point to a result with BYU ahead by about a touchdown, which is enough to make this feel like more than just another conference trip.
The appeal for BYU is straightforward: an offense with enough punch to test a TCU defense that has had trouble turning possessions into points for opponents. The numbers do not guarantee anything on Saturday, of course, but they do frame this as one of those games that can either reinforce the Cougars rise or leave the conversation about how far they still have to go hanging in the air a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Got Pulled Into A Big 12 Playoff Fight
College footballs playoff debate is suddenly pulling BYU into a much bigger conversation than just its own path to the postseason. With leaders weighing a jump from a 12-team format to 24 teams, the ripple effects would stretch well beyond Selection Sunday, altering how the sport approaches the postseason and cutting further into the bowl system that has long defined December and January.
The Big 12 is among the leagues pushing for the change, which would obviously matter in Provo because it could open the door for more conference teams to stay alive longer. But the push is drawing resistance from those who see bigger costs, less urgency in the regular season and more strain on the sports finances, and analyst Josh Pate has been especially blunt about the risks. For BYU, it is the kind of playoff fight that could reshape its future opportunities even before a single team is officially added. [Read more 🡒]
Undefeated BYU Walks Into A TCU Team Desperate To Respond
TCUs Big 12 home opener comes with plenty on the line, and the setting hardly offers a cushion. The Horned Frogs welcome undefeated BYU to Amon G. Carter Stadium on Oct. 3, with the matchup landing at a time when TCU is trying to steady itself after a rough stretch and sort through its player availability concerns.
BYU brings more than an unbeaten record into Fort Worth, and quarterback Bear Bachmeier is at the center of the challenge for TCUs defense. Add in the usual first-weekend-in-October variables, from game-day details to the weather forecast and the history around the series, and this feels like the kind of test that can quickly define where both teams are headed in league play. [Read more 🡒]