TCU’s march toward the 2026 opener keeps ticking, and with 33 days left before the Horned Frogs face North Carolina in Dublin, Ireland on Aug. 29, the spotlight lands on a familiar number: 33, worn by former running back Kendre Miller.
Miller came to TCU as a three-star recruit and wasted little time making an impact. As a freshman, he averaged 7.2 yards per carry, which ranked fifth in team history, and piled up 388 yards and two touchdowns on just 54 carries while sharing work with Zach Evans. He followed that with an even stronger sophomore season, rushing for 623 yards and seven touchdowns on 83 carries and posting a career-best 7.5 yards per carry.
When Evans left after the 2021 season, following the program’s split with Gary Patterson, Miller stepped into the lead role and delivered his biggest year yet. In 2022, he earned All-Big 12 First Team recognition and was named a semifinalist for both the Doak Walker Award and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. He finished with 1,399 yards and 17 touchdowns on 224 carries, averaging 6.4 yards per attempt, and helped power TCU to a 13-2 record and a trip to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
That breakout season pushed Miller into the NFL, where the New Orleans Saints selected him in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. His pro career has been slowed by injuries, and over three seasons with the Saints he has totaled 497 rushing yards and three touchdowns in 21 games. Now entering his fourth professional season, he sits behind returning Alvin Kamara and newcomer Travis Etienne Jr. on the depth chart.
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TCUs Jamel Johnson Is Getting Serious Big 12 Respect
TCUs secondary is getting plenty of preseason attention heading into 2026, and Jamel Johnson is a big reason why. The strong safety is coming off a huge season that put him firmly on the conference radar, with 96 tackles, five interceptions, three passes defended and a fumble recovery helping establish him as one of the Big 12s most complete defensive backs.
Now the conversation is shifting from breakout year to top-of-the-league status, especially with Bud Clark gone to the NFL and Johnson expected to help steer the back end of the defense. In a preseason ranking that also includes names like Brice Pollock, Will James and Faletau Satuala, Johnson is the one setting the standard, and the bigger question is whether he can turn that respect into the kind of leadership TCU needs in the fall. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Weighs In As Big Ten SEC Debate Reaches TCU
The conference debate that never really goes away got fresh fuel again when Nick Saban weighed in on the Big Ten-SEC conversation, a topic that always finds its way back into college footballs biggest rooms. The backdrop is hard to ignore: the Big Ten has captured three straight national championships, a run that has shifted how people talk about the sports power structure and forced everyone else to reassess the old assumptions.
Sabans point was a familiar one for anyone who has spent years around championship football, and it lands especially well now with Georgia and Texas among the teams being mentioned as national title favorites. A single trophy can change the mood around a conference, but it does not settle every argument, and that leaves the larger question very much alive as the sport heads toward another season of measuring leagues against one another. [Read more 🡒]