How TCU football came from behind to beat Stanford, 34-27, in their season opener
Despite their best efforts to give the game away, the TCU Horned Frogs beat Stanford, 34-27, in their college football season opener on Friday.
TCU outgained the Cardinal by more than 200 yards, had twice as many tackles for loss and got a great game from quarterback Josh Hoover, but still trailed most of the game until the final five minutes. The Horned Frogs turned the ball over twice, once in Stanford’s red zone and another close to their own, missed a field goal and had seven penalties for 100 yards in a frustrating game.
“We were fortunate,” coach Sonny Dykes said after the win. “Any time you go on the road and make some of the mistakes that we made, typically you get beat. I was really proud of this football team for sticking with it and keeping their head down and continuing to grind through it.”
In the end, the Horned Frogs were able to overcome their mistakes thanks to Hoover having the best drive of his young college career. With the Horned Frogs trailing 24-20 with less than seven minutes remaining, TCU was clearly in danger, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell watching Hoover operate.
Hoover started the drive with a 13-yard completion to Jack Bech, then he hit JP Richardson for a 34-yard gain as Richardson dragged a handful of Stanford defenders with him deep into Cardinal territory. Cam Cook and Savion Williams helped push the offense inside the Stanford 10 and then Hoover found a wide open Bech for the go-ahead score with 3:13 remaining.
“Those are the moments I love,” Hoover said. “My entire life I felt like I’ve been a guy that lives for those situations. I think we learned a lot from those situations we had last year and tonight you saw what happened. We went down and scored when we needed to. It’s just a credit to our guys and the mental toughness it takes to execute in crunch time.”
After Hoover did his part, it was time for the defense. The Cardinal had four plays and lost yardage as Marcel Brooks sacked Ashton Daniels on third down and Daniels’ fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
Cook iced the game for TCU with a acrobatic touchdown where he flipped over a diving defender from seven yards out with 1:51 remaining. It wasn’t pretty, but the Horned Frogs secured a victory on the road against a power conference opponent.
Year two Hoover
Hoover showed major growth from last season with a terrific start against Stanford. Hoover completed his first eight passes, relying on Savion Williams early to pick apart the Stanford defense. When the defense began to focus on Williams, Hoover pivoted and began relying on Jack Bech, who got the start over Dylan Wright at outside receiver. Hoover did just about everything right in the first half.
His decision was superb as he avoided risky passes until it was absolutely necessary and when it was time for those throws he was able to complete them. Like the 46-yard strike to Bech who was able to get behind the Stanford defense on a deep post route. Hoover went 18-of-22 for 209 yards in the first half, but the Horned Frogs managed just one touchdown despite his brilliance. With his confidence still high from the first half Hoover led two scoring drives in the third quarter including one drive where he punched it in for a touchdown from one yard out to make it 20-17 late in the third quarter.
Hoover wasn’t as prolific in the second half as the Horned Frogs dealt with drops and a few off target throws by Hoover. But when it was make or break time for the Horned Frogs, Hoover delivered. Hoover completed 28 of his 42 passes for 353 yards, two touchdowns and another on the ground.
“I thought he was accurate, I thought he made good decisions with the football,” Dykes said of Hoover’s performance. “I thought he seemed calm and poised. I thought for a guy that hasn’t started that many football games, when things got tough he got better. I was encouraged by that.”
Defensive debut
The Horned Frogs’ defense certainly looked much different than a year ago. Andy Avalos’ defense was attacking and aggressive and did many good things against Stanford. The quarterback pressure was much more consistent with players like Cooper McDonald living in the backfield as the Horned Frogs generated half a dozen tackles for loss in the first half.
The absence of starting corner Avery Helm wasn’t really felt as JaTravis Broughton did an exceptional job of filling the role as the lead cornerback. He held Stanford star Elic Ayomanor to just one reception in the first half and locked down his side of the field. Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels only completed about 50% of his passes as well, but if the defense was playing so well why did TCU spend so much time trailing?
Some of that had to do with the offense which had two costly turnovers including one that gave Stanford the ball deep in TCU territory, but the defense also had its issues keeping Daniels in the pocket. The quarterback run game was Stanford’s best offense outside of TCU penalties as Daniels rushed for 92 yards on his 10 carries. As the second half wore on though, the Horned Frogs defense adjusted and began keeping Daniels in the pocket.
In the third quarter the defense held Stanford without a first down, giving the offense enough time to finally take the lead. Much of the defense’s good plays were offset by back-breaking penalties like in the fourth quarterback when Abe Camara was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct after making a tackle that would’ve had Stanford facing a 3rd-and-long. Instead the Cardinal moved across the 50 and scored a touchdown a few plays later to take the lead.
The mental errors were the only thing holding the defense back from a great debut. If the unit cleans up the penalties, the ceiling for the defense could be higher than anticipated.
Bech’s breakout
Jack Bech was listed as the second-team slot wide receiver earlier in the week, but when the game started it was Bech who got the start at outside receiver over Eric McAlister and Dylan Wright. It was a surprising decision at first, until Bech showed people why Dykes has so much trust in him.
Bech had a staggering 122 yards on his first four receptions as he showed his big play ability. All of Bech’s receptions were at least 15 yards, including a 43-yard gain when he nearly out ran the Stanford defense for a touchdown before he was tackled at the 1-yard line. Bech’s biggest play came in the biggest moment with TCU trailing 20-17.
On first-and-goal from the Stanford 4, Bech beat his many off the line and got wide open in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown with 3:13 remaining. Bech also had 13-yard catch to get the drive started. Bech was thrust into the starting role just days ahead of the game and excelled when his team needed him.
“We felt like Jack could have a game like he had tonight,” Dykes said of the decision to start Bech. “He’s a guy that Josh really counts on and believes in.”
Situational struggles early
Mistakes can be expected in the first game of the season for college teams. There’s no preseason or joint practices like the NFL, so rust can be expected. However, the mistakes TCU made in the first half against Stanford went beyond first game jitters. The Horned Frogs outgained Stanford by nearly 80 yards, had three times as man tackles for loss and Hoover was excellent, yet somehow TCU trailed 17-10 at halftime.
Why? Because of the same situational struggles that plagued the program last season. Stanford took a 7-0 lead thanks to 45 penalty yards from TCU including a facemask and pass interference on two third downs. After tying it at 7, the Horned Frogs had a chance to take the lead in the second quarter, but JP Richardson was hit on a catch and fumbled deep in Stanford territory. The Cardinal would punch it in a few minutes later to take a 14-7 lead. The Horned Frogs allowed Stanford to convert a 3rd-and-11 with a draw play on the same drive.
After that touchdown the Horned Frogs could’ve tied it once again after a Tymon Mitchell interception set TCU up at the Stanford 22. The offense got to the Stanford 5, but only managed to pick up a single yard as the Horned Frogs had to settle for a field goal.
As bad as the mistakes were, TCU had an opportunity to tie it at 17 entering the half. Hoover completed a number of beautiful passes and got TCU inside the Stanford 10, but Cam Cook fumbled the next handoff, which allowed Stanford to just run out the clock.
Despite outplaying Stanford for long stretches of the first half, the Horned Frogs couldn’t get out of their own way to start the game.
This story was originally published August 31, 2024 at 1:10 AM.
