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Preview: Kansas State (Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship) - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH -- No. 4 TCU faces Kansas State on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship on ABC.
GoFrogs: Kansas State (Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship) Preview
FORT WORTH -- No. 4 TCU faces Kansas State on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship on ABC.
ABOUT THE GAME
•The Horned Frogs are making their second appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. TCU dropped a 41-17 decision to Oklahoma in 2017 in the first year of the return of the game after a six-year absence.
•TCU Head Coach Sonny Dykes was an offensive analyst for the Horned Frogs in the 2017 Big 12 Championship Game. Five sixth-year seniors (defensive linemen Terrell Cooper and George Ellis, cornerback Noah Daniels, offensive guard Wes Harris and tight end Carter Ware) were on that 2017 TCU team.
•TCU is 12-0 for the third time in its history and first since 2010, when it went 13-0 en route to winning the Rose Bowl.
•TCU is the first Big 12 team to be 12-0 since Texas in 2009. The Horned Frogs are also the first Big 12 member to go 9-0 in conference play since Oklahoma in 2016.
•TCU is 8-1 all-time, including 2-0 this season, when ESPN's College GameDay has been on site.
•Five of TCU's wins are against teams it lost to by at least two scores last season, including four by at least three scores.
•TCU is the first team since 1975 to win seven straight games by 10 points or less.
•Dykes is the first head football coach in TCU and Big 12 history to be 12-0 in his first season. He's just the fourth head coach nationally since 1996 to accomplish the feat.
•TCU's five wins over ranked opponents surpasses the combined total of the other two undefeated teams (Georgia, 2; Michigan, 2).
•TCU's five victories over ranked opponents is tied with Tennessee for the most nationally.
•The Horned Frogs are just the third team since 1960 (Stanford, 2012; Iowa, 1960) to win four consecutive games over ranked opponents in a calendar month.
•TCU's four consecutive games with a win over a ranked opponent ties for first nationally since 1996.
•TCU already has seven more wins than it had all of last season. Only Tulane (+8) has a bigger improvement.
•TCU does not leave the state of Texas in its five games over November and December. Bus trips to Baylor (Nov. 19) and Texas (Nov. 12) were sandwiched between home games with Texas Tech (Nov. 5) and Iowa State (Nov. 26), before heading to Arlington for the Big 12 Championship.
MEET THE NEW BOSS
•Sonny Dykes is in his first season as head coach of the Horned Frogs and second overall at TCU.
•Dykes was an offensive analyst on the 2017 TCU team that posted an 11-3 record, played in the Big 12 Championship Game and finished the season with a No. 9 national ranking, its last top-10 appearance.
•Dykes was head coach at SMU the previous four seasons (2018-21). He led the Mustangs to three consecutive winning records for the first time since the mid-80s and their first back-to-back victories over TCU since 1992-93.
•Dykes also served as head football coach at Cal (2013-16) and Louisiana Tech (2010-12).
•He is the son of legendary Texas Tech Head Football Coach Spike Dykes (1986-99).
•Sonny Dykes lettered two seasons in baseball at Texas Tech.
SERIES HISTORY
•TCU and Kansas State are playing for just the 17th time in their history with the series tied at 8-8.
•Since beginning Big 12 play in 2012, TCU is 5-6 versus Kansas State. This year's 38-28 victory in Fort Worth snapped a three-game losing streak to the Wildcats.
•Overall, TCU is 5-3 against Kansas State in Fort Worth and 3-5 in Manhattan. This is the first neutral site meeting.
•Prior to TCU beginning Big 12 play in 2012, the schools had not met on the gridiron since 1986.
•The first game in the series was a 45-0 Kansas State victory in Manhattan in 1922.
•After that initial game, the schools did not play until four consecutive seasons from 1983-86.
BACK IN AT&T STADIUM
•TCU will be playing at AT&T Stadium for the sixth time and first since a 40-28 loss to Ohio State in the 2018 AdvoCare Showdown.
•The Horned Frogs are 2-3 at AT&T Stadium, including a 41-17 defeat to Oklahoma in the 2017 Big 12 Championship Game.
•TCU defeated No. 24 Oregon State, 30-21, in the 2010 Cowboys Classic as well as posting a 38-28 win over BYU in 2011. TCU dropped a 37-27 decision to No. 12 LSU in the 2013 Cowboys Classic.
SEVENTH IS JUST FINE
•TCU was seventh in the Big 12 preseason poll. The last time it was picked seventh was 2014, when it won the Big 12 championship.
GIVING BACK
•Jordy Sandy is donating $20 to Fort Worth's Hope Center for Autism for every punt inside the 20-yard line. Sandy has a 9-year-old cousin with autism back home in Australia. He has totaled $300 with 15 punts inside the 20 this season.
TCU SUPPORT
•Since it began Big 12 play in 2012, TCU has had over $400 million in donor-funded athletics facilities upgrades. The most recent project was the $113 million Legends Club & Suites which opened in Fall 2020 on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium.
