Why TCU football’s complete performance against Oklahoma State was so encouraging

The Horned Frogs have shown flashes this season of a good football team.

There was the first half in the loss against UCF and the second-half performances against Kansas and Texas Tech stand out. But for every good stretch TCU had played, there was an equally frustrating stretch of bad plays that usually accompanied it.

However, with a bowl berth in sight, TCU rallied to play its most complete game of the season in the 38-13 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday. After last year’s disappointing 5-7 campaign, it can’t be understated how important it was for Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs to reach this milestone.

After the game, there was both excitement and a sense of relief as the Horned Frogs finally know for certain their season won’t be over in November this year.

“That’s big, getting bowl eligible is big for our program,” Dykes said after the win. “We’re still trying to develop a little bit of an identity. It’s been a bit of big swings and we don’t want that to be the case long term.”

By big swings, Dykes means he doesn’t want the TCU program to be a contender one year and then be under .500 the next. Some years will be better than others, but reaching a bowl game every season is a reasonable standard to try and uphold.

As for the performance on the field, it wasn’t flawless, but it was a complete game as both the offense and defense had dominant stretches against the Cowboys.

Defensively, the Horned Frogs rose to the challenge despite missing key pieces like Markis Deal and Cooper McDonald in the front seven. Even with the litany of injuries, TCU managed to shut Oklahoma State out in the first half and held them to just 89 yards in the first 30 minutes.

The Cowboys are winless in the Big 12, but this is still an offense that has some of the best playmakers in the Big 12. The Horned Frogs also forced three turnovers including two interceptions and a forced fumble from star running back Ollie Gordon.

The 13 points is the fewest Oklahoma State has scored all season and for a defense that has taken plenty of lumps this season, this was arguably the most encouraging performance under Andy Avalos.

“We kind of let them hang around a little bit, I thought getting that turnover when Ollie fumbled was huge,” Dykes said. “That to me allowed us to separate a little bit and take control of the game to an extent. I thought they played hard... we were a little depleted, but we played hard. I thought we tackled well, we didn’t give up any big runs.

“But we got off the field with the turnovers, we got off the field on third downs as well.”

Offensively, the Horned Frogs have elevated their game over the last 10 quarters starting with the comeback win against Texas Tech. Josh Hoover had another near flawless performance with 286 yards through the air, a touchdown and most importantly no interceptions.

The Horned Frogs rushed for a season-high 175 yards as a team and Kendal Briles deserves credit for finding different ways to generate yards on the ground. From using Savion Williams more in the backfield to running plays like the reverse to Jordyn Bailey that resulted in a 59-yard touchdown that iced the game.

Would it be nice to see the Horned Frogs have a more conventional run game? Sure, but you have to do the best with what you have and the offensive staff has found a blueprint that’s working as intended. Hoover said he believed this was the best showing by the offense this year.

“I think offensively it was,” Hoover said. “Minus the two drives when we got down (to the red zone) and stalled out, I think that was obviously our best game that we’ve played. I think it was just building off of last week and some of the things we did last week. Now we’re focused on building off of this one and rolling into this bye week and getting better.”

Before TCU’s trip to Utah on Oct. 19, it was a fair question to ask if Dykes still had the pulse of the locker room. He didn’t have the answers as to why his team played so lifeless in September, but with the Horned Frogs winning three of their last four games in a variety of ways, Dykes has shown that he still has the pulse of the team and that the players are still responding to his message.

Some will still be understandably frustrated that TCU isn’t in contention for the Big 12 title despite getting a bit of scheduling break, but that’s moving the goalposts a bit. A successful 2024 season was always about reaching the postseason, with anything beyond that being a bonus.

Instead of focusing on what ifs, it’s important to focus on reality and the reality is that Dykes has turned the season around and the Horned Frogs are a much better team than they were in September.

That alone makes this a successful season and a strong finish could set the program up for contention in 2025.