TCU’s 31-7 win over Arkansas State had the clean finish of a comfortable night, but it didn’t get there easily. The Horned Frogs spent much of Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium working through some early unevenness before the defense slammed the door and senior quarterback Jaden Craig kept stacking good throws.
Craig delivered his second straight game with at least 300 passing yards, finishing with 337 yards and three touchdowns while completing more than 70% of his passes. He also added 20 rushing yards on seven carries. TCU still had to wait until late in the third quarter to truly pull away, but once Craig connected with Ka’Morreun Pimpton for a 9-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left in the period, the game started to tilt hard in the Horned Frogs’ favor.
That score came after Craig pump-faked a screen pass and then lofted a jump ball to the senior tight end, a play that fit into an efficient night for TCU’s passing game. The Horned Frogs shut out Arkansas State in the second half and finished non-conference play with momentum heading into their Big 12 opener at Central Florida at 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 26.
A big part of Craig’s night was his growing chemistry with sophomore slot receiver Ed Small. With senior Jordan Dwyer out for a third straight game, Small continued to emerge as Craig’s top target.
Craig hit him on three high-level throws in the first half, including a 52-yard strike while rolling to his right. Small caught it at the Arkansas State 33-yard line and turned it into an 18-yard gain before being forced out of bounds.
That play helped set up Jeremy Payne’s 3-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 TCU lead midway through the first quarter.
Small kept making plays after Craig threw an interception, too. Late in the second quarter, Craig again rolled right and found him for 42 yards.
A few snaps later, Craig delivered what may have been his best throw in a TCU uniform, dropping a pass over a defender to Small for a 17-yard touchdown on a corner route. That made it 14-0 with 5:17 left before halftime.
Small accounted for 122 of Craig’s 188 passing yards in the first half and finished with 164 yards overall as his early-season surge continued.
The rest of the receiving group showed progress as well. Drops had been a problem through the first two weeks, with TCU averaging four per game, and the staff had made it a point to clean that up. Against an experienced Arkansas State secondary, the Horned Frogs came away with zero drops and several strong catches.
Junior tight end Kari Ashley added to that effort after dropping a potential 40-plus-yard gain last week during his breakout game. This time, he came through with X yards and a 32-yard catch that set up a Pimpton touchdown and pushed TCU ahead 21-7 with 17 seconds left in the third quarter.
Sophomore receiver Jacobe Hayes also made his mark, setting a career high with 52 yards on three catches. His 29-yard reception on a Craig rollout helped set up the final blow and showed why the coaching staff is so high on the Mansfield High alum.
TCU’s defense set the tone early and mostly kept control throughout. Sonny Dykes had praised the unit during the week but wanted a faster start after sluggish opening stretches against Grambling State and North Carolina.
With All-Big 12 safety Jamel Johnson back, the Horned Frogs answered that challenge. Arkansas State was blanked on its first six possessions, including three three-and-outs, and TCU limited a Red Wolves offense that had been averaging more than 38 points per game.
The only real blemish before halftime came when Arkansas State marched 84 yards in four plays, sparked by a 46-yard gain to tight end Jabari Bush. Bush slipped into space against TCU’s zone, and the Red Wolves scored on the next play to cut the lead to 14-7 with 1:05 left in the half.
Still, the Horned Frogs’ defense kept showing up after that. In the third quarter, Arkansas State reached the TCU 3-yard line with a chance to tie the game, but TCU answered with a goal-line stop.
Then early in the fourth, Koron Hayward and senior Paul Oyewae had sacks on consecutive plays to force a punt. Arkansas State never seriously threatened again and finished with 261 total yards.
The part of the night that didn’t come together was the run game. TCU expected more against an Arkansas State defense that had been giving up 5.7 yards per carry and more than 200 rushing yards per game, but the Horned Frogs were held to 98 yards on 29 carries through three quarters, an average of just 3.4 yards per carry. Sophomore running back Jon Denman, TCU’s second-best rusher, was out, but the problems up front still stood out.
Jeremy Payne had to dodge defenders in the backfield more than once just to avoid losses, and TCU never found the kind of explosive ground game it likely wanted. The longest rush of the night was only 11 yards, shared by Craig and Payne. Payne still finished with 86 yards on 24 carries after some better runs in the fourth quarter, but that kind of workload normally calls for more production.
In Other News...
TCU Heads Into Big 12 Play With One Encouraging Shift
TCU closed non-conference play with a 31-7 win over Arkansas State, and the result offered a little more than just a clean finish before Big 12 action begins. Jaden Craig delivered his sharpest passing outing of the season, completing 21 of 27 throws for 337 yards and three touchdowns, and the Horned Frogs also looked more organized than they had in stretches earlier this fall, with fewer penalties and a secondary that benefited from safety Jamel Johnsons return from injury.
Still, the box score did not hide every concern. The offense had its rough spots, and the defensive front again had trouble consistently creating pressure on the quarterback, which is the kind of issue that tends to get exposed once league play starts. For TCU, the encouraging part is that there was at least one clear sign of progress heading into the Big 12 slate, even if the larger evaluation is still very much in motion. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Is Pushing For A Texas Prospect Fans Should Watch
Tyce Payne has become a name worth tracking for TCU as the Horned Frogs continue building relationships with one of Texas more intriguing high school prospects. The Vernon standout already has 11 scholarship offers, and TCU is firmly in the mix after putting in the work with Payne and his camp as the recruiting cycle moves forward.
Payne is not rushing the process, which leaves TCU waiting along with several other programs. He has said he is seriously considering the Horned Frogs, but his decision is still on the spring timeline, and he is also dealing with a minor injury while focusing on sharpening his game before college football enters the picture. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Gets A Bigger Test Than Fans Might Expect Saturday
TCU gets its second home game of the season Saturday after handling Grambling State and now turns to an Arkansas State team that arrives with a 1-1 record and enough offense to make this more than a routine tune-up. For the Horned Frogs, the focus is not just on carrying over the momentum from last week, but on showing the kind of consistency that matters once the schedule starts asking a little more.
There is also some roster management to sort through as the Frogs prepare for kickoff. Jordan Dwyer and Zachary Chapman are expected to miss the game, while Jamel Johnson is anticipated to return, leaving TCU with a familiar early-season balancing act between depth, health and performance. Arkansas State may not grab the same attention as a power-conference opponent, but it has the kind of capable offense that can quickly expose loose tackling or slow starts. [Read more 🡒]