Saturday, October 17
Waco, Texas
6 p.m.
Baylor
vs
TCU
Red-Hot FB Hosts TCU in Blackout on the Brazos
10/11/2026 1:46:00 PM | Football
WACO, Texas -- Baylor football will host TCU in the most-played rivalry game in the state of Texas, welcoming the Horned Frogs for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at McLane Stadium. The game will be televised live on FS1 and broadcast live on the Baylor Sports Media Network.
FS1 will turn to Eric Collins (play-by-play) and Spencer Tillman (analyst) to voice the action. The Baylor Sports Media Network will have the Voice of the Bears, John Morris (play-by-play), and Baylor greats Geff Gandy (analyst) and Bryson Jackson (sideline) on the call.
Baylor (4-1, 2-0 Big 12 Conference) puts a four-game winning streak on the line on Saturday. The Bears have won four straight, after a narrow loss in the final seconds vs. Auburn in Atlanta at the Aflac Kickoff Game in the season lid-lifter. The Bears are coming off a rout of Arizona State in Tempe, handing the Devils just their third loss in their last 15 home games, 55-19. Baylor opened conference play vs. Colorado, handing the Buffs a 23-13 lead behind a stingy defense, the nation's most prolific special teams play and a timely offensive surge in the fourth quarter.
Both Baylor and TCU are coming off idle weeks.
The Bears have held all five opponents to 20 points or less to open the year, the longest such streak to open a season since 1966. Baylor's five game stream of holding foes to 20 or less points ranks as its longest since 1986.
Baylor enters the matchup receiving votes for a second straight week in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. BU ranks No. 27 in the ESPN SP+ rankings, which includes a rating of owning the nation's 24th best defense and the ninth-best special teams unit. In other metrics, Baylor checks in with the No. 19 offense according to Beta Ranks. In the pure NCAA statistical rankings, Baylor ranks among the NCAA's top 40 in 19 categories, including No. 4 in team sacks, No. 6 in tackles for a loss, No. 5 in fourth-down conversion percentage defense, No. 6 in net punting, No. 8 in red-zone defense, No. 12 in scoring defense, No. 12 in punt return defense, No. 14 in team passing efficiency defense, No. 19 in turnovers gained and No. 23 in total offense.
SCOUTING THE FROGS
• TCU comes into the matchup with the Bears owning a 2-3 record and an 0-2 mark in conference play. The Frogs also have had an idle week in advance of the BU matchup, which followed a loss vs. BYU in Fort Worth on Oct. 3, and a 21-13 loss at UCF. The TCU defense has carried the weight of the team in the early season, holding each opponent to 21 points or less.
• TCU opened the year with a narrow 15-10 loss vs. North Carolina in Dublin, Ireland in Week 0. The Frogs then bounced back with a thrashing of Grambling State, 63-7, pulled away from Arkansas State in the second half for a 31-7 win and fell in its conference opener vs. UCF in Orlando, 21-13 on Sept. 26.
• BYU earned a 17-7 win at TCU in the most recent meeting, using 154 yards on the ground, despite just throwing for 62 yards. The Frogs were held to 72 rush yards and threw for 187.
• As a team, TCU is averaging 25.4 points per game, allowing just 13.4. The Frogs total 405.4 yards of total offense per game, including 125.4 rushing and 280 passing. Opponents are averaging just 255 yards per game, including 99.6 rushing and 155.4 passing. Going into the idle week, TCU ranks 13th nationally in passing yards allowed, 27th in rushing defense, 13th in total defense, and 12th in scoring defense.
• The Horned Frogs have turned to former Harvard QB Jaden Craig to lead the offense. Craig has thrown for 1,400 yards with eight TDs and four interceptions. Jeremy Payne leads the rushing attack with 432 yards and two TDs on 87 carries. Ed Small has 28 catches for 403 yards and a TD, while Kari Ashley has 25 grabs for 374 yards and four scores. Payne has 18 catches for 86 yards.
• Hudson Hooper leads the team with 27 tackles, with Jamel Johnson sporting 26 tackles and Max Carroll owning 21. Ansel Din-Mbuh has a team-high 3.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks.
• TCU is coached by Sonny Dykes, who is in his fifth year as the head coach for the Frogs after spending four years as the head coach at SMU. Dykes went 30-18 at SMU, including a 25-10 mark over his last three seasons, helping direct the Mustangs to 465.9 yards per game offensively in 2021, 13th-best in the nation. Dykes previously served as the head coach at Cal for four years (2013-16), and three years at Louisiana Tech (2010-12). He served as an assistant at Arizona, under Mike Stoops, Texas Tech, under Mike Leach, and Kentucky, under Air Raid inventor Hal Mumme. Dykes and Baylor Coach Dave Aranda served on the same staff at Texas Tech, where Dykes was the receivers coach while Aranda was a graduate assistant from 2000-02.
