TCU spent most of Saturday night looking like a team in trouble. Then the Horned Frogs flipped the script in a hurry.
Down 13-0 late in the third quarter, TCU stormed back to beat Kansas 22-16 on Halloween Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium, turning a tense, half-empty scene into a celebration. The comeback was fueled by defense, finished by Jaden Craig, and sealed only after one final stop kept the Jayhawks from escaping.
The win moved TCU to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the Big 12, while Kansas fell to 3-5 and 1-4. The Horned Frogs now head to Arizona at 9:15 p.m. Friday.
For much of the first half, the offense had little going. TCU was shut out through two quarters, managed just one first down in the opening period and went to halftime trailing 13-0.
Drops and pass protection issues kept the unit stuck in place, and the Horned Frogs averaged only 3.6 yards per play before the break. At times, the offense’s best gains came from Kansas defensive holding penalties.
The turnaround started with the defense. A deflected pass on fourth down turned into a 60-yard pick-six by senior linebacker Max Carroll, trimming the deficit to 13-7 with 4:38 left in the third quarter. Then, after another stop, freshman wide receiver Ace Theus put TCU in front 14-13 with a 28-yard touchdown run at the end of the third.
Kansas answered with a 27-yard field goal and a 16-14 lead with 4:59 left, setting up one more TCU drive with the game on the line. This time, the Horned Frogs finished it.
Senior quarterback Jaden Craig scored from 17 yards out with 1:09 remaining, and after TCU converted the 2-point try, the defense handled the rest. Kansas quickly moved to the TCU 44-yard line, but the Horned Frogs shut down the drive and prevented another completion to close it out.
Here are four takeaways from the victory:
Offense finds a way to get it done
TCU’s offense looked lost early, but it finally found rhythm after halftime. The Horned Frogs averaged 6.3 yards per play in the second half, helped mostly by the run game. TCU gained 91 rushing yards after managing just 54 in the first half, and its 145 rushing yards were the most it has posted against an FBS opponent this season.
The unit still hasn’t scored more than two touchdowns against a Power Four conference opponent, but it did enough when the game demanded it. Theus’ touchdown run and Craig’s late score were the difference.
Backup QB leads Kansas
Kansas came in expecting sophomore Isaiah Marshall at quarterback, but he was ruled out just before kickoff. That pushed junior Cole Ballard into the starting role, and he handled it well for a player making his first start since 2023.
Ballard helped Kansas build its first-half lead by directing three scoring drives against TCU’s top-ranked scoring defense, including the Jayhawks’ only touchdown drive, which featured a 35-yard completion and a 29-yard touchdown pass. He opened the second half by completing three straight throws and pushing Kansas deep into TCU territory.
But the momentum swung when Kansas came up short on a designed quarterback run on fourth-and-goal, and then Ballard threw the pick-six to Carroll on the next possession. Ballard finished with 285 passing yards and a touchdown, but Kansas missed the mobility Marshall would have provided as the game wore on.
Defense saves the day
TCU’s defense kept the game from slipping away long before the comeback was complete. Early on, when Ed Small muffed a punt and gave Kansas the ball at the TCU 32-yard line, the Horned Frogs held the Jayhawks to a missed field goal attempt.
The biggest stand came late in the third quarter with Kansas still ahead 13-0. The Jayhawks had four chances from the TCU 6-yard line and still came away empty after being stopped on fourth-and-goal at the 1. That set the stage for the offense to finally get going, and once the Horned Frogs took the lead, the defense delivered again.
Senior defensive end Koron Hayward forced a fumble with a sack on Ballard with 12:06 left, another huge swing in a game defined by turnovers and red zone stops. Without those plays, TCU doesn’t win this one.
Jaden Craig leads the run game
TCU entered the game short-handed at running back, with junior Jeremy Payne, junior Joe Pitchford and sixth-year back Landon Walker all out. Sophomore Jon Denman was limited to three carries for 10 yards in the first half before leaving as well.
That left the Horned Frogs leaning on Craig, and he answered with 15 carries for 87 yards, a career high for the Harvard transfer. He looked more comfortable as a runner than he has all season, scrambling when plays broke down and showing better vision on designed quarterback power and zone reads.
Theus chipped in with 30 yards on two carries, but Craig was the driving force behind TCU’s best rushing performance since Grambling State. The offensive line also steadied itself after a rough first half and helped open things up when the Horned Frogs needed it most.
In Other News...
TCUs Home Crowd Sent A Brutal Message Before A Huge Big 12 Game
Amon G. Carter Stadium had a strangely hollow feel just 10 minutes before kickoff for a game that carried plenty of weight for both sides. Kansas and TCU came in at 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play, so this was the kind of late-October matchup that could still shape the rest of the season, even if neither team had much margin for error.
Kansas also made a late quarterback change, naming Cole Ballard as the starter shortly before the game. With both teams trying to avoid another damaging conference loss, the atmosphere around the stadium only sharpened the sense that this was more than just another Saturday, and the crowd response was a reminder of how quickly a season can turn into a pressure-packed chase for bowl eligibility. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Saw The Same Offensive Problem Cost Them Again Late
The Halloween win over Kansas fit a familiar TCU pattern this season: the defense kept the Horned Frogs afloat while the offense spent much of the night searching for answers. Even with the unit on the field a lot in the first half, the defense held up well enough to keep the game within reach, and there were at least a few signs the offense was starting to settle in, including a 28-yard rush from Ace Theus and some useful connections between Jaden Craig and Kari Ashley.
Those flashes mattered most late, when TCU finally put together the kind of decisive drive it had been missing in other tight moments. The offense showed a little more rhythm in the closing stretch and turned the game with a sequence that gave the Horned Frogs control, leaving Kansas to once again watch the same issue cost it down the stretch. [Read more 🡒]