{"id":475374,"date":"2026-10-24T11:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T11:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/475374\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T11:12:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T11:12:30","slug":"countdown-to-kickoff-mountaineers-horned-frogs-tangle-today-in-fort-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/475374\/","title":{"rendered":"Countdown to Kickoff: Mountaineers, Horned Frogs Tangle Today in Fort Worth"},"content":{"rendered":"

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. \u2013 The popular expression “an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object” certainly applies to today’s West Virginia-TCU football game being played at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe West Virginia University offense, averaging nearly 38 points and almost 500 yards per game, has been an unstoppable force through seven games so far this season.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nAnd the TCU defense, allowing a paltry 12 points and 264 yards per game, has been an immovable object.
\n\u00a0
\nTherefore, something has got to give later this afternoon.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe oddsmakers are betting on the 3-3 Horned Frogs slowing down the 4-3 Mountaineers, based on the latest odds.
\n\u00a0
\nIn last Saturday’s rivalry game 17-6 victory over Baylor, TCU harassed quarterback DJ Lagway into misfiring on 31 of his 53 pass attempts while limiting Baylor to just 54 yards rushing and two field goals.
\n\u00a0
\nThe Frogs have surrendered just eight touchdowns so far this year – three of those coming in a 21-13 loss to UCF back on Sept. 26. BYU, now ranked No. 2 this week following last Saturday’s 28-24 victory over Notre Dame, managed\u00a0only 17\u00a0points in a seven-point win against them earlier this month.
\n\u00a0
\nTCU boasts an athletic defensive front led by the duo of Markis Deal and Ansel Din-Mbuh and a pair of long and physical defensive ends in Zach Chapman and Paul Oyewale. Behind them is an active and physical back seven that swarms to the football and excels in open-field tackling.
\n\u00a0
\n“They are very athletic and can make you look silly up front,” West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez<\/a> noted. “You’ve got to stay out of third-and-long where they do lots of their different blitzes.”
\n\u00a0
\nDefensive coordinator Andy Avalos is a Dan Hawkins prot\u00e9g\u00e9 who combines a blending of old-school and modern football to put his guys in the right spots to make plays.
\n\u00a0
\nYet as good as TCU has been at stopping the run (92 ypg. and 2.9 ypc.), film-watchers and experienced football people believe the Horned Frogs might be even better at stopping the pass. TCU is long and athletic in the secondary; they tackle well and are not afraid of being put on an island in pass coverage.
\n\u00a0
\nLagway, who was slowed by an ankle sprain\u00a0during Baylor’s game last\u00a0Saturday, had a miserable time dealing with TCU’s secondary.
\n\u00a0
\n“Best defense in the league,” Rodriguez said. “Statistically, they’re No. 1 in most categories. They don’t give up anything easy. Baylor has a really good football team, and TCU controlled that thing from start to finish.”
\n\u00a0
\nRodriguez believes TCU’s front four is as athletic as any defense he’s studied in the last couple of years, which will be something new and unique for West Virginia’s offensive line to\u00a0contend\u00a0with.
\n\u00a0
\nOn the flip side, TCU has yet to face a dual-threat quarterback as dynamic and as lethal as West Virginia’s Michael Hawkins Jr.<\/a> has been so far this season.
\n\u00a0
\nThe Walter Camp National Player of the Week has already accounted for 24 total touchdowns in seven games and is just four rushing touchdowns shy of the school\u00a0single-season\u00a0record of 18.
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\nBefore last Saturday’s 45-42, come-from-behind victory over Cincinnati, the defensive template for stopping Hawkins was to load up the box and force him to beat you with his arm.
\n\u00a0
\nThe Bearcats tried doing that last Saturday and\u00a0were\u00a0successful in limiting the Mountaineers to a season-low 134 yards rushing, but Hawkins responded with the fifth-best\u00a0single-game\u00a0passing performance in school history. He completed 25 of his 33 aerials for 464 yards and three touchdowns, while adding two more scores on the ground.
\n\u00a0
\nIt was the first time this year Hawkins’s right arm rather than his legs won a football game, so focusing solely on stopping West Virginia’s rushing attack now comes with some peril.
\n\u00a0
\nThat’s the conundrum facing the TCU defense later today, which makes this such an intriguing matchup.
\n\u00a0
\nBackfield mate Cam Cook<\/a> is contributing 119 yards per game on the ground, good for fifth in the country this week, and he will be reuniting with some of his old TCU teammates after spending two seasons with the Horned Frogs in 2023-24.
\n\u00a0
\nThe Round Rock, Texas, resident indicated earlier this week that he hit up his teammates for some additional tickets to accommodate all of the family members wanting to attend Saturday’s game. Hawkins, a Dallas resident, has claimed the remaining spares.
\n\u00a0
\nRodriguez and TCU coach Sonny Dykes have a coaching history that dates back to their days working in the Pac 12, and last year, the heavily favored Horned Frogs escaped Morgantown with a 23-17 victory.
\n\u00a0
\n“We are hopefully starting to figure some things out offensively,” Dykes said, “but we still have to get our run game going.”
