Tag: Sonny Dykes

Sonny Dykes among the ‘Good, Bad, & Ugly’ in the Big 12 for Week 4

Looking back at the week that was in the Big 12 with our “Good, Bad, and Ugly.” Did your team make the cut?

There is a good variety of good, bad, and ugly football being played in the Big 12. More good than the rest but there is still a lot to clean up before we get into the meat of the 2024 college football season.

We expected the Utah Utes, Kansas State Wildcats, Oklahoma State Cowboys, and Arizona Wildcats to be among the best. However, they have all had their issues except for Utah for the most part. The Kansas Jayhawks have been a massive disappointment after all the hype surrounding their offseason with the return of quarterback Jalon Daniels and running back Devin Neal.

When it comes to TCU, it has been downright ugly over the last two weeks. We take a look at the good, bad, and ugly in the Big 12 for Week 4.

The Good: Utah Utes as a top contender

William Purnell-Imagn Images

Whether it has been Cam Rising under center or freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson, it has gone the way of the Utes. Utah came into the season as one of the contenders for the conference title and the guaranteed CFP slot. Through four weeks nothing we have seen on tape should give you cause for concern. Against Oklahoma State, the Utes built a massive lead against the conference’s worst rush defense. It doesn’t help when Utah has one of the top rushing offenses in the conference. Against the Pokes, the game was a story of the unstoppable force against a moveable object.

The Bad: Kansas Jayhawks’ fourth quarter defense

Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The Jayhawks came into the season riding high after knocking off UNLV in their bowl game. Fast forward to Week 4 and KU is coming off a third straight loss in the same manner, blowing a fourth-quarter lead. Part of the problem has been Jalon Daniels’ costly interceptions but also a defense that can’t stop a nosebleed at the worst time. Kansas has been outscored in the fourth quarter 35-17 this season.

The season is quickly unraveling for Leipold and company, they need to get it fixed ASAP. That starts on Saturday against another reeling team, the TCU Horned Frogs.

The Ugly: TCU head coach Sonny Dykes

David Purdy/Getty Images

It couldn’t get worse than getting run out of the stadium 65-7 in the national championship game right? Well, guess again. On Saturday when facing SMU in the annual Battle for the Iron Skillet, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes watched the second half from the locker room.

https://twitter.com/JeffKolbFOX4/status/1837665886234091826

Outside of that title run in his first season with the Frogs, it has been a lot of disappointing football. Following the victory over the Michigan Wolverines in the CFP Semifinal, TCU is just 7-10 in the 17 games since including that 65-7 thrashing by the Georgia Bulldogs. Perhaps that 2022 season was the byproduct of a renewed faith in TCU football and a team comprised of mostly Gary Patterson’s players. Either way, Dykes has a lot of work to do and it should start with a long look in the mirror.

Relive the Oklahoma Sooners 69-45 win over TCU with these amazing photos

Relive the Oklahoma Sooners explosive performance against the TCU Horned Frogs with these incredible photos.

It was a magical day at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The Oklahoma Sooners hosted their final Big 12 home game before their move to the SEC next summer.

Oklahoma earned double-digit wins for the first time in Brent Venables’ career. The Sooners had a nice send-off for their seniors. And their seniors were instrumental in the 69-45 win.

In particular, Dillon Gabriel and Drake Stoops had huge days on Senior Day. Gabriel threw for 400 yards and accounted for four touchdowns. Stoops caught 12 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. It was his third 100-yard day in the last four weeks as he became the Sooners’ top receiving option.

After the first half, it seemed like the Oklahoma Sooners were going to roll to an easy win, but TCU made things really interesting, pulling to within 14 points in the second half. But at 52-38, the Sooners went on a 17-0 run, capped off by Billy Bowman’s interception return for a touchdown.

It wasn’t a dominant performance, but it was a performance that will be memorable as it allowed Oklahoma’s seniors to walk off Owen Field with a perfect 5-0 record at home in 2023.

It remains to be seen if the Sooners will have one more meaningful game in Big 12 play or if they’re simply awaiting their bowl destination. However, Oklahoma did what it needed to on Black Friday to give them a shot at a Big 12 title game berth.

Relive the big 69-45 win over the TCU Horned Frogs with some of the best photos from the game.

