WVU Football heads to the Lone Star State to face the TCU Horned Frogs on October 24 in Fort Worth, Texas. The Week 8 showdown falls nearly a year to the date after the Mountaineers fell short against TCU in Morgantown on October 25, 2025. Despite the loss, it served as a coming-out party for potential 2026 starting quarterback Scotty Fox Jr., who lit up the night skies down the stretch in the 23-17 loss. Read more: Tale of the Tape 2.0 – TCU.
The Big 12 battle will mark the 15th matchup in the all-time series, and the seventh at TCU.
Previous entry: Tale of the Tape 2.0 – Cincinnati
WVU has fared well facing the Horned Frogs on the road, boasting a 4-2 record in Fort Worth, as well as a victory in the 1984 Bluebonnet Bowl. The Mountaineers lead the series, 8-6.
Matchup history
It all started with the aforementioned Bluebonnet Bowl on New Year’s Eve of 1984. WVU rang in the new year with more than 500 yards of total offense in a 31-14 triumph, just one of several notches in head coach Don Nehlen’s belt.
The two squads did not face off on the gridiron again until WVU’s inaugural season in the Big 12 in 2012.
Since then, it has been a relatively balanced series. That is, except for a four-year stretch between 2018-2021, when the Mountaineers took four straight.
Related: 30 Days, 30 Legends: Top 30 WVU Football players of all time
Typically, the home team has the advantage. For some reason in this series, WVU is better on the road. TCU has taken the past two Morgantown matchups, but the Horned Frogs have not beaten the Mountaineers in Fort Worth since 2017.
WVU has won six of the past 10 matchups, and last beat TCU in 2023. The Mountaineers escaped Amon G. Carter Stadium with a 24-21 victory on that occasion.
On TCU
Founded in 1896, just five years after WVU’s program, TCU has a long history of playing fall Saturdays.
The two-time national champions (1935, 1938) boast 682 all-time wins alongside a .546 win percentage. Their last taste of national success came in 2022, when TCU made it to the College Football Playoff title game. For those who remember, Georgia showed the Horned Frogs no mercy.
With Heisman Trophy winner Davey O’Brien (1938) and 17 Consensus All-Americans, there is plenty for the program to boast.
These days, the purple and white brigade is led by head coach Sonny Dykes. The former Texas Tech baseball player is entering his fifth season at the helm for TCU, currently holding a 36-17 record since taking over. Of course, his first year was 2022, the CFP runner-up season. Following the 13-2 campaign, Dykes’ Horned Frogs went 5-7 in 2023. They seem to be back on track now, coming into 2026 after back-to-back 9-4 seasons. TCU has also won a bowl game in each of his three winning seasons there.
Before Dykes landed at TCU, he spent time at Louisiana Tech (2010-2012), Cal (2013-2016), and SMU (2017-2021). He has an overall head coaching record of 107-80.
The biggest question
Proven quarterback Josh Hoover jumped ship after three years with the Horned Frogs. One of the top passers in program history, Hoover has since left and headed to succeed Fernando Mendoza with the reigning national champions, the Indiana Hoosiers.
WVU knew Hoover good and well, especially when TCU came to town this past season. He completed 24-39 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown in the 23-17 winning effort.
Now, the quarterback battle falls between Harvard transfer Jaden Craig and a redshirt freshman, Adam Schobel.
Craig is the standout coming in, racking up 48 touchdowns to just 10 picks in his two years with the Harvard Crimson. Those numbers earned him FCS Offensive Player of the Year finalist spots in both seasons. He has experience, the smarts, and the talent to pick up where Hoover left off.
Schobel had a stellar high school career and is part of a Horned Frog family with connections everywhere. However, it is Craig’s job to lose.
Who knows who will suit up by the time Week 8 rolls around?
Final wrap
WVU and TCU duke it out on October 24 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. The Mountaineers will aim to keep their streak o road wins against the Horned Frogs alive, winning the past three down there.
The game will mark WVU’s final contest in the month of October, as it leads into a presumably much-needed bye week at that point in the season. The Mountaineers will not play again until November 7, when they return to the Lone Star State to face the powerhouse and money machine known as Texas Tech.
Just because WVU is on a bye in Week 9 does not mean Tale 2.0 takes a break. Return next week for an early look into the aforementioned matchup with the Red Raiders.
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