Quick Look: TCU Horned Frogs vs. Utah Utes

The Frogs will travel to Salt Lake City for the first time since the Mountain West Conference Days.

The Frogs will travel to Salt Lake City for a matchup with former Mountain West Conference rival Utah this Saturday with a chance to climb back above .500 on the season. Both the Frogs and Utes have had disappointing seasons relative to expectations and both are coming off of losses in their last game. Utah lost at Arizona State last Friday and dropped a home game to Arizona the week before, both being games where the Utah offense struggled. Utah is 4-2 in 2024 and 1-2 in conference play in their first year in the Big 12. While the Utes are having a down season, Kyle Wittingham coached teams consistently play disciplined, physical football and this game will be a challenge for the Frogs.

Offense

It was announced this week that Cam Rising will miss the rest of the season with injury, meaning the starting quarterback for the Utes on Saturday will be freshman Isaac Wilson. The former four-star recruit has started three games for the Utes in 2024 and has thrown for 830 yards, six touchdowns, and seven interceptions at a completion rate of 55.7 percent. Wilson’s decision-making has been shaky as is expected for a freshman playing in his first games at the college level. Wilson’s accuracy has wavered as evidenced by the low completion percentage. The good news for Frog fans is that Wilson has not been a big factor in the running game this season. While Wilson is by no means a statue in the pocket, he has only racked up 52 rushing yards on the season and I doubt Utah is eager to commit to the quarterback run game with the injuries already suffered by their quarterbacks this season. The concern for the TCU defense on the ground will be slowing down star running back Micah Bernard. Bernard is averaging 6.6 yards per carry for 676 yards and two touchdowns on the ground in 2024. Bernard is a very well-rounded running back with solid top-end speed, strength to break arm tackles, and vision. Expect Utah to be run-heavy on Saturday to protect their freshman quarterback against a TCU defense that has been susceptible to opposing rushing attacks. Bernard is also a factor in the passing game with 11 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. The TCU defense needs to be aware of Bernard in the screen game as running back screens are another tool Utah will likely use to take pressure off of Isaac Wilson.

USC transfer Dorian Singer has been the top receiving target for the Utes in 2024 with 30 catches for 434 yards. Singer is on the third school of his collegiate career and had the best season of his career in 2022 for Arizona when he caught 66 passes for 1,105 yards and six touchdowns. Singer is a solid route runner with good hands and will be a threat on play action crossing routes against the Frogs. Tight end Brant Kuithe is the top red zone target for the Utes as he has caught 20 passes for 313 yards and four touchdowns. Kuithe has solid size to box out defenders to make contested catches and will be a main focus for the TCU defense on crucial downs.

The Utah offensive line has struggled in pass protection this season, giving up 11 sacks through six games. While some of this can be attributed to Cam Rising playing injured and Isaac Wilson’s inexperience, pass blocking is a weakness for the Utes. Run blocking, on the other hand, has not been an issue with plenty of movement being generated by the Utah offensive line against opposing defensive fronts.

Defense

The defense for Utah has been solid in 2024, letting up just 17 points per game to opposing offenses which ranks 18th in the FBS. The Utes have been very good at forcing turnovers with seven interceptions and one fumble recovery through six games. Cornerback Elijah Davis has two of those interceptions along with 13 total tackles on the year. Smith Snowden has an interception and five pass breakups in 2024 and is the cornerback playing opposite of Davis for Utah. Safety Tao Johnson leads Utah in tackles with 36 to go along with an interception and a pass breakup this season. Defensive end Van Fillinger has been the best pass rusher for Utah this season with 5.5 sacks and 29 total tackles. Utah as a whole has been solid at getting after the passer with 13 sacks through six games. Connor O’Toole has had a solid season with 2.5 sacks of his own along with 12 total tackles and a forced fumble. The pass defense for Utah has excelled in 2024, allowing under 200 passing yards per game. This is a classic Kyle Whittingham defense. Physical, solid against the run, very good against the pass, and disciplined.

Overall

This is a tough matchup for the Frogs. A good pass defense that is adept at forcing turnovers along with a great running back feels like a bad combination for this TCU team. The Utah offense is prone to turn the ball over as well but I don’t know if TCU is going to slow the running game down enough to force Utah to throw the ball. Playing at Utah at night just adds to the bad feeling about this game. I realize that the Frogs are coming off of a bye and Utah has lost two straight games, but the Houston loss took almost all of the optimism out of me.

Final prediction: Utah 31, TCU 27