Four takeaways from TCU football’s ugly beatdown at the hands of No. 12 BYU
With a chance to keep its season alive and earn a signature win for the program, TCU football came out flat in an ugly 44-13 loss to No. 12-ranked BYU on Saturday night.
It was a thorough beatdown across the board, as the Cougars led 17-0 in the second quarter and scored on their first seven drives.
“I thought BYU played really well to start with,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said. “Every time we put a little pressure on them, they answered the call. They converted some fourth downs where we had really tight coverage. ... I thought they just made plays.”
BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) was more physical, more creative offensively and played a much cleaner game. The Horned Frogs (6-4, 3-4) dropped their second straight and are now eliminated from reaching the Big 12 championship game.
The Cougars delivered the knockout blow at the start of the fourth quarter when running back LJ Martin powered in on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to give BYU a 37-13 lead with 13:36 remaining.
TCU was outgained 447-298, and while the Horned Frogs made it a two-possession game on two occasions, it never felt like TCU was truly competitive.
While BYU is one step closer to reaching the Big 12 title game, the Horned Frogs will now focus on improving their bowl standing. TCU next plays at Houston (8-2, 5-2) on Nov. 22 at a time to be determined.
Here are four takeaways from the loss:
Josh Hoover outplayed?
The showdown between TCU quarterback Josh Hoover and BYU freshman phenom Bear Bachmeier ended up being a showcase game for the freshman, and it was yet another poor road performance by Hoover and the Horned Frogs’ offense.
Bachmeier played more like a redshirt senior with his poise and patience, and it felt like he made the right decision on each throw, even if it resulted in an incompletion. He completed 23 of 33 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 59 yards and another score.
Meanwhile, Hoover played decent enough in the first half, but had two turnovers in the second half while playing with a much higher degree of difficulty than Bachmeier’s. The freshman had clean pockets most of the night outside a few pass rushes by Devean Deal, but Hoover was forced to run for his life most of the night as BYU clearly won the battle at the line of scrimmage.
Even with the advantage on the offensive line, Bachmeier’s accuracy and dual-threat ability stood out. After BYU took a 30-13 lead, Hoover committed a critical mistake as he forced a pass to Eric McAlister that was intercepted on third down with 3:03 remaining in the third quarter.
Hoover later threw a second interception that safety Tanner Wall returned 68 yards for BYU’s final touchdown. Hoover ended up completing 10 of 23 passes for 183 yards with the two interceptions. He has thrown seven interceptions on the road this season.
“It’s something we’re going to have look at,” Hoover said. “I don’t really have an answer for you off the top of my head, but we’ll have to take a look at it and figure it out for sure.”
Defense exposed
TCU’s defense was on its heels all night, as Cougars offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick dialed up a masterful game plan. BYU threw everything at TCU, including jet sweeps, speed options and creative play action passes that got tight end Carsen Ryan wide open multiple times
Everything started up front with BYU’s rushing attack, as the Cougars ran for 151 yards and averaged 3.9 yards per carry. It was the most rushing yards TCU has allowed since its 27-24 loss to Arizona State on Sept. 26. With the run defense struggling, it only magnified TCU’s other glaring defensive issues, like its inability to match up with the league’s best tight ends and its inability to get off the field.
Ryan had four receptions for 79 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown where he outran the entire TCU secondary. Parker Kingston also proved to be a matchup problem with 80 yards on five receptions.
The Horned Frogs didn’t get a stop until they finally forced a punt with 10:44 remaining in the fourth quarter. It was easily the worst performance of the year for the unit.
“We expected to perform better. Give them credit, they executed,” Deal said. “They played physical, but, yeah, that wasn’t our best performance.”
Offensive line shuffle
Anticipating a challenging night against BYU’s elite front seven, the Horned Frogs tried to provide a boost by making a switch on the offensive line. Cooper Powers got the start at right guard and Carson Bruno started at right tackle, the first time TCU had used that duo on the right side.
The change did little to help the Horned Frogs, as TCU was overwhelmed by BYU’s defensive line most of the night. The Cougars sacked Hoover twice in the first half and had a countless number of pressures that forced Hoover to escape the pocket and buy time. BYU ended up with four sacks.
There was one sequence when BYU nose tackle Keanu Tanuvasa pushed a TCU offensive lineman five yards into the backfield. Those type of plays weren’t uncommon; the Horned Frogs were pushed around all night. Despite some good moments from running back Jeremy Payne (nine carries for 55 yards), TCU finished with under four yards per carry in yet another conference game.
The inability to protect Hoover or establish a run game once again proved to be too much to overcome on the road.
Another slow start
The Horned Frogs’ offensive struggles in the first quarter continued, as the Horned Frogs found themselves in a 10-0 deficit after the opening quarter. It was the fifth time in the past six games TCU hasn’t scored in the first quarter, and it put the Horned Frogs in a hole they could never pull themselves out of.
“That’s something we’re going to need to look at. I don’t know,” Dykes said when asked about why the offense has struggled so much in the first quarter.
There were issues on both sides of the ball, starting with the offense punting on its first two drives. Meanwhile, the Cougars’ offense was operating at the highest level it has this season with scores on all five of its first-half possessions.
The most brutal touchdown came on the third possession when TCU had BYU in a third-and-13 at the Horned Frogs’ 17. TCU allowed Bachmeier to run into the end zone untouched on a speed option to fall behind 17-0 at the 10:16 mark in the second quarter.
McAlister finally provided a spark, as his 47-yard reception set up TCU’s first score of the night, a 22-yard field goal from Nate McCashland. But the Horned Frogs immediately allowed another touchdown, as BYU went 75 yards in just four plays to extend the lead to 24-3.
The Horned Frogs had a chance to swing the game after a gutsy call on fourth-and-1 resulted in a 13-yard touchdown run by freshman Jon Denman with just 1:14 remaining in the half.
The Horned Frogs could’ve gotten the ball back only down two possessions to start the third quarter, but Bachmeier led a masterful two-minute drill with no timeouts to get the Cougars a field goal as time expired for a 27-10 halftime lead.
This story was originally published November 16, 2025 at 12:39 AM.
