Preview: No. 25 Houston Cougars vs TCU

Who: Houston Cougars (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) vs TCU Horned Frogs (6-4, 3-4 Big 12)

What: Week 13 Big 12 conference game

When: Saturday, Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. CST

Where: TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas

TV/Streaming: FOX

TV Announcers: Tim Brando (Play-by-play), Devin Gardner (Analyst), Josh Sims (Sideline)

Radio: KPRC 950 AM, The Varsity Network- “Search Houston”, SiriusXM: 138 or 199, and on the SiriusXM App

Radio Announcers: Kevin Eschenfelder (Play-by-Play), Ted Pardee (Analyst), Jeremy Branham (Sideline), Matt Thomas (Pregame)

Last Season: Houston had their second straight 4-8 year and were 3-6 in the Big 12 to finish 12th out of 16 in Willie Fritz’s first season. Meanwhile, TCU was 9-4 and 6-3 in the Big 12 last season, good for sixth place. The Horned Frogs eventually won the New Mexico Bowl 34-3 over Louisiana. 

Series History: Houston leads this Texas rivalry 14-13 and is coming off a 30-19 win in their last meeting in 2024 at Fort Worth. The Cougars were up 24-6 at halftime, and sophomore quarterback Zeon Chriss-Gremillion had two touchdowns and almost 100 yards rushing. 

Meet the Coaches

Willie Fritz, Houston: This is Fritz’s second season at Houston and has compiled a 12-10 record. Fritz is leading a tremendous turnaround at Houston after going 4-8 in his first year. The Cougars have been ranked and will play in a bowl game for the first time since 2022. 

He is a semifinalist for the George Munger Coach of the Year Award and is also on the Bear Bryant Award Watch List, an award he won in 2023. This is his 33rd season overall coaching and has a 259-131-1 record. Fritz ranks fourth nationally among active FBS head coaches with 220 victories. 

Sonny Dykes, TCU: This is Dykes’ 4th year at the helm for TCU football and 33-17 with the Horned Frogs. In his first season, Dykes won 10 National Coach of the Year awards in 2022. Under his coaching, TCU became the first program from Texas to make the four-team College Football Playoff and the first from the Big 12 to reach the national championship. 

TCU finished no. 2 in the final AP poll and became the first team to be in the national championship after starting the year unranked. Dykes became the first coach in Big 12 history to start 12-0 in his first season. Dykes is just one of four active FBS head coaches to take four different schools to a bowl game. Entering the 2025 season, TCU has 18 conference wins, tied for the Big 12 lead. Dykes is in his 15th year of coaching overall with a 104-80 record. 

What to Know About TCU

The Horned Frogs started the year 4-1 and 6-2 after a road win over West Virginia, but have lost two straight games entering this contest. No. 12 BYU throttled TCU 44-13 last Saturday on the road. Their only two Big 12 wins have come against Colorado and Baylor. 

Redshirt junior quarterback Josh Hoover is in his third season leading the offense. Hoover has thrown for 2873 yards, which is second in the conference, and 23 touchdowns, good for third in the Big 12. However, he has also thrown the most interceptions in the conference with 10. Last season, Hoover set a school single-season passing record with 3949 yards with 27 touchdowns to 11 interceptions.

TCU has a new cast of receivers this season after their previous group moved on to the NFL. This season, senior wideout Eric McAlister became just the third FBS player in the last 30 years to have at least 500 receiving yards, seven touchdowns, and 25 yards per reception through the first six games of the season. 

McAlister averages 112 receiving yards per game against Power Four competition, leading all P4 receivers. He is now the best wide receiver in the Big 12 with a conference-leading 941 yards and eight touchdowns on 52 catches. TCU primarily works through the air as they have the worst rushing offense in the Big 12. 

The Horned Frogs will also be dealing with injuries on Saturday, as preseason All-Big 12 safety Bud Clark is out. The senior is one of the best safeties in the country and leads the team with four interceptions.

Additionally, leading rusher in senior running back Kevorian Barnes continues to be out this week, and senior running back Trent Battle is also questionable. Starting left guard Cade Bennett is also questionable. 

TCU is sixth in total offense and ninth in total defense in the conference. While terrible at rushing the ball themselves, the Horned Frogs have the third-best run defense in the Big 12. It’s the opposite in passing.