Quick Thoughts: TCU 34, UCF 35

The Horned Frogs drop Big 12 opener, blowing a 21-point lead as the Knights’ nation-leading rushing attack bullies TCU

Rushin’ Roulette

TCU had just 28 yards rushing through three quarters, averaging 2.3 yards per carry, ultimately finishing with just 58 total yards on the ground. TCU held a 21-point lead in this game and a 31-13 lead deep into the third quarter, but TCU could not sustain drives throughout the second half or churn enough clock to eliminate opportunities for the Knights. TCU had the ball with under five minutes to play leading by six, where two first downs likely ends the game, and did not call a single run play. Rather, it was three straight short passes, gaining a total of eight yards and burning just over a minute of game clock. Whether that’s unwillingness or inability to run the ball, the TCU offense simply cannot move the ball efficiently on the ground and even with a monumental 402-yard, 4 TD performance from A killer three-and-out that opened the window for a Knights game-winning drive. Which they executed with precision.

UCF entered the game with the nation’s best rushing attack and only added to the lore on Saturday night. RJ Harvey looked like the best running back in college football, running for 180 yards and two scores, adding another score on a 29-yard wheel route and a two-point conversion that helped deliver the massive road win to open Big 12 play. QB KJ Jefferson played as a bull in the china shop that is the TCU defensive front, bullying his way to 46 yards and toying with the defenders to ultimately throw for 230 yards and 3 TDs on mostly play action and RPOs. In all, the Knights amassed 289 yards on the ground and ultimately controlled the game late in the 2nd half, delivering body blow after body blow before the Frogs finally hit the mat for the knockout.

The Most Devastating Penalty In TCU History?

OK, perhaps that’s hyperbole, perhaps it’s recency bias, but the false start penalty on Remington Strickland with 13 minutes remaining in the game and TCU sitting inches outside the goal line was an absolute killer. It was 3rd and goal with the Horned Frogs sure to take two shots at sneaking those extra inches across the line to push the game to two scores and very likely out of reach. Instead the Texas A&M transfer stood up early, possibly drawn by movement from the UCF defenders, but in any case it pushed the Frogs instead into a 3rd & 6. After a hapless pass attempt at the endzone fell incomplete, the Horned Frogs kicked a field goal to extend the one-score game to a one-score game. That single play certainly wasn’t the sole reason the Horned Frogs lost on Saturday, but it took the win likelihood percentage from the 90s to the 50s. Maybe you’d rank the Jordan Hudson offensive pass interference in the 2022 Big 12 Championship or Kenny Hill’s “Rising King” throat slash unsportsmanlike penalty vs. Arkansas in 2016 as more painful penalties, but in 2024 as TCU Football grasps to hold on to its place among Big 12 contenders, this offsides was a brutal blow.

Brilliant TDs

Hey let’s look at something of a silver lining. It’ll get lost in that disaster of a final 20 minutes, but the Horned Frogs scored some phenomenal touchdowns through the air on Saturday night. Savion Williams’ two scores were reminiscent of ones we’ve seen from TCU greats like Josh Doctson & Quentin Johnston. Josh Hoover opened the 2nd half with an absolute DIME dropped in the bucket 50 yards into the waiting arms of Jack Bech in the endzone. Eric McAlister ran a slick corner route to create huge space for the opening score of the game. Of course none of it matters when you wind up in the loss column, but these were moments of brilliance from the Horned Frogs and points to a level of optimism that can be built upon, that if some of the other aspects of TCU’s game improve to simply average the Frogs can still be a dangerous squad.

SCUD

LaMareon “Scud” James had a nice day locking up his side of the field, delivering tackles in run support and being a special teams menace as the Horned Frogs blocked three kicks, including one that was fully credited to James. The defense never gave him a shot at stopping Kobe Hudson who torched the Horned Frogs on the other side of the field for 145 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner.

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Next: TCU travels to SMU for the Battle for the Iron Skillet at 4:00 PM, broadcast on The CW. It is the final edition of the rivalry currently scheduled to take place in Dallas, with the 2025 match up in Amon G. Carter Stadium the last one still on the books.