Know Your Foe: Five TCU Horned Frogs to know for regular season finale

Oklahoma takes on TCU in their final Big 12 home game to end their regular season. Here are five TCU players to know as the Sooners prepare.

Friday will be an emotional day of celebration. The Oklahoma Sooners (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) will host their Senior Day. This will be the last time the Sooners host a Big 12 game on Owen Field.

The crimson and cream have made it through another Big 12 slate. The chances of earning a trip to Arlington for the Big 12 Championship are slim but not quite zero. The Sooners will need help from other Big 12 members to make that happen.

All Oklahoma can do is worry about finishing their final Big 12 slate with a win at home.

Their opponents were the first Big 12 team not named Oklahoma to make it to the College Football Playoff. Sonny Dykes orchestrated a masterful coaching job to get TCU (5-6, 3-5) to the national championship last year. Things didn’t go so hot in their game against Georgia, but his work speaks for itself.

The Horned Frogs lost a significant amount of production from that team, and this season has hardly been as fruitful. This team can still hang with many teams and is hungry for bowl eligibility. They are one win shy of playing in a bowl game and would love nothing more than to spoil Oklahoma’s festivities and get that sixth victory.

There is no Max Duggan, Quentin Johnston, Kendre Miller, Dee Winters, Steve Avila, or Derius Davis for this year’s TCU Horned Frogs. That group of players was the backbone of last year’s team and a big reason Oklahoma lost 55-24 in Fort Worth last year.

With so many faces gone and off to the NFL, who are the players to know for Sonny Dykes’ team? We break down five TCU Horned Frogs to know ahead for Oklahoma’s regular-season finale.

Sonny Dykes says TCU is preparing for both Ewers and Murphy

Sonny Dykes says TCU is preparing for both Texas quarterback’s this week.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers has missed two consecutive games following his shoulder injury that took place in Week 8 against Houston. Continue reading “Sonny Dykes says TCU is preparing for both Ewers and Murphy”

Deion Sanders and Sonny Dykes shared a classy moment during Colorado-TCU thriller

There’s no hard feelings between Colorado’s Deion Sanders and TCU’s Sonny Dykes.

It was a bit surprising that a game with a 20-point spread turned out to be one of the most exciting on Saturday, but that’s exactly what viewers who tuned into TCU versus Colorado got. Even with Fox’s big and weird scorebug, it was an incredible back-and-forth game where points, yards and highlights were easy to come by.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders even took the opportunity at halftime to lobby for Travis Hunter’s Heisman Trophy candidacy.

Between all the theatrics and big plays though, Sanders also took time to check in on an injured TCU player and shared a classy moment with TCU coach Sonny Dykes.

During the third quarter, TCU running back Trey Sanders went down for a brief moment with a knock (he seemed to be OK, returning to the game minutes later and scoring a touchdown). Deion Sanders came out and gave the Horned Frog some words of encouragement and tapped him on the head.

And then Deion and Dykes shared a quick handshake and hug.

The two coaches also embraced after the game, a 45-42 win for Colorado over the 17th-ranked Horned Frogs.

It’s worth mentioning that, before Sykes was hired for the TCU opening in 2021, Sanders interviewed for the job too.

This small gesture seemed to indicate that there’s no hard feelings between the two coaches, even in a battle as heated and entertaining as Saturday’s was.

MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

Sonny Dykes reveals TCU’s unusual approach to preparing for Colorado

TCU is at a major disadvantage in preparing for Colorado

In two weeks, Deion Sanders’ highly anticipated debut as Colorado’s head coach will finally take place when the Buffs make the trip to Fort Worth to take on TCU.

The Horned Frogs will be led by second-year head coach Sonny Dykes, who orchestrated the most historic campaign in TCU history last season that resulted in a College Football Playoff berth. With kickoff against the Buffs quickly approaching, Dykes recently revealed how he and his team are preparing for Colorado.

“We’re not even going to bother watching Colorado’s film from last year,” Dykes told Andy Staples of On3.”There’s no point in doing that. New schemes, new players, new everything. It will be a complete challenge for us and something that’ll be different.”

Dykes certainly has a point in terms of this year’s version of the Buffs being completely different than last year’s. Colorado returns only a handful of its players from 2022 while an entirely new coaching staff has come in with new offensive and defensive schemes.

