FORT WORTH. TCU vs. West Virginia on Saturday sets the stingiest scoring defense among power-four teams against a West Virginia offense averaging nearly 500 yards a game. TCU (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) has allowed 12.2 points per game, while West Virginia (4-3, 1-3) is scoring 37.6, according to West Virginia Athletics’ game week preview. Kickoff at Amon G. Carter Stadium is 11 a.m. CDT on ESPN2, and it is homecoming weekend in Fort Worth, TCU’s game notes say.
Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez did not hedge when asked about the Horned Frogs. “Best defense in the league,” he said, according to the WVU preview. “Statistically, they’re No. 1 in most categories. They don’t give up anything easy.”
How TCU vs. West Virginia sets up
TCU’s notes say the defense has allowed 73 points in six games, the fewest among power-four teams, and ranks third in FBS in scoring defense, fourth in red zone defense and seventh in total defense. Opponents have scored only eight touchdowns. Last Saturday at Baylor, the Frogs held quarterback DJ Lagway to 22 of 53 passing in a 17-6 win, and Koron Hayward had three of TCU’s four sacks, according to TCU’s game recap. It was the first time since 2017 that TCU did not allow a touchdown in a Big 12 game.
West Virginia comes in off the opposite kind of afternoon. Michael Hawkins Jr. threw for a career-high 464 yards and Jack Cassidy kicked a 35-yard field goal as time ran out in a 45-42 win over Cincinnati, The Associated Press reported on ESPN. The AP noted it was the fourth straight West Virginia game in which the two teams combined for more than 1,000 yards. Hawkins, a Dallas resident, has accounted for 24 touchdowns in seven games, and running back Cam Cook, who played at TCU in 2023 and 2024, averages 119 rushing yards per game, per the WVU preview.
Never Late News lined up both teams’ season numbers from WVU’s tale of the tape and added two lines calculated from ESPN’s game-by-game results.
| Category | TCU | West Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | 24.0 | 37.6 |
| Points allowed per game | 12.2 | 34.0 |
| Rushing yards per game | 110.0 | 272.4 |
| Passing yards per game | 282.3 | 224.7 |
| Total yards allowed per game | 264.2 | 483.9 |
| Most points allowed in a game | 21 (at UCF) | 52 (vs. Arizona) |
| Opponents held to 10 points or fewer | 3 of 6 | 1 of 7 |
TCU’s offense is the question. Harvard transfer Jaden Craig is averaging 282.3 passing yards, 12th nationally, and on Wednesday became the first TCU player named a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy since the award began in 1990, the school announced. But TCU ran for 33 yards at Baylor. “We are hopefully starting to figure some things out offensively,” coach Sonny Dykes said, according to the WVU preview, “but we still have to get our run game going.”
The road team keeps winning this series
West Virginia leads the all-time series 8-6, and the visiting team has won the last four meetings, according to TCU’s notes. TCU won 23-17 in Morgantown last season, but West Virginia has won its last three trips to Fort Worth. Never Late News built the table below from the series results in TCU’s notes, covering every meeting since TCU and WVU joined the Big 12 in 2012.
| Season | Site | Winner, score |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Morgantown | TCU, 39-38 (2OT) |
| 2013 | Fort Worth | WVU, 30-27 (OT) |
| 2014 | Morgantown | TCU, 31-30 |
| 2015 | Fort Worth | TCU, 40-10 |
| 2016 | Morgantown | WVU, 34-10 |
| 2017 | Fort Worth | TCU, 31-24 |
| 2018 | Morgantown | WVU, 47-10 |
| 2019 | Fort Worth | WVU, 20-17 |
| 2020 | Morgantown | WVU, 24-6 |
| 2021 | Fort Worth | WVU, 29-17 |
| 2022 | Morgantown | TCU, 41-31 |
| 2023 | Fort Worth | WVU, 24-21 |
| 2025 | Morgantown | TCU, 23-17 |
The only other meeting, in Houston after the 1984 season, went to West Virginia. In Fort Worth alone, the Mountaineers are 4-2. TCU has one thing working the other way: it has won four straight homecoming games under Dykes, the notes say.
If you are going to Amon G. Carter Stadium
TCU’s bag policy allows clear bags up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches, clear drawstring bags up to 12 by 12, one-gallon clear storage bags and small clutches, plus one unopened bottle of water. Umbrellas and outside seat cushions are not allowed. The Frog Club’s parking page lists free parking with free shuttles at Doxology Bible Church and Travis Avenue Baptist Church, with shuttles starting three hours before kickoff, and says rideshare pickups and drop-offs are only at Lot 8 on West Berry Street. TCU said after the Baylor game that limited tickets remained. The National Weather Service forecast issued Thursday calls for a mostly sunny Saturday with a high near 84 and gusts to 20 mph.
It is a full Saturday of football in Texas. Texas, which lost the Red River Rivalry 27-24 to Oklahoma and then fell 27-24 to Florida, hosts Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m. CDT on ABC, per ESPN. The Cowboys, 2-4 after a home loss in their Thursday night game against Tampa Bay and a loss at Green Bay, play at Philadelphia on Monday night.
How Never Late News reported this
Sources were West Virginia Athletics’ Oct. 21 game week preview and tale of the tape, TCU Athletics’ game notes for this game, TCU’s Oct. 17 recap of the Baylor game and Oct. 21 Campbell Trophy release, The Associated Press recap of West Virginia-Cincinnati on ESPN, ESPN’s schedules, results and game page, TCU’s bag policy and Frog Club parking pages, and the National Weather Service forecast issued Oct. 22. Information gain for this piece is a Never Late News side-by-side of both teams’ season numbers with two lines NLN calculated from game results, and an NLN table of every TCU-West Virginia meeting since 2012. No interviews were conducted; quotes are attributed to the outlets that published them.