• Andy Avalos is in his third season as the defensive coordinator at TCU after previously serving three years as the head coach at Boise State, where he was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2022 with a 10-4 record. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at Oregon (2019-20) and Boise State (2016-18), in addition to time on the staff at Colorado (2006-08), Sacramento State (2011) and Nebraska-Kearney (2009-10).
• Gordon Sammis is the TCU offensive coordinator and is in his first year after four years at UConn, including hte last two years as the OC for the Huskies, and as the interim head coach for the bowl game in 2025. An offensive lineman for Virginia from 2003-07, Sammis owns an offense built around the running game and strong offensive line play. He previously spent time as the OL coach at William & Mary, Lafayette College, VMI and Columbia.
• A.J. Ricker is the fifth-year co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach who previously spent two years at SMU, following time at Kansas (2018), and serving as offensive analyst at Oklahoma State (2017) and Houston (2018), also coaching the offensive line at Missouri (2014-15). Malcom Kelly serves as the assistant head coach, a role he has had since March of 2019, after coaching two seasons at Houston as a GA and analyst (2017-18).
REVIVALRY MATCHUP + BLACKOUT ON THE BRAZOS
• After the student governments of Baylor and TCU banded together to create a new name for the Baylor-TCU football game, dubbing it the Bluebonnet Battle in 2023, with the name sticking for the 2023, 2024, 2025 meetings. Following the hire of new Baylor AD/VP Doug McNamee, the Bears have started referring it again by its more common name, The Revivalry.
• In addition, The Revivalry will be dubbed "Blackout on the Brazos", which encourages fans to wear black.
• The athletics department leadership from both schools were active in discussions with the Big 12 Conference regarding the new scheduling matrix with the growth of the league, working in an effort to maintain the game as an annual protected rivalry. The league announced that the game would be one of just four protected games in the league scheduling model.
• The game will be played for the 120th time on Saturday, marking the most-played game in the state of Texas.
LAST MEETING
• Baylor saw TCU erase a first-quarter lead with 21 points in the second quarter and the Frogs were able to hold off a late charge from the Bears to post a 42-36 win in the 121st edition of the most-played rivalry game in the state of Texas in 2025 in Fort Worth.
• Baylor fell behind 42-21 in the second half as the team battled three lightening delays over two hours and 16 minutes. A late rally saw Keaton Thomas return a fumble for a TD, and the Bears went on a 95 yard drive that cut the lead to 42-36 with 30 seconds left. After grabbing an onside kick, the Bears had a chance to win the game with the ball on the TCU 48 yard line but an interception ended the game.
• Sawyer Robertson threw for 318 yards and two TDs, with Josh Cameron owning eight catches for 86 yards, Ashtyn Hawkins catching seven balls for 95 yards and Kole Wilson hauling in a TD on three catches for 53 yards. Freshmen Michael Turner and Caden Knighten carried the load in the running game, with Turner setting new career highs with 12 carries for 68 yards and Knighten toting it 10 times for 42 yards.
SERIES HISTORY
• TCU leads the all-time series with Baylor, 60-54-7.
• The Horned Frogs won the last meeting, in Fort Worth, 42-36, with the teams splitting the last two meetings, which included a 37-34 win in Waco in 2024.
• In games played in Waco, Baylor owns a 35-34-5 all-time margin.
LAST MEETING IN WACO
• Baylor won its third straight as part of a six-game win streak to end the year, using a thrilling finish to edge TCU 37-34 in 2024 in front of the first blackout crowd since 2017 at McLane Stadium.
• In a back-and-forth thriller the Bears earned their first win over TCU at home since 2014, using a furious rushing attack that saw RB Bryson Washington rush for 196 yards and four TDs - including 12 carries for 96 yards and two TDs in the fourth quarter. The Bears rolled to 31 first downs and 499 yards of total offense, including 257 on the ground. QB Sawyer Robertson threw for 242 yards and rushed nine times for 28 yards.
• TCU took a 17-13 lead into halftime as QB Josh Hoover rushed and threw for a TD and the Frogs nailed a 46-yard field goal. After a field goal to open the final stanza, the Bears answered with a 75-play drive to even the game on a Dawson Pendergrass TD rush. The teams then traded TDs until Washington's fourth TD of the game came to cap an 81-play drive with 4:54 left in the fourth quarter. TCU drove 75 yards to even the game at 34 with a Jack Bech TD pass with 2:59 left. Baylor then drove 59 plays - including a key fourth and nine conversion pass to Michael Trigg at midfield and set up for the game-winning 33-yard field goal from Hankins as time expired, setting off a joyous celebration that saw the field rushed in jubilation.
