After bye week, BYU not overlooking TCU ahead of road matchup
by Jaxon Wynder ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- BYU faces TCU in their first Big 12 road game this Saturday.
- The Cougars aim to avoid a post-bye slump against a strong TCU defense.
- BYU's coaches stress the importance of preparation against a challenging opponent.
PROVO — Ahead of the team's first Big 12 road game of the season, BYU is well aware of the test that lies ahead on Saturday in Fort Worth.
The Cougars will be making the trip to Texas to face TCU for the second straight season and first time in Fort Worth since 2023. BYU lost that matchup 44-11 and returned the favor a year ago with a 44-13 victory over the Horned Frogs in Provo.
"I think the last time we went down to TCU was after a bye and we didn't play well at all," offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said. "I'm really confident in this team; it's a different team."
Last season's win over TCU snapped a five-game losing streak against the Horned Frogs. The Cougars will now enter this year's matchup coming off a bye week and a 3-0 start to the season. TCU suffered a conference road loss last week to UCF and will be at home to host No. 10 BYU.
"They're going to have the energy, welcoming a top-10 team in the country," BYU center Bruce Mitchell said.
The home crowd should be juiced up for the game and a chance to knock the Cougars off course. The game has the perfect makings for a trap game, which is what BYU's coaches and players are aware of and are approaching Saturday's contest as such.
"I'm anticipating them being at their best," Kalani Sitake said. "I know Sonny (Dykes), I know him as a coach, and I know what he's capable of doing. We're banking on them being the best TCU they can be."
The Horned Frogs are off to a sluggish start to the season after losses to North Carolina and UCF, but the Cougars' staff knows that TCU has been a tough place to win at over the years. Even in a down year, TCU has a good coaching staff and talent on both sides of the ball.
"They're really good defense," Roderick said. "I have tons of respect for these guys. They have good players. Coach Avalos is a great coach; he's one of the best in the game, and he's got a really good staff. They're just a really well-coached team, so we have our work cut out for us. This is the biggest, most physical, and most athletic team we've played yet this year."
The Horned Frogs have allowed just 264.8 yards per game and 12.5 points, which is the second-best mark in the Big 12. The offense has also been able to move the ball up and down the field, but turnovers and penalties have hampered the team this season.
"They are a physical group, and they're going to play you tough," Mitchell said. "They want to stop the run, so that's an exciting matchup for an offensive line. They're going to be hard-nosed and they're going to play you tough."
BYU has passed some early tests this season, with a Big 12 victory over Arizona and a hostile road win over Colorado State, but now they will be tasked with the first conference road game of the season in a tough environment.
"We know it's going to be tough," Roderick said. "We have a lot of respect for this team. The last time we were down there, it didn't go well at all. I've coached against TCU many times in my career. It can be a tough place to play, it can be loud."
Sitake agreed that "being on the road is not an easy thing," but believes the start time of the game "is going to work in our favor, because we like to play that time slot."
The Cougars will need to avoid a post-bye week slump and get off to a hot start to take the home crowd out of the game early or else they might be in store for a tighter game than many expect. And in a deep conference, BYU will need to be prepared for the matchup.
"I think our league is good," Roderick said. "I think our league is better than people think nationally — top to bottom. It's a league where everybody is good enough to beat each other. Every single week, every game is going to be a fight. I think you're going to see a lot of one-score games that go deep into the fourth quarter. You've got to be able to win those games."
Saturday's game could come down to the wire, like many games in the Big 12 have already done this season. But Sitake and Roderick are hoping the Cougars will be at their best to avoid the potential upset and stay on track for the team goals this season.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.