TCU’s defense has earned the right to expect another grind.
After surviving a week against West Virginia’s fast-moving offense, the Horned Frogs are staring down another attack that likes to stretch a defense, stress its communication and force split-second decisions when Kansas comes to Amon G. Carter Stadium at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FS1.
The numbers say TCU has been one of the better defensive teams in the country. The Horned Frogs rank first in scoring defense in the Big 12 and sixth nationally, and they backed that up last week even in a 24-20 loss to the Mountaineers. West Virginia’s 20 points were its lowest of the season, and TCU limited the Mountaineers to 265 total yards, far beneath their season average of 468.1.
That kind of output should have been enough to win. Instead, three turnovers from the offense left TCU empty-handed.
Still, the defensive room isn’t spending much time on what went wrong elsewhere. The focus is on the details the unit can control.
“(West Virginia) played 58 plays and in 51 of them they had a little over 100 yards. That’s pretty remarkable,” defensive coordinator Andy Avalos said Wednesday.
“It really comes down to like every game, those seven plays. We’ve got to eliminate those penalties and that’s what we’re here to do this week.
Work on it and apply it to the new challenge this week.”
Kansas brings a different look, but not a simple one. The Jayhawks are 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play, and while they aren’t as explosive as West Virginia, they still carry the same kind of dual-threat problems that can tilt a game in a hurry.
Sophomore quarterback Isaiah Marshall has thrown for 1,506 yards, rushed for 403 and accounted for 13 total touchdowns in his first season as a starter. Kansas State transfer Dylan Edwards leads the ground game with 531 rushing yards and a 5.1-yard average per carry. Together, they give Kansas a backfield that can punish a defense if it loses structure.
The passing game leans heavily on Buffalo transfer Nik McMillan, who leads the Jayhawks with 466 receiving yards and five touchdowns. No other Kansas receiver has more than 260 yards, but McMillan’s production jumps off the page anyway - he ranks in the top 25 nationally in yards per reception at 18.6.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes sees the threat clearly.
“I like their team,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said Tuesday. “Their quarterback is athletic, I think the running back is one of the better running backs in the league.
They’ve got really good skill at wide receiver. I think they’re solid up front on the offensive line.
“They’re an explosive offensive team, they’re going to show you a lot of different looks to try and confuse you a little bit and create really good matchups. They do a great job scheming the run game, then the quarterback can make plays.”
A lot of that comes from the return of offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who was back in Lawrence after spending two years at Penn State. Kansas had Kotelnicki from 2021-23, and his offense helped fuel two of the program’s best seasons in 2022 and 2023.
His system is built to make a defense think before it can react. Misdirection, motion and shifting alignments are all part of the package, designed to create clean throwing windows and confusion at the same time.
TCU has already had a taste of it. In 2022, the Jayhawks pushed the Horned Frogs to the brink before TCU pulled out a 38-31 win in Lawrence.
That history is part of why Avalos is talking about discipline and communication, not just physical play.
“You’ve got a great O-line, a good backfield, their capabilities of being explosive are multiple,” Avalos said. “It’s the play action that comes off the plus-one run game whether it’s to the tight ends or the wide receivers.
The thing we have to do a good job of is making sure that we are with our communication. Keep things simple, see our keys, attack those keys and play fast.
“They’re certainly going to give teams a lot of formations, and then you have to deal with the speed of their offense.”
The matchup still tilts toward TCU on paper. Kansas is averaging just 22.2 points per game against Power Four opponents, which gives the Horned Frogs a path if their defense stays sharp.
But with TCU’s offense struggling, the margin may be tight again. Holding Kansas under 20 points is probably not enough if the Horned Frogs want to avoid another loss; they may need to keep the Jayhawks under 17.
In Other News...
Jacobe Hayes Just Gave TCU A Needed Boost On Offense
Jacobe Hayes has started to look like more than just a promising young piece in TCUs offense. The sophomore receiver showed real progress against West Virginia, continuing a stretch in which he has become a more reliable option and a welcome sign for a group that has needed steadier production from its pass catchers.
Hayes growth has stood out because it comes in the middle of an uneven season, when TCU has been searching for answers and consistency on offense. His development suggests the Horned Frogs may be finding another dependable target, and the next question is how much larger his role can become as the season moves along. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Suddenly Faces A Bigger Sonny Dykes Question After West Virginia
The fallout from TCUs disappointing loss to West Virginia reached the coaching staff almost immediately, with Sonny Dykes moving to make a change along the offensive line. The move came as the Horned Frogs tried to steady themselves after a rough showing, and it added another layer to a season already drawing attention in a Big 12 coaching landscape where pressure points seem to pop up fast.
The larger conversation around Dykes also widened beyond Fort Worth, with speculation swirling online about his job security before school administrators pushed back on the rumor mill. In a conference that has already seen coaching chatter touch names like Lincoln Riley and follow Baylors recent change, TCU is suddenly dealing with more than one question at once, and the next steps around the program are now under a brighter spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Faces A Big 12 Problem Kansas Could Exploit Again
Kansas comes into its Big 12 matchup with TCU feeling a little better about itself after picking up its first conference win of the season against Baylor. The Jayhawks have built their offense around balance, with quarterback Isaiah Marshall and a rushing attack that has given them some life, and running back Dylan Edwards has been a big part of that formula. For TCU, the task is pretty clear: slow down the ground game and keep Kansas from turning the contest into one of those grind-it-out afternoons where the Frogs are chasing the pace.
The matchup also carries some added weight because Kansas has had a hard time solving TCU in recent years, and Fort Worth has not exactly been a friendly stop for the Jayhawks. Still, this version of Kansas looks more capable of creating problems with its run game and enough passing help to make defenses think twice about loading up. If TCU is going to protect home field, it will need to keep Kansas from getting comfortable early and find a way to take away the kind of balance that has made the Jayhawks tougher to handle. [Read more 🡒]