CONNECTING THE TEAMS
• Baylor at TCU have several connections, most notably that BU head coach Dave Aranda and TCU head coach Sonny Dykes served on the same Mike Leach staff at Texas Tech from 2000-02. Safeties coach Brian Norwood was the associate head coach and safeties coach at Baylor from 2008-14.
• BU tight ends coach Jarrett Anderson spent the 1998-2021 seasons on the staff at TCU, a 24-year tenure with the Frogs that saw him serve as a GA, WR coach (2009-13), co-offensive coordinator/TEs (2009-13), OL (2014-16), IWR/TE (2017-19) and OL (2020-21). He earned his graduate degree from TCU in 2000.
• Baylor first year corners coach Jeremy Modkins is a two-time TCU graduate (2006, 2008), who played at TCU from 2001-05. He coached for the Frogs following his playing career, with time as a GA (2007-08), analyst (2014-17) and cornerbacks coach (2018-21).
BEARS ROLL ARIZONA STATE IN TEMPE
• Baylor throttled Arizona State to win its fourth straight game in a Saturday night matchup in Tempe, 55-19. It marked the fifth straight game to open the year that Baylor held its foe to 20 or fewer points, the longest such stretch since 1966 and the first five-game streak of holding foes to 20 or under since 1986. It marked just the third loss for ASU at home in the last 15 games.
• Baylor dominated ASU to the tune of 564 yards of total offense, holding the Devils to just 409 yards. Baylor rushed for 244 yards and three TDs, including long scoring runs from Caden Knighten and Ryelan Morris. QB DJ Lagway, making his second straight start after missing a pair of games due to injury, threw for four TDs and added a rushing score, accounting for 306 yards in the air. WR Gavin Freeman, the nation's leading receiver, had seven catches for 115 yards, with Louis Brown IV, Jadon Porter, Hawkins Polley and Tony Livingston each hauling in TDs.
• Baylor's defense forced three turnovers, including an interception from Phoenix native Ryan Davis and a forced fumble from Tyler Turner.
NEXT UP
• Baylor hits the road for the first of a two-game road swing, traveling to face Kansas on Oct. 26 in Lawrence, Kan.
FS1 will turn to Eric Collins (play-by-play) and Spencer Tillman (analyst) to voice the action. The Baylor Sports Media Network will have the Voice of the Bears, John Morris (play-by-play), and Baylor greats Geff Gandy (analyst) and Bryson Jackson (sideline) on the call.
Baylor (4-1, 2-0 Big 12 Conference) puts a four-game winning streak on the line on Saturday. The Bears have won four straight, after a narrow loss in the final seconds vs. Auburn in Atlanta at the Aflac Kickoff Game in the season lid-lifter. The Bears are coming off a rout of Arizona State in Tempe, handing the Devils just their third loss in their last 15 home games, 55-19. Baylor opened conference play vs. Colorado, handing the Buffs a 23-13 lead behind a stingy defense, the nation's most prolific special teams play and a timely offensive surge in the fourth quarter.
Both Baylor and TCU are coming off idle weeks.
The Bears have held all five opponents to 20 points or less to open the year, the longest such streak to open a season since 1966. Baylor's five game stream of holding foes to 20 or less points ranks as its longest since 1986.
Baylor enters the matchup receiving votes for a second straight week in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. BU ranks No. 27 in the ESPN SP+ rankings, which includes a rating of owning the nation's 24th best defense and the ninth-best special teams unit. In other metrics, Baylor checks in with the No. 19 offense according to Beta Ranks. In the pure NCAA statistical rankings, Baylor ranks among the NCAA's top 40 in 19 categories, including No. 4 in team sacks, No. 6 in tackles for a loss, No. 5 in fourth-down conversion percentage defense, No. 6 in net punting, No. 8 in red-zone defense, No. 12 in scoring defense, No. 12 in punt return defense, No. 14 in team passing efficiency defense, No. 19 in turnovers gained and No. 23 in total offense.
SCOUTING THE FROGS
• TCU comes into the matchup with the Bears owning a 2-3 record and an 0-2 mark in conference play. The Frogs also have had an idle week in advance of the BU matchup, which followed a loss vs. BYU in Fort Worth on Oct. 3, and a 21-13 loss at UCF. The TCU defense has carried the weight of the team in the early season, holding each opponent to 21 points or less.
