Every Tuesday and Thursday through late June, we’re working through all 12 opponents on WVU’s 2026 schedule.
Here’s our First Look at TCU
Game Vitals
When: Saturday, October 24, 2026
Where: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas
Series Record: WVU leads the all-time series 8-6. The Mountaineers have won four of the last six meetings, though TCU has taken two of the last three including a 23-17 win in Morgantown last season.
2025 Record: 9-4 (5-4 Big 12)
Head Coach: Sonny Dykes (5th season)
Preview
Sonny Dykes has won 36
games in four seasons at TCU, including back-to-back nine-win seasons and a run to a runner-up finish in the 2023 CFP title game, and he just received a contract extension to keep building. What that looks like in 2026 is still being figured out — Josh Hoover transferred to Indiana, taking his 9,629 career passing yards with him, and Dykes is rebuilding the offense around a new coordinator and a new signal caller.
Dykes went to the Ivy League for Hoover’s replacement. Jaden Craig threw for 5,299 yards, 48 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions over 21 games at Harvard in 2024 and 2025. He’s 6’3”, 230lbs with a big arm and has the ability to add another dimension to the run game. Dykes also replaced offensive coordinator Kendal Briles with Gordon Sammis, who coordinated what was graded as UConn’s best offense in 22 years.
The good news is that Craig won’t have to carry the offense alone. Jeremy Payne gives him a legitimate run threat to work beside, and the offensive line blocking for him is one of the better units in the conference. Ben Taylor-Whitfield allowed only two sacks last season at left tackle, and Dykes added All-Conference USA guard Jaheim Buchanon from Florida International and Noah McKinney from Oklahoma State. If the run game works the way Sammis wants it to, everything else gets easier for the Horned Frogs.
The receiving corps lost three of Hoover’s top four targets, and Dykes said in the spring that they were still looking for the guy Craig can count on in a critical third-down situation. There are candidates — Jordan Dwyer as the veteran presence, Jeremy Scott transferring in from South Alabama without a drop last season, and Dozie Ezukanma, a redshirt sophomore Dykes specifically called out as a guy that needs to deliver — but none of them are proven.
Andy Avalos is back for his third year running the defense. The front is where TCU feels best about themselves — six of seven defensive linemen return, and Dykes said this is the deepest overall roster he’s had at TCU. Ansel Din-Mbuh anchors the interior. Paul Oyewale at defensive end could be ready for a breakout. Dykes also added Cheta Ofili (what a name) from Texas Tech and Koron Hayward from Western Kentucky, two transfers Bill Connelly at ESPN specifically flagged for their ability to get into the backfield. The pass rush was nonexistent in 2025 — TCU ranked 131st in conversion rate allowed on third-and-11 or more — and Dykes knows fixing it is the clearest path to improvement on that side of the ball.
The secondary was the biggest weakness on this defense last year — 109th in yards allowed per dropback — and whether a rebuilt unit can fix that is the central question. Dykes said the corners made the biggest strides of any position group in the spring, which is encouraging given how badly that unit struggled in 2025. Gil Jackson is a sophomore who took a significant step forward. Teon Parks transferred in from Colorado. Kalen Carroll comes from Central Michigan. At safety, former LSU blue-chipper Kylin Jackson returns alongside Jacob Fields from Louisiana Tech. At linebacker, both starters from 2025 are gone — Caleb Lamsour and Namdi Obiazor — and Max Carroll steps into a featured role with Michael Short transferring in from Virginia Tech.
WVU travels to Fort Worth for TCU’s Homecoming game, right before the Horned Frogs schedule gets brutal — four of their final five opponents are projected in the top five of the Big 12. ESPN’s SP+ projects them 34th nationally with 7.1 average wins.
Way Too Early Prediction
WVU travels to Fort Worth in week eight, and by that point both teams should have a clearer sense of who they are. TCU will probably be favored at home. Craig is an unknown quantity against Big 12 competition, but Dykes knows how to develop quarterbacks. The Horned Frogs have enough up front to keep this game physical. If WVU’s offense has found their footing by late October, this is winnable on the road. If they haven’t, Fort Worth is a tough place to go fix it.
West Virginia 31, TCU 38
Projected record through Week 8: 5-3 (3-2 Big 12)
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