Fort Worth wasn’t exactly buzzing before Kansas and TCU got going on Saturday.
With kickoff at Amon G. Carter Stadium only 10 minutes away, big stretches of the stands were still empty as the Horned Frogs and Jayhawks lined up for their Week 9 Big 12 matchup. Jamie Plunkett of Horned Frog Blitz captured the scene from inside the stadium, and the emptiness was impossible to ignore.
10 minutes to kickoff between TCU and Kansas pic.twitter.com/hfvpxxISvg
- Jamie Plunkett (@FrogPreacher) October 31, 2026
To be fair, college football crowds can come together fast once the final minutes before kickoff hit, especially when fans are still tailgating or filtering through the concourse. Even so, it was a striking look for a Big 12 game.
The slow build around the stadium fit the mood around both teams. Kansas and TCU came in at 3-4 overall and 1-3 in conference play after rough starts to the season. TCU was coming off a 24-20 home loss to West Virginia, while Kansas finally got into the win column in league play last weekend with a 25-24 victory over Baylor.
Kansas also brought a little extra quarterback intrigue into the day, with Cole Ballard announced as the starter over Isaiah Marshall shortly before kickoff.
Neither program is where it wanted to be heading into November, but the stakes were still real. The loser would drop to 3-5 and be left with a steep climb toward bowl eligibility.
Still, that didn’t seem to be enough to get Fort Worth fired up before the opening whistle.
In Other News...
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 🡒]
TCU Answered A Brutal Home Crowd With A Comeback Fans Needed
For a team that spent much of the afternoon hearing it from its own crowd, TCU found a way to flip the mood at Amon G. Carter Stadium. The Horned Frogs erased a 13-0 deficit late in the third quarter and pulled out a 22-16 win over Kansas, a result that felt as much about resilience as it did about the final score.
Kansas made things uncomfortable behind backup quarterback Cole Ballard, who was making his first start of the season and threw for 285 yards and a touchdown. But TCU kept hanging around until the game turned in the second half, and the comeback gave the Horned Frogs a needed lift after a rough start to the day. [Read more 🡒]