Preview: vs. No. 7 Texas
11/6/2023 2:05:00 PM | Football
Horned Frogs look to continue their Big 12 success against the Longhorns
ABOUT THE GAME
•Since beginning Big 12 Conference play in 2012, TCU is 8-3 against Texas with a 3-2 mark in Fort Worth and 5-1 in Austin.
•TCU ranks sixth nationally among Power Five programs with its attendance at 103.4 percent of capacity. The Horned Frogs have an average crowd this season of 47,576 in the 46,000-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium.
•TCU Head Coach Sonny Dykes is 3-0 against Texas. In addition to last year's 17-10 win in Austin, Dykes led Cal to a 45-44 victory at Texas in 2015 and a 50-43 decision in Berkeley in 2016. Those are Cal's only two wins in seven games versus the Longhorns.
•Since 2019, Dykes ranks second in the state of Texas for winning percentage (.712, 42-17) by an active FBS head coach with at least one season completed.
•TCU is 11-4 in Big 12 regular-season games under Dykes.
•The Horned Frogs are 9-2 in home contests under Dykes.
•TCU is 17-1 under Dykes when ahead or even in turnover margin.
•Dykes was the fastest TCU head coach to 17 wins, taking just 22 games, since Dutch Meyer (21 games, 1934-35). Meyer led the Horned Frogs to national championships in 1935 and 1938.
•TCU has just 26 scholarship players remaining from its 5-7 team in 2021, the year prior to Dykes arriving as head coach.
•With seven home dates and road contests at Houston and Texas Tech, TCU plays nine of its 12 regular-season games in Texas this season.
•Last year's Horned Frogs became the first program from the state of Texas to reach the College Football Playoff and first from the Big 12 to play in the CFP National Championship. With its 51-45 semifinal victory over Michigan in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, TCU is one of just seven programs nationally to win a CFP game.
SERIES HISTORY
•Saturday is the 94th meeting between TCU and Texas. The Longhorns hold a 64-28-1 advantage in a series that began with an 18-10 Texas win in 1897.
•TCU is 12-29 against Texas in Fort Worth and 16-35-1 in Austin.
•Texas is TCU's third-most played series. The Horned Frogs' 93 games with the Longhorns trail only Baylor (118) and SMU (102).
LOOKING BACK
•Last year's 17-10 TCU win at Texas saw the Horned Frogs not allow an offensive touchdown, hold the Longhorns to 199 yards of total offense and limit Doak Walker Award winner Bijan Robinson to 29 yards rushing on 12 carries.
•Linebacker Johnny Hodges had a TCU career-high 11 tackles to earn Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors. His only career game with more tackles was 14 stops for Navy in 2021 against Sonny Dykes and SMU.
CLEANING UP
•Josh Hoover is the first TCU quarterback since at least 2005 to pass for 300-plus yards in two of his first three career starts. He is only the fifth Big 12 signal caller since 2018 to accomplish the feat.
GIVING BACK
•Jordy Sandy is again donating $20 to Fort Worth's Hope Center for Autism for each punt inside the 20-yard line, while place-kicker Griffin Kell is doing the same amount for each made field goal.
•Sandy is at $160 in his donations this season with Kell at $220.
•Sandy has a 10-year-old cousin with autism back home in Australia. Last season, he totaled $360 in donations with 18 punts inside the 20. Kell is in his first year with donations.
TCU SUPPORT
•Since it began Big 12 play in 2012, TCU has had nearly $500 million in donor-funded athletics facilities upgrades.
•The most recent project is the $50 million Athletics Human Performance Center Renovation and Expansion project with construction set to begin in early 2024. Previously, the $113 million Legends Club & Suites opened in Fall 2020 on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium.