• TCU opened the year with a narrow 15-10 loss vs. North Carolina in Dublin, Ireland in Week 0. The Frogs then bounced back with a thrashing of Grambling State, 63-7, pulled away from Arkansas State in the second half for a 31-7 win and fell in its conference opener vs. UCF in Orlando, 21-13 on Sept. 26.
• BYU earned a 17-7 win at TCU in the most recent meeting, using 154 yards on the ground, despite just throwing for 62 yards. The Frogs were held to 72 rush yards and threw for 187.
• As a team, TCU is averaging 25.4 points per game, allowing just 13.4. The Frogs total 405.4 yards of total offense per game, including 125.4 rushing and 280 passing. Opponents are averaging just 255 yards per game, including 99.6 rushing and 155.4 passing. Going into the idle week, TCU ranks 13th nationally in passing yards allowed, 27th in rushing defense, 13th in total defense, and 12th in scoring defense.
• The Horned Frogs have turned to former Harvard QB Jaden Craig to lead the offense. Craig has thrown for 1,400 yards with eight TDs and four interceptions. Jeremy Payne leads the rushing attack with 432 yards and two TDs on 87 carries. Ed Small has 28 catches for 403 yards and a TD, while Kari Ashley has 25 grabs for 374 yards and four scores. Payne has 18 catches for 86 yards.
• Hudson Hooper leads the team with 27 tackles, with Jamel Johnson sporting 26 tackles and Max Carroll owning 21. Ansel Din-Mbuh has a team-high 3.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks.
• TCU is coached by Sonny Dykes, who is in his fifth year as the head coach for the Frogs after spending four years as the head coach at SMU. Dykes went 30-18 at SMU, including a 25-10 mark over his last three seasons, helping direct the Mustangs to 465.9 yards per game offensively in 2021, 13th-best in the nation. Dykes previously served as the head coach at Cal for four years (2013-16), and three years at Louisiana Tech (2010-12). He served as an assistant at Arizona, under Mike Stoops, Texas Tech, under Mike Leach, and Kentucky, under Air Raid inventor Hal Mumme. Dykes and Baylor Coach Dave Aranda served on the same staff at Texas Tech, where Dykes was the receivers coach while Aranda was a graduate assistant from 2000-02.
• Andy Avalos is in his third season as the defensive coordinator at TCU after previously serving three years as the head coach at Boise State, where he was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2022 with a 10-4 record. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at Oregon (2019-20) and Boise State (2016-18), in addition to time on the staff at Colorado (2006-08), Sacramento State (2011) and Nebraska-Kearney (2009-10).
• Gordon Sammis is the TCU offensive coordinator and is in his first year after four years at UConn, including hte last two years as the OC for the Huskies, and as the interim head coach for the bowl game in 2025. An offensive lineman for Virginia from 2003-07, Sammis owns an offense built around the running game and strong offensive line play. He previously spent time as the OL coach at William & Mary, Lafayette College, VMI and Columbia.
• A.J. Ricker is the fifth-year co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach who previously spent two years at SMU, following time at Kansas (2018), and serving as offensive analyst at Oklahoma State (2017) and Houston (2018), also coaching the offensive line at Missouri (2014-15). Malcom Kelly serves as the assistant head coach, a role he has had since March of 2019, after coaching two seasons at Houston as a GA and analyst (2017-18).
REVIVALRY MATCHUP + BLACKOUT ON THE BRAZOS
• After the student governments of Baylor and TCU banded together to create a new name for the Baylor-TCU football game, dubbing it the Bluebonnet Battle in 2023, with the name sticking for the 2023, 2024, 2025 meetings. Following the hire of new Baylor AD/VP Doug McNamee, the Bears have started referring it again by its more common name, The Revivalry.
• In addition, The Revivalry will be dubbed "Blackout on the Brazos", which encourages fans to wear black.
• The athletics department leadership from both schools were active in discussions with the Big 12 Conference regarding the new scheduling matrix with the growth of the league, working in an effort to maintain the game as an annual protected rivalry. The league announced that the game would be one of just four protected games in the league scheduling model.
• The game will be played for the 120th time on Saturday, marking the most-played game in the state of Texas.
LAST MEETING
• Baylor saw TCU erase a first-quarter lead with 21 points in the second quarter and the Frogs were able to hold off a late charge from the Bears to post a 42-36 win in the 121st edition of the most-played rivalry game in the state of Texas in 2025 in Fort Worth.
