Hoover, Wiley lead TCU to blowout win over rival Baylor
TCU continued its recent domination of rival Baylor with a 42-17 victory on Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
The Horned Frogs (5-6, 3-5) have won eight of the last nine games against the Bears (3-8, 2-6) and snapped a three-game losing streak in the process.
“Man it feels good to get a win, it’s been awhile it feels like,” coach Sonny Dykes said postgame. “Just proud of our guys, it wasn’t real pretty. We had the two early drives that stalled out...but we never punted. I thought we moved the ball well.”
The last few matchups have featured plenty of late game dramatics, but those weren’t necessary this time as Josh Hoover led TCU to its best offensive game in more than a month.
Hoover excelled in every phase as he showcased his arm talent, mobility and sound decision making. The redshirt freshman threw for 412 yards, accounted for three touchdowns and had no turnovers in arguably his best game as a starter.
“I thought he really threw the ball well, I thought the pass protection was excellent,” Dykes said. “He had a lot of time, receivers caught balls and it was what this (offense) is supposed to look like.”
Despite his play, it was still a close game late in the third quarter with the Bears only trailing 21-17. Facing a third-and-long, Hoover picked up 22 yards with his legs and eventually capped the drive off with a three-yard touchdown run, the first rushing touchdown of his career.
After a clutch fourth down stop, Hoover orchestrated another touchdown drive as his long completion to Jared Wiley set up a short touchdown by Trey Sanders that made it 35-17 with 10:27 remaining in the game. With Baylor’s offensive shortcomings the deficit was too much to overcome as TCU pulled away.
Hoover’s hot start
The quarterback was locked in from the first snap as his accuracy shined against a Baylor secondary, ranked No. 3 in the Big 12 in passing yards allowed. Hoover completed his first eight passes in a row including his first three going for first downs on the Horned Frogs’ opening drive.
Hoover attacked all levels of the Baylor defense, hitting a number of intermediate and short routes to soften the Baylor defense. Midway through the second quarter, Hoover hit a wide open Jared Wiley on a seam route for an 81-yard touchdown that made it 14-7 with 6:04 remaining. Hoover finished the first half 13-of-14 with 215 yards and the touchdown throw.
Hoover was just as excellent in the second half as he went 11-of-15 after halftime and spread the ball out to different receivers. He hit Savion Williams for a 41-yard gain on a beautiful pass on a go route, he found a rhythm with Major Everhart late in the game and continued to feed Jared Wiley after the break. As well as Hoover played against BYU, this game was even better as he finally avoided having a turnover for the first time this season.
He finished 24 of 29.
“You see a bunch of different situations and looks and blitzes and you start to recognize things,” Hoover said. “You start to understand when to take a chance and when to check it down. I think playing has just helped me and developing over these last few games has been big.”
Wiley’s career day
For a second straight week a TCU receiver set career-highs. This time it was tight end Jared Wiley. Wiley was Hoover’s go-to target and the senior made the most of every opportunity. As he reflected on his 81-yard touchdown, Wiley couldn’t help but laugh when he was asked postgame when’s the last time he’s run that far.
“Never,” Wiley said with a smile.
With the Horned Frogs facing third-and-25 in Baylor territory, Hoover hit Wiley on a short underneath route and the 6-foot-7 tight end did the rest of the work. He cut up field, shed a tackle and eventually hurdled over a defender for a 28-yard touchdown that made it 21-10 with 11:36 remaining in the third quarter.
“Everytime I looked for him he was wide open, making guys miss,” Hoover said. “He was running great routes, I’m so proud of him what a day for him.”
Wiley added two more receptions after his second touchdown including a 25-yard gain on second-and-14 that set up a Trey Sanders touchdown for a 35-17 lead to start the fourth quarter. The seven receptions, 178 yards and two touchdowns were all career-highs for the senior playing his final game at the Carter.
“Today’s the type of game I’ve known for five years I can have,” Wiley said. “I can’t thank Coach (Kendal) Briles and Josh and everybody that’s been apart of this enough for allowing me to display that tonight.”
Timely run game
The TCU rushing attack wasn’t great most of Saturday despite facing a defense that allows almost 190 rushing yards per game. The offensive line struggled in short-yardage scenarios and Emani Bailey was hit in the backfield numerous times, but Bailey was still able to make key plays when he needed.
It was Bailey who tied the game at 7 as he eluded a free rusher in the backfield and raced 27 yards for his first quarter touchdown. Then in the fourth quarter on the first play after the defense got a fourth down stop Bailey had nearly identical touchdown run. He made a defender miss near the line of scrimmage and then ran 31 yards for his second touchdown of the day.
Bailey finished the game with 53 yards on 16 carries with two scores. On the season Bailey has 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns.
Red zone issues continue in first half
The first half was closer than it needed to be due to TCU struggling to produce points once they got inside the Baylor 20. After a defensive stop, the offense marched down the field with ease and reached the Baylor 2-yard line. The Horned Frogs were about to take the lead until Emani Bailey was hit in the backfield and fumbled with Baylor recovering at their 31.
The Bears would turn the costly turnover into points. TCU marched down the field again and got to the Bears 6, facing a 3rd-and-1. The third down rush was stuffed and then the Horned Frogs tried an ill-advised wide receiver reverse to Savion Williams that was blown up. An offense that ranks near the bottom of the NCAA in red zone offense had two drives inside the Baylor 10 that resulted in zero points.
It’s a credit to the defense that the Horned Frogs were able to take a 14-10 lead into halftime as the offense once again needed time to get out of its own way. TCU was better in the second half with two touchdowns scored inside the the five-yard line.
This story was originally published November 18, 2023 at 5:41 PM.
