The Horned Frogs went 6-1 in one-possession games during the 2022 run to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game and 0-4 in such contests a season ago.

“We talked a lot about being tough, mentally tough, and I thought we were,” said head coach Sonny Dykes after last Friday’s win at Stanford. “We got down. Guys never blinked.”

TCU erased a seven-point halftime deficit, engineering three touchdown drives in the closing 19:32 of regulation.

Sophomore signal-caller Josh Hoover eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark for a fifth straight game, and Cam Cook piled up 84 scrimmage yards and the first touchdown of his collegiate career. The Frogs got their first takeaway of 2024 via a Tymon Mitchell interception. The defense also generated a trio of turnovers on downs.

“I don’t know that I’ve had a team that was more focused and excited to play an opener,” Dykes said. “I think because of that, we might have played a little tight early.”

Here are five takeaways from the Frogs’ 34-27 victory over the Cardinal.

Savion the Savior

Despite committing a couple of uncharacteristic drops on consecutive third-quarter looks, Savion Williams assembled a monstrous Week 1 outing, pulling in 11 of 18 targets for 85 yards and a touchdown. He added a 7-yard run on his only carry.

Getting him the ball was an offensive priority from the jump. Williams totaled five catches for 39 yards on the Frogs’ opening possession alone, his 5-yard TD catch capping the 13-play drive.

The fifth-year senior is liable to have his way against FCS opponent Long Island in Week 2. So long as the first-team offense is on the field, that is.

The Sharks are 0-7 against FBS opponents over the past three seasons, twice conceding 60-plus points and losing by an average margin of 38.4.

Jack Bech was a factor in the Horned Frogs’ Week 1 win. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

Bech Breaks Out

Jack Bech led TCU with 139 receiving yards after totaling 143 scrimmage yards in eight appearances last year.

Not only did the converted tight end record a 43-yard reception and a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown catch in the second half, but he also recovered a fumble midway through the third quarter to salvage a scoring drive.

“He was unbelievable,” said Hoover postgame. “For his first game out there, he was awesome.”

The 6-foot-2 senior was one of three Horned Frogs to go for 85-plus receiving yards in the season opener, joining Williams and JP Richardson, who had 107 yards on six catches.

Pass Defense Dominant

The Horned Frog secondary was stifling, holding Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels to a sub-50 percent completion rate and a 12.5 QBR; that being a metric measured on a scale of 0-to-100 that, as ESPN describes it, “incorporates all of a quarterback’s contributions to winning, including how he impacts the game on passes, rushes, turnovers and penalties.”

Stanford managed only 165 passing yards for the game.

In the 2023 regular-season finale late last November, Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns against the Frogs.

Junior safety and team captain Bud Clark said the defense had been itching to get on the field ever since. “We’ve been ready, honestly.”

The Real Deal

Tulane transfer Devean Deal tied Namdi Obiazor with a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss in his Horned Frog debut, adding a half sack on Stanford’s penultimate possession to bring up a fourth-and-16 the Cardinal would not convert.

The 2023 All-American Conference honorable mention racked up 13 tackles for loss and four sacks for the Green Wave’s top-25 scoring defense a season ago.

Combining forces with his brother Markis in the Frogs’ defensive front, Deal made a dazzling first impression for a TCU defense that got to the quarterback four times last Friday night.

Penalties an Area for Improvement

While TCU outperformed the Cardinal in several team statistical categories — third-down efficiency, total offense, time of possession — the Horned Frogs surrendered 45 penalty yards on Stanford’s opening possession and 100 for the game. The last time TCU exceeded 100 penalty yards in a game was Nov. 6, 2021, in a 30-28 win against Baylor.

“We were fortunate,” Dykes said. “Any time you go on the road and you make some of the mistakes that we made, typically you get beat. So, I’m really proud of this football team for sticking with it.”

— Corey Smith