\n\u00a0
\nAmon G. Carter Stadium has normally been an inhospitable venue to opposing teams, but West Virginia has experienced considerable success there, especially since 2019 where it has won the last three games, including a 29-17 triumph in 2021.
\n\u00a0
\nOverall, WVU now leads the series with an 8-6 record that includes a 4-2 mark in Fort Worth.
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\nHere is today’s Countdown to Kickoff:
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\n10 \u2013 The Mountaineers’ 167 first downs rank TENTH nationally among all FBS teams.
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\n9 \u2013 Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr.<\/a> is now NINTH in single-season rushing touchdowns at West Virginia with 14 and needs just four to match the school record of 18 established by Amos Zereoue in 1997 and duplicated by Pat White<\/a> in 2006.
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\n8 \u2013 West Virginia ranks EIGHTH nationally in total offense this week averaging 497.1 yards per game.
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\n7 \u2013 The Mountaineer offense is averaging more than SEVEN yards per play on third down so far this season. In 107 opportunities, West Virginia has produced 767 yards for an average of 7.2 yards per play. That’s the highest average on any down. The others are 6.3 yards per play on first down, 6.2 yards per play on second down, and 5.7 yards per play on fourth down.
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\n6 \u2013 West Virginia has scored at least 20 points in a quarter two times so far this year (UT Martin and Cincinnati), marking the SIXTH consecutive year that’s happened.
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\n5 \u2013 Michael Hawkins is seeking his FIFTH game with multiple touchdowns passing and running this season. His four are currently tied with Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes (2016) for the second-most in Big 12 history; and he is just one shy of the five Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts produced in 2019.
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\n4 \u2013 West Virginia has won FOUR times at Amon G. Carter Stadium, including the last three meetings here in 2019 (20-17), 2021 (29-17) and 2023 (24-21).
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\n3 \u2013 Rich Rodriguez<\/a> ranks THIRD among all active Power Four coaches with 198 career victories. Just 103 coaches at all levels have won more than 200 games in a career.
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\n2 \u2013 As of this week, West Virginia is the only school in the country boasting TWO players rushing for more than 700 yards and ranking in the top 10 nationally in that category. Cam Cook<\/a> (833) currently ranks fifth and Michael Hawkins (749) is 10th\u00a0this week.
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\n1 \u2013 Wide receiver DJ Epps<\/a>, recently added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, presently ranks FIRST nationally in yards per reception (25.27) and 20th\u00a0in receiving yards (556).
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\nESPN2 (Chuckie Kempf, Dustin Fox and Laura Stickells) has been assigned national television coverage for the game, which will get underway at noon.
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\nMountaineer Sports Network radio coverage gets things started at 9 a.m. leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi<\/a>, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning<\/a> at 11 a.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
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\nAfterward, be sure to stop back for complete postgame coverage.
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\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tTale of the Tape
\n\t\t\tTCU (3-3)
\n\t\t\tWVU (4-3)
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tPoints Per Game
\n\t\t\t24.0
\n\t\t\t37.6
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tPoints Against
\n\t\t\t12.2
\n\t\t\t34.0
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tRushing Yards Per Game
\n\t\t\t110.0
\n\t\t\t272.4
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tRushing Yards Allowed Per Game
\n\t\t\t92.0
\n\t\t\t173.7
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tPassing Yards Per Game
\n\t\t\t282.3
\n\t\t\t224.7
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tPassing Yards Allowed Per Game
\n\t\t\t172.2
\n\t\t\t310.1
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tTotal Yards Per Game
\n\t\t\t392.3
\n\t\t\t497.1
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tTotal Yards Allowed Per Game
\n\t\t\t264.2
\n\t\t\t483.9
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tFirst Downs For
\n\t\t\t122
\n\t\t\t167
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tFirst Downs Against
\n\t\t\t93
\n\t\t\t160
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tFumbles\/Lost
\n\t\t\t13\/4
\n\t\t\t7\/6
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tInterceptions\/Return Yards
\n\t\t\t3\/69
\n\t\t\t4\/5
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tNet Punting
\n\t\t\t41.4
\n\t\t\t40.0
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tField Goal\/Attempts
\n\t\t\t6\/8
\n\t\t\t6\/7
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tTime of Possession
\n\t\t\t31:26
\n\t\t\t28:50
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tPenalties\/Yards
\n\t\t\t41\/386
\n\t\t\t41\/340
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t3rd Down Conversions
\n\t\t\t34\/82
\n\t\t\t53\/107
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t3rd Down Conversion Defense
\n\t\t\t26\/86
\n\t\t\t32\/84
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t4th Down Conversions
\n\t\t\t6\/12
\n\t\t\t7\/15
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t4th Down Conversion Defense
\n\t\t\t5\/12
\n\t\t\t5\/10
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tSacks By\/Yards Lost
\n\t\t\t14\/87
\n\t\t\t15\/89
\n\t\t
\n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MORGANTOWN, W.Va. \u2013 The popular expression “an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object” certainly applies to today’s West…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-475374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}