Snow aside, TCU held on in the second half for its sixth conference win. 

There were drops aplenty and stagnant offense all around when the Horned Frogs and Bearcats met in last Saturday’s conference closer.  

TCU, though, persevered once again, winning for the fifth time in its last six tries to end the regular season 8-4, the program’s second-best record of the past seven campaigns. 

A much–improved Frog defense fared well in the elements of Southwest Ohio, conceding just six points in the second half. For a second time in the past three outings and the third time over the last six, the Frogs held their opponent under 14 points. 

With a 3-1 edge in the turnover column, TCU added 124 team rushing yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns in its 20-13 upending of Cincinnati (5-7, 3-6). 

While the Frogs await a bowl destination, here are five takeaways from TCU’s sixth Big 12 win of 2024. 

Hauss Hejny shouldered six carries in the fourth quarter Saturday to help the Frogs ice away a 20-13 win. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

Hejny has a Night 

His redshirt eligibility now secure with just a bowl game remaining, first-year quarterback Hauss Hejny was a factor with his legs Saturday, accruing a team-high 48 rushing yards on eight carries. 

Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles ran the Aledo, Texas, native on six straight plays during TCU’s final offensive drive, with Hejny collecting 35 yards to drain 4:10 off the clock in the game’s waning moments.  

Blake Nowell broke out for 75 receiving yards in Saturday’s regular-season finale. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

How About Nowell?

Wideout Blake Nowell came into Saturday’s snow bowl with five catches and 84 yards for the season. 

On a night that saw TCU post a season-low 212 yards through the air, he came away with three receptions for a game-high 75 yards, all of which he gained during the first and second quarters. 

The senior’s contributions were timely, his first catch a 40-yarder that transitioned to Savion Williams’ second touchdown run of the game four plays later. 

Nowell’s second and third grabs, netting a combined 35 yards on the Frogs’ final drive of the first half, pushed TCU into field-goal range. 

Ethan Craw connected on a season-long 65-yard punt Saturday in Cincinnati. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

Craw is Killing it

Ethan Craw came to play in the freezing temperatures.  

The Australian-born punter pinned four of his five kicks inside the 20, the last of which nuzzled up against the 3-yard line, forcing Cincinnati to go 97 yards in the game’s final 60 seconds. 

Earlier in the same quarter, he scooped a low snap off the turf and kicked it to the Bearcats’ 6-yard line, good for a season-long 65-yard boot. 

Still yet to see a kick blocked this season, Craw’s 17 kicks inside the 20-yard line are tied for fourth in the Big 12.  

With Craw’s 47.4-yard punt average Saturday being his second-best of the campaign, he carries momentum into his final year of eligibility in 2025. 

Johnny Hodges equaled a career-high with 87 tackles in the regular season. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

TCU Defense Travels

While the Bearcats mustered 214 yards on the ground, TCU’s defense made critical plays when it counted, generating a pair of takeaways and ensuring that Cincinnati’s last-minute comeback attempt came up short. 

The Frogs’ defensive headliners filled up the box score. This season’s leading tackler, Johnny Hodges, had a team-high nine stops, with safeties Jamel Johnson and Bud Clark finishing second on the night at eight tackles each. 

Linebacker Namdi Obiazor, included on the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List and still a strong candidate with 78 tackles for the year, added seven tackles in his final collegiate regular season contest. 

Markis Deal secured his first solo sack in the second quarter, adding three tackles for loss, twice as many as the defensive lineman had in any of his preceding 13 career games. 

His older brother, linebacker Devean Deal, and defensive lineman NaNa Osafo-Mensah added a half tackle for loss apiece, and safety Abe Camara a tackle for loss of his own.

Channing Canada recorded his first career interception in Saturday’s win. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

O Canada

Cornerback Channing Canada came down with a crucial interception at the 11:34 mark of the fourth quarter, turning aside Cincinnati’s 15-play, 61-yard march with a pick in the back-left corner of the end zone. 

It was the junior’s first collegiate INT, adding to a career season. Having played in all 12 regular season games for a second consecutive campaign, Canada sits at 26 tackles, one tackle for loss and two pass deflections on the year. 

 — Corey Zapata-Smith