Receiver Eric McAlister moves up ranks of TCU football’s all-time greats
TCU senior wide receiver Eric McAlister continued his ascent up the program’s single-season receiving leaderboard, moving into second place after playing a big role in a 45-23 win over Cincinnati in the Horned Frogs’ regular-season finale Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
McAlister finished the game with eight catches for 101 yards with a touchdown, his sixth game of at least 100 receiving yards this season and his fourth in his past five games.
McAlister’s touchdown catch was emblematic of his season, making a tough contested catch down the field with a defender draped all over him.
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes praised McAlister for his toughness throughout the season.
“The thing that Eric’s done is he’s been really consistent,” Dykes said. “You know what I mean, we’ve had him every week, he’s been available. You go back and you look, we lost at Arizona State, and that was one of those games we didn’t have Eric. I mean, certainly that could have made a difference in that ballgame.
“He was banged up every week, and he worked through it. I thought he did a tremendous job of persevering and fighting through it, and he just got better and better and better. He became more reliable as the season went on. Thought he had an excellent game tonight.”
McAlister (1,121) passed Quentin Johnston (1,069) for second place and now trails only Josh Doctson (1,327) on the program’s all-time single season receiving yards leaderboard.
Quarterback Josh Hoover praised McAlister for his performance on and off the field.
“No one has to say much,” Hoover said. “Just watch the film, watch the highlights. He makes all the plays. He’s a great player, love playing with him. So proud of who he is, who he’s become, not only the football player, but as a person. He’s grown up so much since I met him, the person he is today,
“I’m proud to know him, proud to play with him, proud to be his teammate, and so I can’t say enough good things about him. I couldn’t do what I do if it wasn’t for him, and so I’m for sure pushing for him. Just the adversity he’s overcome in his life to get to this point, excited to watch him in the future.”
McAlister talked about maturity and leadership as his major areas of growth off the field.
“I’m trying to bring the guys below me along, not just because they’re my teammates, but like at the end of the day you spend 365 days with someone, that’s family,” he said. “So I think my biggest [trait] I’ve grown this year is trying to be a leader.”
McAlister also moved into a tie for third place all-time, with Mike Renfro and Jeremy Kerley, on the team’s single season receiving touchdown leaderboard with 10 on the season, trailing only Doctson’s 2014 (11) and 2015 (14) seasons.
While some may be surprised by McAlister’s ascent, the Azle native said he knew what he was capable of.
“I think I performed to the highest my ability,” he said. “Every time I went out there, I never thought my job wasn’t going to get done. Obviously, I’ve set some crazy goals. I wanted to break Doctson’s record, and I came 200 yards short. I’m not surprised by the type of season I had. Nobody sees the hard work and dedication I put in.”
McAlister is having the best season of his collegiate career setting season highs in catches (64), receiving yards and doubling his previous best single-season touchdown mark (five).
McAlister was left off the finalist list for the BIletnikoff Award, given out annually to the best wide receiver in college football, and he said he deserved to be on the list.
“I don’t want to take nothing away from those guys who got picked, but I think I should have been in there. Most definitely,” McAlister said.
Dykes said he was looking forward to seeing McAlister’s performance in TCU’s bowl game.
