The Frogs bolster their bowl candidacy with a dominant Senior Day showing. 

TCU sent off its graduating class with a 49-28 Senior Day win over Arizona, losers in six of their last seven.

Team captain Bud Clark intercepted Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita on the first play from scrimmage. Though Arizona pulled within a point thanks to three consecutive scoring drives between the first and second quarters, the Frogs never trailed after Trent Battle bullied his way into the end zone for a 4-yard rushing touchdown 132 seconds into regulation.

TCU crushed the Cats 149-39 in the rushing column, committed only two penalties that netted five yards and went a combined 9-for-14 on third and fourth down.

Josh Hoover continued a stellar season — his 154.9 passer rating ranking second in the Big 12 to Shedeur Sanders among quarterbacks who have attempted at least 100 passes this year. The sophomore signal-caller threw for 252 yards on 19 of 26 passing, finding JP Richardson for the senior’s first receiving touchdown of the year midway through the third quarter.

“It’s been a little bit of a challenge this year for me to get in the end zone, but I don’t really care about that kind of stuff,” said Richardson, who also had an 89-yard punt return TD at Arrowhead Stadium against Kansas on Sept. 28. “Touchdowns can happen at any given moment. It definitely felt good, though, to get in the end zone and celebrate.”

The Frogs led 21-13 at the half, 35-13 after three quarters and 49-21 with a minute remaining in the fourth quarter before an Arizona junk time scoop-and-score kept TCU from a second straight victory by 25-plus points. 

Here are five takeaways from the bowl-bound Frogs’ seventh win of the season and their fourth over the past five. 

Jack Bech is the fifth TCU player to exceed 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

Bech Breaks 1,000 Yards 

With three catches for 25 yards Saturday afternoon, Jack Bech became the fifth-ever TCU player to exceed 1,000 receiving yards in a season, joining Quentin Johnston (2022), Jalen Reagor (2018), Josh Doctson (2014, 2015) and Reggie Harrell (2003). 

Bech is among the 11 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, presented annually to college football’s most outstanding receiver.  

The senior’s 1,007 receiving yards sit 12th in the nation heading into TCU’s regular-season finale at Cincinnati. Bech’s nine receiving touchdowns are tied for 11th and are the most for a Horned Frog since Doctson had 14 in 2015.  

“It means a lot,” said Bech of surpassing the 1,000-yard mark. “Just definitely very blessed to be in the position. God is great. I say it all the time, but he truly is.”  

Sonny Dykes Shrugs Off Saban’s Slight

Seven-time national championship coach turned ESPN “College GameDay” analyst Nick Saban said on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week that his 2022 Alabama Crimson Tide team would have been 13-point favorites against TCU if the two teams had met that season, intimating his program got the short end of the stick with the College Football Playoff committee. 

“They got into the playoffs, and we didn’t,” Saban said. “I’m not criticizing TCU because it wasn’t their fault, but that is the subjective part of it.”  

Sonny Dykes made it clear Saturday that the Frogs have nothing to apologize about. 

“We were there. We beat Michigan. We played for a national championship. Everyone can say what they want to say. I don’t care,” Dykes said, in part. “That’s the great thing about it. It is what it is. It’s in history. Wish we would have played better in that game, but we played as well as we could play for 14 weeks.”

It’s Raining Rushing TDs

Four Horned Frogs scored on the ground, including senior wideout and now star Wildcat quarterback-running back Savion Williams, who secured his third and fourth rushing touchdowns and 80 rushing yards on nine attempts.  

Trent Battle reached the end zone in the third quarter as well as the first, while Jeremy Payne and Cam Cook combined for 47 yards on nine carries, adding a touchdown run each. Cook’s fourth-quarter TD brought him to nine on the season, more than twice as many as any other Frog. 

Trent Battle collected his first and second career TDs during the Frogs’ 49-28 throttling of Arizona on Saturday. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

TCU’s six rushing touchdowns were its most since Dec. 12, 2020, when the Frogs blew out Louisiana Tech 52-10. 

Combined with TCU’s Nov. 9 win against Oklahoma State, the offense has scored 10 rushing touchdowns over its past two games.  

“That’s been a point of emphasis for us this year is to run the football,” Dykes said following the Frogs’ third consecutive home win. “And I thought we came off the ball well up front. I thought our offensive line blocked well. I thought we ran the ball when people knew we were going to run it, when Arizona knew we had to run it. And to me, that’s always the big test.” 

Savion’s Career Season Continues

Coach Dykes last week compared Williams to San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel, a one-time All-Pro who, in addition to his more than 4,600 career receiving yards and 20 receiving touchdowns, also has more than 1,080 career rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns.  

“If someone compares you to someone in the NFL, I think you’re doing one heck of a job,” Williams said after Saturday’s win. 

The season turned offensively in a Week 8 trip to Salt Lake City when Williams handled seven carries and led the team with 72 rushing yards in a 13-7 win against Utah. 

In the past five games, he’s run for 300 yards on 40 attempts, a blisteringly efficient 7.5 per carry clip, with the Frogs winning four and losing one over that stretch. 

Williams’ 57 catches, 596 receiving yards, 43 carries, 312 rushing yards and 10 total touchdowns are all career highs.  

Longtime ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranks Williams as the 2025 NFL Draft class’s No. 7 wide receiver prospect.  

Cooper McDonald (No. 44) has 2.5 sacks over his past three games played. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

Seniors Shine in Home Finale

Several senior defenders showed out in their likely last outing at Amon G. Carter Stadium (barring a Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl berth for the Frogs). 

Defensive lineman NaNa Osafo-Mensah notched a sack for a second consecutive game, adding two tackles for loss among his six takedowns. All three of the Fort Worth native’s sacks this season have come at home. 

“I’m glad to see him execute like he has been. And I think he’s been getting better,” Dykes said of Osafo-Mensah during his postgame availability. “I think he’s, like our team, just kind of hitting his stride. That’s why I’d love for us to have a chance to keep playing because I think we’ve turned into a pretty good football team. And he’s turned into a good player, for sure.” 

Senior linebacker Cooper McDonald added a half sack in his first appearance since sustaining an ankle injury against Houston on Oct. 4. 

Safety Cam Smith notched a tackle for loss and six total tackles, which tied him for second on the team alongside fellow senior and former safety turned linebacker Namdi Obiazor, whose 71 tackles are second to only Johnny Hodges’ 78 this season. 

Walter Football has Obiazor slated as a fringe seventh-round NFL Draft pick, with room to improve via an impressive close to 2024 and showing throughout the pre-draft process. The same prognosticators have his fellow Frog and current junior Clark slotted as a fourth-to-sixth-rounder. 

 — Corey Smith