It’s over — the Battle for the Iron Skillet, that is — at least for now. The 104th meeting of the privileged religious-adjacent institutions finished with a 35-24 victory for the Horned Frogs, thanks primarily to the big man upstairs, who is obviously stud receiver Eric McAlister (#1).
McAlister, the Azle native and Boise transfer, fulfilled his potential as TCU’s premier receiver with three exclamation points, all of them touchdowns. No. 1’s statline was borderline silly: 254 yards and three scores off only eight receptions. McAlister had nearly as many receiving yards by himself as the Mustangs accumulated in total. Quarterback Josh Hoover (#10) was not as efficient as he has been, only completing 22 of 40 attempts, but he made each count, with five touchdowns and only one interception while racking up 379 yards through the air.
Even more unbelievable is that Hoover’s single interception was a would-have-been-fourth touchdown to McAlister that was wrestled from his paws in the endzone near the end of the first half. McAlister also had another catch near paydirt where officials denied him the score, citing a toe on the sideline. Raucous groans were heard from the crowd upon jumbotron video, and Sonny Dykes called a timeout to receive an official review, which was inexplicably not granted. To assert that McAlister will terrorize the memories of Pony defenders for the rest of the season is an understatement, as he logged the second-most productive single game (13 yards short of Josh Doctson) for a Frog receiver — ever.
Andy Avalos’ defense fared better than I feared, holding SMU’s Kevin Jennings (#7), a demonstrably excellent quarterback, to fewer than 300 yards and three touchdowns, while safety Jamel Johnson (#2) picked off Jennings twice, the final one putting a definitive seal on a game that was still in question during the fourth quarter. SMU didn’t eclipse 300 yards passing or 100 yards rushing and converted fewer than a third of their third downs, mostly thanks to being behind schedule on first and second, something Avalos has said is an emphasis this season. Jennings was hurried by defensive pressure regularly and sacked twice, though his mobility and improvisation abilities kept Red and Blue hopes alive.
At the conclusion of this rivalry, which of course could be revived, TCU leads the series with 54 wins to 43 losses with seven ties. The hibernation of the crosstown game is indicative of a college game in transition, where a playoff appearance is really all that matters and matchups without sufficient television revenue are no longer a priority. That’s a shame for many reasons, but even more so in the case that both TCU and SMU are on similar plains now: both in major conferences with recent playoff appearances and realistic expectations to be regular factors in their conferences. Moreover, what had been years of mostly lopsided victories for SMU from the ’70s through the ’80s, then likewise for TCU during the first two decades since the turn of the century, had finally blossomed into a true back-and-forth coin flip from year to year among two teams with great history who are fun to watch. It felt much like the defenseless run-and-shoot Big 12 of a decade ago, and it was glorious.
Alas, it’s time to peer down the pike at what’s in store for our 24th-ranked Frogs and goings on around the conference. Texas Tech, whom I pointed out at the beginning of the season is outspending every other Big 12 squad, trounced Utah in Salt Lake City this weekend and are the talk of the conference with a 12th ranking. Around the Gateway to the West, that’s all moot, as the Frogs don’t meet the Red Raiders in the regular season due to the rotation, which is summarily ridiculous since the teams have a pronounced history of hatred toward each other.
TCU’s next opponent is last year’s conference champion, the Arizona State Sun Devils, who most recently escaped with a field-goal victory over Baylor this past weekend. SMU’s Jennings may prove to be an excellent case study for containing a mobile quarterback. The Devils’ Sam Leavitt (#10) carried the ball nearly as often, and just as successfully, as ASU’s top running back against the Bears. The offensive attack is mostly balanced, but Leavitt is adept at extending plays and buying second chances. He can be prone to mistakes, tossing an interception for every two scoring passes this season, something that Avalos’ secondary will attempt to exploit.
The Sun Satans were ranked as high as 11 in the preseason polls but dropped from the AP poll entirely after a 24-20 loss to Mississippi State in their second game. The ASU strength is mostly in their defense, holding both MSU and Baylor to 24 points each, respectively, each team’s lowest total of the season so far, though the sample size is small and skewed by nonmajor opponents.
In a vacuum, it’s easy to predict TCU to have too much firepower for State, but there are extraneous circumstances. This Friday night spat in Tempe is weird — college football anytime other than Saturday is strange — though the Frogs handled UNC on a Monday evening quite nicely. Hoover looked great on Saturday, but there were still errant throws that left Frog fanatics holding our collective breaths. If one of those misfires becomes an interception, the season might look very different. We also haven’t seen Kevorian Barnes (#2) since he seemed to suffer a hamstring injury against Abilene Christian. Trent Battle (#6) and Jeremy Payne (#26) rushed the ball effectively last week, but Barnes just feels different and having him available would give me a more secure feeling.
The Horned Frogs are 2.5-point underdog on Friday, but I’d take that line all day if I weren’t a degenerate gambler who takes my recovery seriously. Hoover — if he plays anywhere near what he’s capable of — combined with a defense equipped to handle a mobile quarterback (considering their most recent triumph) is a recipe for Horned Frog success. Add to that, McAlister coming off an absolutely colossal performance will be demanding corner and safety attention the whole game, opening up Jordan Dwyer (#7) to resume the form he had against UNC and ACU. Add Joseph Manjack IV (#14), who is becoming a feisty and reliable target in the slot, and Hoover has all the tools he’ll need to exorcise the sun demons. I’ll also be the first to admit — as I’ve been unapologetically critical of him previously — that Offensive Coordinator Kendal Briles seems truly committed to running a balanced attack and filling in previous deficiencies. I almost lost my mind when I saw Hoover take a snap under center and run an old-school toss play on third and short. These developments are signaling that you should throw every shekel, silver piece, and fractional Bitcoin on the Frogs to win in Arizona, because this team has the ability to beat everyone on their remaining schedule if they stay out of their own way.
