BYU travels to Amon G. Carter Stadium on Saturday night for its first road Big 12 game of the season, and history suggests the Cougars should not take this one lightly. Even if TCU looks mediocre at 2-2, that remains true. If Cougar fans are familiar with BYU’s past experiences in Fort Worth, that would make them very, very nervous. There’s scar tissue at that stadium. That long pre-dates the Big 12 days.
The Cougars and Horned Frogs have been conference mates twice before, from the WAC and Mountain
West eras. They first squared off in 1987, which was a 33-12 defeat for BYU. That began a history of stumbles in Fort Worth.
BYU hasn’t won at TCU since 2006. They have won there just twice all-time with a 2-5 record playing TCU in Texas, also counting the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
The biggest sting for the Cougars came in 2008. BYU traveled to Fort Worth ranked No. 9 in the AP poll and 6-0. They had visions of a perfect season and busting the BCS with quarterback Max Hall. Then, the nightmare began. TCU led 23-0 at halftime and BYU committed four turnovers. Hall didn’t throw for a score and threw two interceptions. The Cougars needed a score late in the third quarter to just avoid being shut out. The perfect season was gone and the Cougars suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in program history.
The scars weren’t given exclusively in Fort Worth either. TCU has thoroughly enjoyed spoiling BYU dreams. In 2005, TCU won one of the wilder shootouts in the history of LaVell Edwards Stadium, defeating BYU 51-50 in overtime. The Horned Frogs once again dashed the dreams of a ranked Cougars squad in 2009, walloping the No. 16-ranked Cougars 38-7.
The trend has not just been TCU beating the Cougars in big spots, but blowing them out. That rang true even as they began Big 12 play together in 2023, when TCU smoked the Cougars 44-11 in Fort Worth. Josh Hoover threw for 439 yards and four touchdowns as TCU overwhelmed BYU.
In three matchups in Fort Worth since 2008, TCU has outscored BYU 107-21.
Those are the demons the 2026 squad is facing as they once again travel to Fort Worth with their eyes on a much bigger prize. While losing to TCU does not necessarily eliminate the Cougars from a Big 12 Championship Game or even College Football Playoff berth, it makes their path much more perilous.
There is, of course, a very different feeling surrounding these two programs compared with 2023. The Cougars have already won on the road this season, beating Colorado State in Fort Collins, and they had a bye week to prepare for TCU. Meanwhile, TCU is 2-2 and just lost 21-13 to UCF. This still will be a game fraught with danger. It will take excellent coaching from Kalani Sitake and his staff to make sure the Cougars are prepared for likely the most hostile environment they will face outside of Rice-Eccles Stadium this season.
