The Labor Day Weekend wrapped up with a highly-anticipated college football match up in Chapel Hill between North Carolina and TCU. Obviously, the hype was driven by Bill Belichick making his college football coaching debut for the Tar Heels. UNC had a ton of energy and hype coming into this one, but once it got rolling, the Horned Frogs settled down and ran away with this one on their way to a 48-14 victory to start the season 1-0. Here are the top three takeaways from the game.
Bud Clark Bails Out Josh Hoover
This game turned in the second quarter. TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, who struggled early in the game when under pressure, threw an interception on a tipped screen pass inside the UNC red zone at at the 5:00 minute mark of the second with TCU leading 10-7. It was a huge momentum swing, and for a brief moment, the momentum was squarely back with the Tar Heels. But then, three plays later, TCU’s star defensive back Bud Clark picked off Gio Lopez and took it 25 yards to the house for a pick-six and TCU went up 17-7, after the extra point. TCU tacked on a field goal before halftime to take a 20-7 lead and from that point on, it felt like it was the Horned Frogs who were in complete control, which they were on their way to a dominant 48-14 victory.
Transfers Stand Out
TCU has had some big swings and misses in the last couple of off-seasons with transfers from big-time programs who come in with high expectations and as former four or five-star prospects, and they’ve been total busts. Well, on Monday night, two of TCU’s top performers were transfers, but rather than being former top recruits with little college action, they were productive players at the lower level. And at least for one game, they showed they’re ready to compete at the next level.
TCU running back Kevorian Barnes joined the Frogs after a productive career at UTSA. On Monday night, Barnes rushed for 113 yards on 11 carries with one touchdown. Meantime, TCU’s leading wide receiver on the night was Jordan Dwyer, who finished with nine catches for 136 yards and one touchdown. Dwyer is a transfer from Idaho, where he caught 12 touchdown passes last season.
The Big 12 Needed This
The Big 12 Conference came into the weekend with a 1-3 record against Power 4 opponents. Utah rolled UCLA on Saturday night, but Cincinnati fell to Nebraska, Baylor lost to Auburn and Colorado lost to Georgia Tech. Granted, the three Big 12 teams who lost were underdogs, but regardless, they were also all were the home team and each team had an argument as to how they should have won the game.
So TCU got the Big 12 back to respectability with a dominant win, and the Horned Frogs needed this one as a 3.5-point favorite in this game as well. So now, the Big 12 is 2-3 against Power 4 competition.
Week 2 brings plenty of more opportunities, including Baylor vs. SMU, Iowa State vs. Iowa, Kansas at Missouri, Oklahoma State at Oregon, Arizona State at Mississippi State and BYU vs. Stanford.
