West Virginia (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) at TCU (3-3, 1-2 Big 12). Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. CT (noon ET), Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas, ESPN2.
Your hosts are Ryder Galloway, a Stockyards cowboy turned finance guy who explains defenses as cattle drives, and Jolene Buckhannon, a former rifle team captain who counts possessions like rounds.
Ryder: Yeehaw, and welcome to Fort Worth, where the West begins. Anything goes wrong today, I'm blaming Dallas.
Jolene: Load up. I don't miss.
Players to watch
West Virginia quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. has 1,519 passing yards and 10 touchdowns, and he leads all of FBS in rushing touchdowns. Running back Cam Cook has 833 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, fifth in FBS in rushing yards. Linebacker Isaiah Patterson leads with 44 tackles, plus a sack and an interception. The Mountaineers run on about 72% of their plays and score 37.6 points per game.
TCU quarterback Jaden Craig has 1,694 yards and 10 touchdowns. Running back Jeremy Payne leads with 429 rushing yards, and linebacker Hudson Hooper leads with 33 tackles. The defense is the herd's lead rider: TCU allows just 12.2 points and 264.2 yards per game, and opponents average 2.88 yards per carry.
Ryder: Every rider holding his spot. Nobody gets loose on my drive.
What happened last week
West Virginia beat Cincinnati 45-42 when Jack Cassidy kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired. Hawkins threw for a career-best 464 yards and three touchdowns. Cincinnati held Cook to 40 rushing yards, but he caught a 40-yard touchdown pass to tie the game late. On the winning drive, which started at the West Virginia 2, Prince Strachan caught passes of 41 and 39 yards.
TCU won the Revivalry at Baylor 17-6 and didn't allow a touchdown, keeping the Bears scoreless in the second half. Craig went 21 of 36 for 294 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Dwyer caught six passes for 150 yards, and Ed Small caught seven for 91 and a touchdown. Defensive end Koron Hayward had three of TCU's four sacks, and safety Jamel Johnson intercepted a pass.
Jolene: From our own 2 all the way into field goal range. I sang a verse of "Country Roads" for that one.
Injuries and availability
The first official Big 12 availability reports post three days before kickoff. No injury news has surfaced for either team, so check back closer to kickoff.
What the coaches are up to
Sonny Dykes took TCU to the national championship game in his first season, 2022. His defense has carried this team, and all three of TCU's losses were by eight points or fewer: 15-10 to North Carolina, 21-13 at UCF and 17-10 to BYU.
Rich Rodriguez was named West Virginia's 36th head coach in December 2024. His Mountaineers came into last week averaging 295.5 rushing yards per game, tops in the Big 12. His defense, though, allows 34.0 points and 310.1 passing yards per game.
Jolene: I'm counting to ten on that defense. Slowly.
Player storylines
The big matchup is the West Virginia run game against a TCU defense that allows 2.88 yards per carry. On the other side, Craig and Dwyer face a Mountaineer pass defense allowing 310.1 yards per game. TCU's run game is its weak spot, at 3.27 yards per carry, and its blockers have allowed 17 sacks.
What's happening on campus
Saturday is TCU's annual Homecoming game. TCU opened this season against North Carolina in Dublin, Ireland, and earlier held Family Weekend against Arkansas State and its Block T Hall of Fame Weekend against BYU.
Ryder: Homecoming, sunshine and a defense where every rider holds his spot. My kind of Saturday.
Jolene: Your kind of Saturday has a pepperoni-roll tally waiting, cowboy. One roll per fumble.
Anything else fun and true
West Virginia leads the series 8-6. TCU's 1938 team went 11-0, beat Carnegie Tech 15-7 in the Sugar Bowl and won a national title, and quarterback Davey O'Brien won the Heisman Trophy. TCU also went 13-0 in 2010 and won the Rose Bowl.
Ryder: Yeehaw, that's a turnover. Hopefully. Probably. Dallas permitting.
Jolene: Saturday you can blame Morgantown.
The Cover Window
My call: TCU Horned Frogs 34, West Virginia Mountaineers 22.