TCU lost its first football game against UCF in program history, falling 35-34 to the Knights on Saturday night after Kyle Lemmermann’s 58-yard field-goal attempt at the final whistle missed the mark. 

“Kyle hit it really well. You certainly can’t blame him at all,” said coach Sonny Dykes postgame. “We had opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to put the game away.” 

Nevertheless, several positives surfaced for a program that saw more than half its student body show out for the Frogs’ first Big 12 tilt of the 2024 season. 

In this Week 3 edition of TCU Magazine’s five takeaways, we’ll debrief on what we learned and where the 2-1 Horned Frogs go from here. 

Deep Ball to Bech 

Jack Bech is balling at the moment, corralling a 50-yard touchdown and reaching the 200-yard receiving mark on his game-high nine receptions against the Knights.  

The 6-foot-2 senior from Lafayette, Louisiana, was a problem for UCF in the downfield passing game, with six catches of 15-plus yards.  

He suited up for 33 NCAA football games before the 2024 season, only twice exceeding the 70-yard receiving mark. He’s established new career highs in receiving in two of the last three weeks, having also posted 139 yards and a touchdown in TCU’s Week 1 win at Stanford. 

“He’s a stud,” said quarterback Josh Hoover after the game. “You put the ball in the air and he’s going to catch it. He’s going to make plays.” 

Expect good-on-good in Week 4 when Bech and the Frogs’ electrifying passing offense goes up against an SMU team that returns multiple starting defensive backs from a unit that last season finished 21st in the nation against the pass. 

Jack Bech has assembled a team-high 350 receiving yards through the first quarter of the regular season. Photo by Percise Windom

Red-Hot Hoover

While Hoover compiled impressive numbers over the latter half of the 2023 regular season after taking over for Chandler Morris, he also committed seven interceptions in that span. 

Josh Hoover’s 1,022 passing yards are tops in the Big 12. Photo by Percise Windom

The sophomore signal-caller has continued to produce at a dizzying pace in 2024, leading the nation’s No. 4 pass offense with 340.7 yards per game. Hoover has yet to throw an interception this season, and he’s reached the end zone nine times. 

Against the Knights, Hoover completed 35 of 52 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns.  

The captain is shouldering the team’s first loss and is taking it in stride. 

“This doesn’t affect my confidence one bit. I know our group’s really good,” Hoover said during Saturday’s postgame press conference. “I know we’re good on offense. I know we’re good on defense. I have so much faith in our team. I’m going to wake up tomorrow and see what I need to do to get better.”  

Block Party 

Not only did TCU’s special teams unit block a pair of first-half field-goal attempts, but it also turned away a point-after try on UCF’s opening possession of the third quarter.  

Defensive lineman Caleb Fox got credit on the first blocked kick, cornerback LaMareon James on the second and safety Bud Clark on the third. 

Those seven saved points at least secured the Frogs a long field goal look at a would-be game-winner in the contest’s closing seconds.  

Elsewhere on special teams, JP Richardson had a solid day returning punts, with his three runbacks netting 33 yards, including a long of 15 yards. 

Rush Defense Gets Gashed 

The Horned Frogs struggled to stop the run and to run the football themselves in Saturday’s loss.  

The Knights ran 54 times, with running back RJ Harvey handling a game-high 29 carries for 180 yards and two rushing touchdowns. The senior from Orlando, Florida, also caught a 29-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. 

“You know they want to run the ball,” linebacker Johnny Hodges said after the game. “Once something starts working, you start thinking and panicking. I don’t know if physicality is our problem. Discipline, doing the same thing over and over again, that’s what we’re struggling with.” 

As a team, UCF outpaced the Frogs 289-58 in the rushing column.

“We’ve got to be able to run the ball better,” coach Dykes said. “It’s been something that’s plagued us the first three games. Gotta be able to run it better than we did today. When you can’t, it’s hard to hold onto a lead. And that’s kind of what happened to us.” 

McAlister Makes it to the End Zone 

Wide receiver Eric McAlister has some momentum going. The Boise State transfer followed up his two-catch, 54-yard Week 2 outing with another 54-yard day, this time with a season-high four catches and his first touchdown as a Horned Frog. 

McAlister’s emergence provides the Frogs’ passing attack with yet another veteran target. He, Bech, Richardson and Savion Williams have suited up for a combined 142 college games, and each has surpassed 100 receiving yards through the first quarter of the regular season.