We will find out soon enough if Dyke’s unusual approach will pay off or not as this marquee matchup is set to take place on Sept. 2.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.

[lawrence-related id=23993,16447,9702]

Badger Countdown: New QB threw 39 touchdowns in 2021 with former squad

The 2023 CFB season is on the horizon and Luke Fickell and his Badgers are now 39 days from their season opener versus Buffalo on Sept. 2.

The 2023 college football season is on the horizon and Luke Fickell and his Badgers are now 39 days away from their season opener versus Buffalo on Sept. 2. Joining Fickell in Madison will be new signal-caller Tanner Mordecai, who had two monster seasons with SMU before transferring, the first of which included 39 passing touchdowns.

In 2021, Mordecai transferred from Oklahoma to SMU, playing under head coach Sonny Dykes with the Mustangs. During his first season with the squad, the quarterback threw for 3,628 yards and 39 scores over 12 games.

He followed up his impressive 2021 performance the next year with 3,524 passing yards and 33 touchdowns through the air. Following the 2022 campaign, he entered the transfer portal and ended up at Wisconsin with new head coach Luke Fickell and offensive mastermind Phil Longo and his “Air Raid” scheme.

The Badger record for passing yards stands at 3,175 yards (Russell Wilson – 2011) and the touchdown record is 33 (Russell Wilson – 2011), both of which could be within Mordecai’s grasp in 2023.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyzzyj3n3jt6m7 player_id=none image=]

2023 Season Preview: Sooners wrap up with the national runner-up

It was a magical 2022 season for the TCU Horned Frogs but can they build upon that in 2023?

It was a magical 2022 season for the TCU Horned Frogs.

Legendary coach Gary Patterson steps down, and in comes Sonny Dykes. TCU goes 12-0 in the regular season, becoming the first Big 12 team since the 2016 Oklahoma Sooners to go 9-0 in conference play.

The Horned Frogs then went on to win the conference’s first College Football Playoff game, beating blue-blood Michigan in the process.

This year they are replacing a lot of talent. They rank 118th in returning production per ESPN (ESPN+).

The offense that finished 27th a year ago is only returning 33% of its production, which ranks next to last in the country.

They have to replace Heisman finalist Max Duggan, their top two running backs Kendre Miller and Emari Demercado, and their top three receivers Quentin Johnston, Taye Barber, and Derius Davis. Additionally, former four-star wide receiver transferred to SMU.

In comes Chandler Morris, who won the starting job last year before being injured in the first game of the season.

Morris brings dual-threat potential and was really thought of as the better passer between him and Duggan. Can he replicate the work Magic Max did a year ago?

At running back, the Horned Frogs add Alabama Crimson Tide transfer Trey Sanders. Sanders only carried the ball 116 times for 528 yards and four touchdowns over three seasons with the Tide. A product of IMG Academy, Sanders was once the No. 1 running back in the 247Sports composite, the No. 6 player overall, and a five-star prospect in the nation. The talent is there to be a dynamic player for the Horned Frogs.

At wide receiver they bring in Oklahoma State Cowboys transfer John Paul Richardson and Alabama transfer Jojo Earle. Richardson caught 49 balls for 503 yards and four touchdowns for the Cowboys in 2022 and moves into a better passing attack than what he had with Oklahoma State. Last year with Alabama, Earle had 12 receptions for 155 yards and two scores.

The Horned Frogs will be replacing offensive coordinator Garrett Riley with Kendal Briles. A different system, but still expected to put up big numbers offensively.

Defensively they return 71% of their production from a season ago. On a defense that ranked 95th last year. Like the Oklahoma Sooners, they’re hoping their experience will help them grow as a defense.

The Horned Frogs return five of their top six players in tackles last season, including starting linebackers Johnny Hodges and Jamoi Hodge. They return three of their top five in sacks. However, they lost Dylan Horton and Dee Winters, who combined for 18 sacks a year ago.

It will be interesting to see how the Horned Frogs retool from a year ago. Dykes said he felt their skilled position players are better this year than last year. That could just be coach speak. It’s hard to lose a player like Quentin Johnston and be better. He was a dynamic player that could make plays at ever level of the passing game.

