Preview: vs. Texas Tech
10/21/2024 3:50:00 PM | Football
Horned Frogs have won 7 of the last 10 meetings
ABOUT THE GAME
•The Horned Frogs' four-game winning streak over the Red Raiders was snapped in last year's 35-28 loss in Lubbock. It was TCU's longest victory run against Texas Tech since the opening five games of the series (1926-30).
•TCU's Sonny Dykes is 1-1 as a head coach against his alma mater.
•TCU has recorded at least 10 passing first downs in 19 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the FBS (LSU, 23). The last Big 12 team with a longer streak was Oklahoma State with 21 from 2014-16.
•TCU wide receivers have caught 10 touchdown passes in the red zone, tying North Texas for third in the FBS behind Indiana (11) and Texas (11).
•The 21.3 receptions per game by TCU wide receivers lead the nation for Power Four Conference programs.
•TCU is allowing 325.9 yards per game defensively, an improvement of 82.4 over last season.
•TCU is on pace for its best overall defensive performance since 2012, its first year in the Big 12, when it allowed 323.9 yards per game for the season.
THE DYNAMIC DUO
•Quarterback Josh Hoover ranks fourth in the FBS in passing yards (2,270) while tying for third with 34 completions of at least 20 yards.
•Hoover's nation's-best streak of nine consecutive games with at least 20 completions and two touchdown passes was snapped last week at Utah. It was the longest by a Big 12 quarterback since Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden from 2010-11.
•Wide receiver Jack Bech ranks in the top 10 nationally in receiving yards (7th, 748) and touchdown catches (T-8th, 7).
•Bech's 12 receptions of at least 20 yards top the Big 12 and tie for seventh in the FBS.
•Bech has topped 100 yards in four games, including a 200-yard effort against UCF that ranks fourth among Power Four Conference players this season.
FAMILIAR FACE
•TCU Head Coach Sonny Dykes is a 1993 Texas Tech graduate and son of legendary Red Raiders' Head Coach Spike Dykes who led Texas Tech from 1986-99.
•Sonny Dykes spent seven seasons on the coaching staff at Texas Tech, serving as receivers coach from 2000-04 and adding the title of co-offensive coordinator from 2005-06.
•Sonny Dykes lettered two seasons in baseball at Texas Tech.
SADDLE TROPHY
•A longtime tradition was renewed in 2017 when TCU and Texas Tech battled for the Saddle Trophy. The teams used to compete annually in the West Texas Championship for the Saddle Trophy, before it went away in the early 1970s.
•Created by M.L. Leddy's Boots & Saddlery of Fort Worth, the Saddle Trophy sits on a stand and includes the logos for TCU and Texas Tech. Scores for 60-plus years of the rivalry are represented on the stand.
SERIES HISTORY
•TCU has won seven of the last 10 meetings with Texas Tech.
•The Red Raiders hold a 33-30-3 edge in the all-time series which began with a 28-16 Horned Frogs' win in Fort Worth in 1926.
•TCU is 20-14 versus the Red Raiders in Fort Worth and 10-19-3 in Lubbock.
•TCU set a school record for points with its 82-27 win over Texas Tech in 2014. It also broke the Big 12 mark for a conference game.
•The road team is 7-5 in the Big 12 series.
THE GIFT
•TCU Head Football Coach Sonny Dykes and his wife Kate have donated $1 million to TCU Athletics.
•The Dykes' gift will be split between honoring former TCU offensive lineman Jamal Powell with his name in the weight room in the new Mike and Brenda Harrison Football Performance Center as well as recognizing Shirley Enis, late wife of TCU Trustee Hunter Enis, with an endowment in her name to support women's athletics at TCU.
•Powell was a three-year letterman (2000-02) for the Horned Frogs, earning First-Team All-Conference USA honors his senior year. He then began a collegiate coaching career with Dykes hiring Powell as his offensive line coach at SMU in 2018. They worked together for three years until Powell's passing in April 2021 at the age of 39.
ALL IN
•With the preliminary settlement of the House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit, TCU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jeremiah Donati has announced that TCU will fully participate at the maximum level in the permissible revenue sharing plan with its student-athletes.
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 $52 million Athletics Human Performance Center Renovation and Expansion projects with the four facilities set for completion in July 2025.
•The Mike and Brenda Harrison Football Performance Center will include the Jamal Powell Weight Room, while the Simpson Family Restoration and Wellness Center will make TCU the only school in the country with a Snow Room.
