TCU’s 2026 season opener is inching closer, and the Horned Frogs are now 18 days out from facing North Carolina in Dublin, Ireland on Aug. 29. As part of the Countdown to Kickoff, one former TCU standout matches the number on the clock: No. 18, former wide receiver Jack Bech.
Bech’s rise in Fort Worth came fast once he settled in. The LSU transfer saw limited action in 2023, then took over as TCU’s top target in 2024. By the time his Horned Frog career ended, he had joined rare company as the fifth player in program history to top 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.
His 2024 numbers tell the story: 62 catches, 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns, with a 16.8-yard average per reception. That production earned him semifinalist recognition for both the Biletnikoff Award and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, along with Second-Team All-Big 12 honors and a Phil Steele All-American Honorable Mention.
Bech appeared in 20 games across his two seasons in Fort Worth before heading to the NFL. The Las Vegas Raiders took him in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and he went on to play 16 games as a rookie, finishing with 20 receptions for 224 yards and an 11.2-yard average per catch.
Before his time at TCU, Bech spent two seasons at LSU. As a true freshman in 2021, he led the Tigers with 43 catches and added 489 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
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