No. 9 BYU gets the week off before heading to Fort Worth on October 3rd, and the early numbers already point to the Cougars as the team to beat.
DraftKings opened BYU as a 5.5-point favorite over TCU, with the total set at 52.5. ESPN FPI gives BYU a 68.7% chance to win.
That makes some sense given what happened last season. BYU handled TCU 44-13 in the teams’ meeting a year ago, and the Horned Frogs will be trying to turn the tables after that lopsided result.
TCU comes in at 2-1, with wins over Arkansas State and Grambling. Its lone defeat was also its only matchup against a Power Four opponent, a 15-10 loss to North Carolina in Dublin, Ireland. In that game, TCU looked sluggish and sloppy against the only decent competition it has faced so far.
There are a couple of reasons to be careful reading too much into that opener, though. The weather in Dublin was rainy, and the game was played on another continent. Those international games tend to get messy.
Quarterback Jayden Craig had a rough day in that loss. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 175 yards and missed several open receivers.
Since then, he has averaged 364 passing yards per game against weaker competition. The question now is whether Craig has really taken a step forward or whether the numbers are inflated by the level of opposition.
That answer should start to come into focus this week at UCF.
The TCU defense has done its part. The Horned Frogs have not given up more than 15 points in any game this season. That creates an interesting contrast with last year’s matchup, when BYU still found a way to put up 44 against a defense that was supposed to be stingy.
History also leans against the Cougars in Fort Worth. You have to go back to 2006 for BYU’s last road win over TCU, when it beat a ranked Horned Frogs team.
The most recent trip to TCU came in 2023, BYU’s first season in the Big 12, and that one went badly from the start. Coming off a bye then too, the Cougars were blown out 44-11.
In Other News...
LJ Martin Is Chasing BYU History As A Bigger Concern Emerges
LJ Martin has spent the opening stretch of the 2026 season climbing a pretty significant ladder in BYU history. He entered the year ninth on the Cougars all-time rushing list at 2,541 yards, and after three games he has already moved into sixth with 2,869, passing several notable names along the way as he keeps moving closer to the top of the record book.
For BYU, the chase is becoming a storyline worth monitoring, but so is the way the Cougars handle it. Martin is on pace to threaten the programs all-time rushing mark if he keeps producing at a high level the rest of the way, including any postseason games, yet the staff is also managing his workload so he is at his best when the schedule gets tougher and the biggest opponents arrive later in the season. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Already Has A Rising Freshman Fans Need To Watch
After three games of the 2026 season, BYU already has one freshman making an early case to be impossible to ignore. Legend Glasker has given the Cougars a real jolt on offense, piling up 270 receiving yards while finding the end zone through both the air and on the ground, a burst of versatility that has fit neatly into an attack led by quarterback Bear Bachmeier and supported by an offensive line that has helped keep everything moving.
Bachmeiers start has been steady and productive, with 662 passing yards, six touchdown passes and just one interception, plus added value as a runner, while the line has opened lanes and kept pressure off him. On the other side, linebacker Cade Uluave has set the tone defensively with the team lead in tackles and an interception, but Glaskers rapid rise has already turned him into one of the most interesting young pieces on the roster, especially after earning two Big 12 freshman of the week honors this early in the year. [Read more 🡒]
BYU May Have Found The Cornerback It Needed Most
BYU went into the season needing answers at cornerback after Mory Bambas departure, and the early work has centered on a pair of players who have helped steady the position. Sophomore Cannon DeVries has been folded into the defensive rotation, while transfer Jayven Williams arrived with a different path, bringing experience from Mississippi State and Kennesaw State and giving the Cougars another option in the secondary.
Williams has already made a smooth first impression in Provo, quickly picking up BYUs culture and defensive scheme and earning praise from defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga. Both he and DeVries have been part of the nickel and dime looks this season, a sign that BYU is leaning on them in situations where reliability matters most and still sorting out just how far that solution can go. [Read more 🡒]