The thing that will be difficult to replicate is the success they had in close games. They went 4-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less, including wins over Michigan, Baylor, Texas, and Kansas.

Only time will tell. Ultimately, this could be a weird game for Oklahoma. Coming off what should be a hard-fought battle in Provo, Utah. Now, you come home on a short week and play at 11:00 am CT on Black Friday.

Still, I like the Sooners until I see how TCU responds from last season.

Score Prediction: 41-30 Oklahoma

Predicted Record: 10-2

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1366]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

TCU’s Sonny Dykes takes jab at Texas A&M’s recent struggles during Big 12 media days

TCU’s Sonny Dykes harped on the topic of realignment during Big 12 media days, and simultaneously added subtle jab at Texas A&M’s recent struggles in the SEC.

Summer trends come and go as the years go on, but when it comes to the college football offseason, one tendency never seems to fade: taking subtle jabs at Texas A&M out of nowhere.

TCU head coach Sonny Dykes was one of many individuals to harp on the topic of realignment and its impact on college football during this week’s Big 12 media days.

In comments shared through Melissa Triebwasser, Dykes insinuated that some of the moves in realignment that didn’t make sense to him might have been orchestrated simply for revenue purposes. At the same time, he was able to add a subtle jab at the Aggies before he was finished speaking:

“If it’s all about lining your pockets with money, the decisions are really easy. Missouri was playing in a lot of Big 12 championships … haven’t seen that much in the SEC.

A&M was a competitive program, not as often now. I don’t know about you but UCLA and Rutgers feel like a natural rivalry to me.”

As the kids say nowadays, I believe we have a case of Dykes being “in his feelings.” Upon closer review, a comment from Jimbo Fisher a few months back during talkin’ season may have sparked the rebuttal from TCU’s head coach.

For a quick reminder, Fisher mentioned the hometown TCU Horned Frogs, who made a Cinderella-like run in the 2022 College Football Playoff to face the eventual Champion Georgia Bulldogs in the title game. Fisher playfully chided the program due to their 65-7 blowout loss in the Championship:

“They stayed healthy. They had a lot of experience. They got to where they’ve got to get to. And then when they got to the SEC, it changed, didn’t it? When they got to the SEC, it changed.”

Dykes’ comments may correlate to the realignment conversation on the surface, but no one can rule out the fact that the A&M dig was motivated in part by Fisher’s comments. And in all truthfulness, if there were one individual who has the credentials to take a dig, it’s Dykes after he led the Horned Frogs to the title game.

He’s checked that off the list, whereas Fisher, during his tenure in College Station specifically, has yet to reach the College Football Playoff.

There’s nothing more to dissect here other than one coach taking advantage of a timely rebuttal, and from here on out, they both have more important priorities on the docket. Dykes and the Horned Frogs will look to ensure their 2022 season was anything but lightning in a bottle, while the Aggies are equipped to compile a bounce-back campaign with a motivated roster.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Pete on Twitter: @PeteThreee.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=5]

TCU’s Sonny Dykes gives early thoughts on opening game vs. Colorado

When speaking about the #cubuffs, Sonny Dykes brought up the fact that Colorado is going to be extremely difficult to evaluate

The Buffaloes will open their 2023 season against the TCU Horned Frogs, who ended last season in the College Football Playoff national title game.

Deion Sanders’ first game as Colorado’s head coach will be a tough one, but TCU head coach Sonny Dykes knows it won’t be an easy task, either (h/t Zach Barnett of Football Scoop).

“They’re going to have a bunch of good players,” Dykes said on ESPNU’s set on Wednesday. “One thing (Sanders) done a tremendous job of is attracting players — a lot of really high-quality transfers. They’re going to be hard to evaluate. You’re going to be watching like 60 different teams, trying to figure out who these guys are and what they do.”

The Buffs head to Amon G. Carter Stadium for the opener, and it will be on Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff,” so surely a ton of eyes will be on this game.

Dykes is right: There will be a ton of different teams and players to watch ahead of this one, but he went on to speak about Shedeur Sanders in detail.

“You go back and you look at Shedeur (Sanders), his son, who’s a really good quarterback. It starts there. How are we going to defend him and what we’re going to do.”

The Buffs and Coach Prime begin the new era in a difficult way, but that’s exactly how they want it to go down.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=26]