Editor’s note: This week’s Cougar Insiders comes from guest writer Jackson Payne, who is the sports editor for the BYU campus publication The Daily Universe. Twitter: @jackson5payne.
It’s deja vu all over again.
Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before: BYU and TCU are facing off this weekend in a matchup with heavy conference implications.
No, this isn’t the early 2000s, where such a statement seemed to be the case every season. The Cougars and Horned Frogs are set to clash Saturday for the first time in more than a decade, with the circumstances ripe for reigniting one of the most colorful, compelling rivalries in each program’s history.
Eighteen years ago, as Bronco Mendenhall was beginning his first season as BYU’s head coach (and this writer was starting kindergarten), TCU waddled into the Mountain West Conference and immediately began dominating the league.
Jumping back to the present, BYU is now the new kid on the conference block, crashing TCU’s Big 12 crib in an attempt to climb atop the league’s food chain amid all the chaos of realignment.
To quote Michael Scott: “Oh, how the turn tables.”
The six seasons shared between the Cougars and Frogs in the Mountain West made for incredible entertainment. Rebooting the series in the Big 12 will hopefully yield the same result.
While BYU did share a league with Utah at the time, make no mistake: There was no love lost between TCU and the Cougars. It was as bitter a rivalry as any in the country.
From 2005 to 2010, TCU claimed three conference titles while BYU snagged two. There was a memorable yet controversial 51-50 overtime win for the Frogs in Provo, followed by the Cougars snapping TCU’s 13-game win streak the next season in Fort Worth. Two years later, the Frogs struck back to end BYU’s own 16-game unbeaten run. Each squad lived for the opportunity to torment the other.
In their shared Mountain West years, TCU lost just two conference games at home. One came to the Cougars.
Additionally, TCU was only defeated once in conference play by a two-touchdown margin. Once again, it was the Cougars.
At one point, TCU coach Gary Patterson decorated a tackling dummy with a BYU helmet in the locker room to motivate his team. Riley Nelson high-fived a referee after scoring on the Frogs in 2011. Even “ESPN “College GameDay’s” lone visit to Provo came for the 2009 TCU-BYU showdown, where Andy Dalton picked apart the Cougar secondary for a blowout win over Max Hall.
The memories are seemingly endless. Both programs were arguably the best the Mountain West had to offer, and each time they collided was must-see TV.
While the rivalry has been dormant since Obama’s first term, Saturday has all the pieces in place for a rowdy wakeup call. Certainly BYU staffers Kelly Poppinga and Harvey Unga, who experienced the Frogs feud firsthand as players, will be fanning the flames heading into Fort Worth.
Everyone remembers TCU’s Cinderella run to the national championship game last year, but the magic has seemingly run dry for the Frogs in 2023. They’re 3-3, having rebounded nicely following an opening loss to coach Prime’s Colorado squad before stumbling the past two weeks to West Virginia and Iowa State. With starting quarterback Chandler Morris injured and reportedly unavailable against the Cougars, these Frogs may just be ready to croak.
Conversely, BYU is fresh off a bye week, with TCU’s past two losses coming in the time since the Cougars last played. Kalani Sitake and company have been able to start prepping for the Frogs since before October even began. The timing couldn’t be better for BYU.
Should the Cougars triumph Saturday, TCU would be all but eliminated from the Big 12 race with three league losses. That alone is enough to trigger an entire fanbase and stir up some hatred. A BYU loss would likely create a similar feeling toward the Frogs around Provo. The emotional stakes are high.
While realignment has vanquished plenty of classic traditions around college football, reuniting past foes such as the Cougars and Frogs is a huge win for the sport. With BYU’s recent history with Baylor along with Utah hopping in the Big 12 next year, the Cougars will have no shortage of meaningful rivalries going forward. No one should complain about that. BYU will fit right in within the conference of chaos.
Extra points
- Turnovers will determine BYU’s destiny (Deseret News)
- What BYU will wear against TCU (Deseret News)
- Former Cougars reflect on past BYU-TCU games (Deseret News)
Up next
- Oct. 12| 7 p.m. | Women’s soccer | Oklahoma State | @ Stillwater, Oklahoma
- Oct. 13 | 9 a.m. | Swimming and diving | TCU | @ Fort Worth, Texas
- Oct. 13 | 7 p.m. | Women’s volleyball | Texas Tech | @ Provo
- Oct. 14 | 1:30 p.m. | Football | TCU | @ Fort Worth, Texas