• Baylor fell behind 42-21 in the second half as the team battled three lightening delays over two hours and 16 minutes. A late rally saw Keaton Thomas return a fumble for a TD, and the Bears went on a 95 yard drive that cut the lead to 42-36 with 30 seconds left. After grabbing an onside kick, the Bears had a chance to win the game with the ball on the TCU 48 yard line but an interception ended the game.
• Sawyer Robertson threw for 318 yards and two TDs, with Josh Cameron owning eight catches for 86 yards, Ashtyn Hawkins catching seven balls for 95 yards and Kole Wilson hauling in a TD on three catches for 53 yards. Freshmen Michael Turner and Caden Knighten carried the load in the running game, with Turner setting new career highs with 12 carries for 68 yards and Knighten toting it 10 times for 42 yards.
SERIES HISTORY
• TCU leads the all-time series with Baylor, 60-54-7.
• The Horned Frogs won the last meeting, in Fort Worth, 42-36, with the teams splitting the last two meetings, which included a 37-34 win in Waco in 2024.
• In games played in Waco, Baylor owns a 35-34-5 all-time margin.
LAST MEETING IN WACO
• Baylor won its third straight as part of a six-game win streak to end the year, using a thrilling finish to edge TCU 37-34 in 2024 in front of the first blackout crowd since 2017 at McLane Stadium.
• In a back-and-forth thriller the Bears earned their first win over TCU at home since 2014, using a furious rushing attack that saw RB Bryson Washington rush for 196 yards and four TDs - including 12 carries for 96 yards and two TDs in the fourth quarter. The Bears rolled to 31 first downs and 499 yards of total offense, including 257 on the ground. QB Sawyer Robertson threw for 242 yards and rushed nine times for 28 yards.
• TCU took a 17-13 lead into halftime as QB Josh Hoover rushed and threw for a TD and the Frogs nailed a 46-yard field goal. After a field goal to open the final stanza, the Bears answered with a 75-play drive to even the game on a Dawson Pendergrass TD rush. The teams then traded TDs until Washington's fourth TD of the game came to cap an 81-play drive with 4:54 left in the fourth quarter. TCU drove 75 yards to even the game at 34 with a Jack Bech TD pass with 2:59 left. Baylor then drove 59 plays - including a key fourth and nine conversion pass to Michael Trigg at midfield and set up for the game-winning 33-yard field goal from Hankins as time expired, setting off a joyous celebration that saw the field rushed in jubilation.
CONNECTING THE TEAMS
• Baylor at TCU have several connections, most notably that BU head coach Dave Aranda and TCU head coach Sonny Dykes served on the same Mike Leach staff at Texas Tech from 2000-02. Safeties coach Brian Norwood was the associate head coach and safeties coach at Baylor from 2008-14.
• BU tight ends coach Jarrett Anderson spent the 1998-2021 seasons on the staff at TCU, a 24-year tenure with the Frogs that saw him serve as a GA, WR coach (2009-13), co-offensive coordinator/TEs (2009-13), OL (2014-16), IWR/TE (2017-19) and OL (2020-21). He earned his graduate degree from TCU in 2000.
• Baylor first year corners coach Jeremy Modkins is a two-time TCU graduate (2006, 2008), who played at TCU from 2001-05. He coached for the Frogs following his playing career, with time as a GA (2007-08), analyst (2014-17) and cornerbacks coach (2018-21).
BEARS ROLL ARIZONA STATE IN TEMPE
• Baylor throttled Arizona State to win its fourth straight game in a Saturday night matchup in Tempe, 55-19. It marked the fifth straight game to open the year that Baylor held its foe to 20 or fewer points, the longest such stretch since 1966 and the first five-game streak of holding foes to 20 or under since 1986. It marked just the third loss for ASU at home in the last 15 games.
• Baylor dominated ASU to the tune of 564 yards of total offense, holding the Devils to just 409 yards. Baylor rushed for 244 yards and three TDs, including long scoring runs from Caden Knighten and Ryelan Morris. QB DJ Lagway, making his second straight start after missing a pair of games due to injury, threw for four TDs and added a rushing score, accounting for 306 yards in the air. WR Gavin Freeman, the nation's leading receiver, had seven catches for 115 yards, with Louis Brown IV, Jadon Porter, Hawkins Polley and Tony Livingston each hauling in TDs.
• Baylor's defense forced three turnovers, including an interception from Phoenix native Ryan Davis and a forced fumble from Tyler Turner.
NEXT UP
• Baylor hits the road for the first of a two-game road swing, traveling to face Kansas on Oct. 26 in Lawrence, Kan.
- BaylorBears.com -
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