TopFrog
Lifelong Frog
Preview: at Cincinnati - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH -- Still alive for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game, TCU closes the regular season Saturday with a 6 p.m. EST game at Cincinnati.
GoFrogs: TCU at Cincinnati Preview
FORT WORTH -- Still alive for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game, TCU closes the regular season Saturday with a 6 p.m. EST game at Cincinnati.
ABOUT THE GAME
•At 5-3 in Big 12 play, the Horned Frogs need a victory over the Bearcats and losses by at least three of the four teams (Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Iowa State) who are 6-2 to remain in contention for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game.
•With 25- and 21-point wins over Oklahoma State and Arizona, respectively, the Horned Frogs have won two straight games and four of their last five.
•TCU and Cincinnati are playing for the first time since 2004 and just the fourth time overall. The previous three meetings (2002-04) took place when both schools were members of Conference USA.
•TCU has four players with at least 500 yards receiving (Jack Bech, 1,007; Eric McAlister, 639; JP Richardson, 630; Savion Williams, 596) for the first time since 2015.
•With 4 yards by Williams, TCU will have its first season in history with four 600-yard receivers.
•Bech (59), Williams (57) and Richardson (50) give TCU three players with at least 50 catches in the same season for the first time.
•The 20.1 receptions per game by TCU wide receivers lead the nation for Power Four Conference programs and rank second in the FBS (North Texas, 21.5).
HORNED FROGS TO WATCH
•Quarterback Josh Hoover ranks sixth nationally in passing yards (3,485) and tied for 13th in touchdown passes (23). He tops the Big 12 and is fifth in the FBS with 51 completions of 20-plus yards.
•Hoover's 68.1 completion percentage is on pace to set a TCU season record, along with his passing yards.
•Hoover has thrown for at least two touchdowns in 12 of his 17 career starts while topping 300 yards in 11 games.
•Biletnikoff Award Semifinalist Jack Bech is just the fifth player in TCU history with a 1,000-yard season. He's at 1,007 and has nine touchdowns among his 59 receptions.
•Wide receiver Savion Williams has led TCU in rushing in four of the last five games, including a career-high 80 yards and two touchdowns in the 49-28 win over Arizona.
•Williams is the first Horned Frog with a rushing, receiving and passing touchdown in the same season since Kenny Hill in 2017.
•Eric McAlister leads the FBS with 92.9 percent (26-of-28) of his receptions resulting in a first down.
•McAlister is third in the nation in yards per catch at 22.8 which also ranks No. 1 in TCU history for a player with at least 20 receptions.
SERIES HISTORY
•Cincinnati holds a 2-1 series lead over TCU with all three previous meetings (2002-04) taking place when both schools were in Conference USA.
•The Bearcats won the last game, 21-10, at Nippert Stadium in 2004. Cincinnati took a 36-29 overtime decision in 2002 in the first meeting in the Queen City.
•TCU's lone victory in the series was a memorable 43-10 win in Fort Worth in 2003. The Horned Frogs improved to 10-0 for the first time since their national championship season of 1938 when they were led by Heisman Trophy winner Davey O'Brien. TCU was No. 6 in the BCS rankings. At the time, it was the highest appearance ever by a team from a non-BCS conference.
REMEMBER ME?
•TCU leading receiver Jack Bech and Cincinnati leading rusher Corey Kiner were teammates as true freshmen at LSU in 2021.
ALL IN
•With the preliminary settlement of the House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit, TCU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jeremiah Donati has announced that TCU will fully participate at the maximum level in the permissible revenue sharing plan with its student-athletes.
