How to Watch: TCU vs. #16 USC Trojans in the Alamo Bowl

Horned Frogs seek 9th win of 2025 season in showdown with ranked Big Ten foe

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ALAMO BOWL: vs. USC TROJANS

DEC. 30 | ALAMODOME | SAN ANTONIO, TX | 8:00 PM CT

TV:

ESPN Streaming: ESPN APP // WatchESPN.com Talent: Jorge Sedano, Rodney McLeod, Victoria Allen Radio: KZPS 92.5 FM, TuneIn, Varsity App, Riff Ram App Talent: Brian Estridge, Marshall Newhouse, Elvis Gallegos Spanish Radio: KTNO 620 AM Talent: Miguel Cruz, Roberto Ramirez

GAME NOTES

Talk to TCU fans about the Alamo Bowl, and they might never stop. The Frogs return to San Antonio on the 10-year anniversary of the greatest comeback in college football bowl history where the #11 Frogs rallied from a 31-0 halftime deficit to beat #15 Oregon, 47-41 in overtime. TCU is 2-0 all-time in the bowl.

Coincidentally, the last time TCU started a backup quarterback in a bowl game was that 2015 Alamo Bowl.
Across the field, the #16 Trojans are led by a familiar face to TCU’s Sonny Dykes in Lincoln Riley. Dykes and Riley are both Texas Tech graduates and were members of the Red Raiders from 2002-06 when Dykes departed for Arizona. Riley then replaced Dykes as Mike Leach’s receivers coach.
The bowl is a familiar place for the Dykes family as Sonny’s father, Spike Dykes, led his 1996 Texas Tech squad to the game in the first season in the newly created Big 12. They are the first father-son duo to coach in the game.
The match up against USC also presents additional significance to TCU fans. Following TCU’s unexpected victory in the 1998 Sun Bowl over the Trojans, the Frogs went on win four conference titles in the next seven seasons and post 10-plus win totals in nine of the next 13 seasons. The game is credited by TCU fans
as a launch pad for the program’s upward trajectory.
WR Eric McAlister leads all P4 receivers with 97.7 YPG against P4 schools. No. 2 is Rutger’s KJ Duff (93.3) and No. 3 is USC’s Makai Lemon (92.4).
TCU and USC each average over 290 passing yards per game – the only such pairing of explosive passing offenses this bowl season
LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr is one of only 3 P4 linebackers to post an 85+ grade as a run defender and tackler and a 70+ grade as a pass rusher.
RB Jeremy Payne enters bowl seasons with consecutive 100-yard rushing games. Kendre Miller (2022) is the last to post three-straight

USC NOTES

In 1925-26, tackle John Wayne (playing under his real name, Marion Morrison) suited up for the Trojans before going on to become one of Hollywood’s most famous Golden Age actors. In one of Wayne’s many films, he starred as Colonel Davy Crockett in the 1960 Western epic, “The Alamo”, a project he also directed and produced. USC Football now comes full circle as the Trojans move from the silver screen to the Alamodome, making their first-ever appearance in the Alamo Bowl.
USC is among the nation’s premier bowl teams with an overall postseason record of 36-20 (not including 1 win and 1 loss later vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record 37-21).
USC has a remarkable record in bowl games. The Trojans are tied for nation’s sixth highest bowl winning percentage (.643) among the 105 schools that have made at least 10 bowl appearances (behind Army’s .727, Marshall’s .684, Utah’s .680, South Florida’s .667 and Wake Forest’s.647 (not including 1 USC win and 1 USC loss vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: .638)
USC’s 36 bowl victories are second behind Alabama’s 41 and tied with Georgia’s 36 for the most in the nation