BYU opens 9-game stretch at TCU as the No. 10 Cougars chase another Big 12 run

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — BYU coach Kalani Sitake and the No. 10 Cougars treated last week just like any other, the only difference being they didn't have a game.

After that early open date, the Cougars (3-0, 1-0 Big 12) have nine games over nine weeks in their push to get back to another Big 12 championship game. That stretch begins Saturday night at TCU (2-2, 0-1).

“We were ready to play a game. We just didn’t play one,” Sitake said. "I think our guys felt a little left out last week. (They) really wanted to play. ... Now that we've got that out of the way, let’s go play ball every week.”

After just missing the College Football Playoff last season as the Big 12 runner-up, the Cougars could start 4-0 for the third year in a row. They have never done that.

“We were looking forward to just going 13 weeks straight, regardless of where the bye fit,” Sitake said. “That was always going to be a work week for us. ... I think we’re right where we need to be.”

TCU is trying to avoid its first 0-2 start in the Big 12 since 2013. The Horned Frogs outgained UCF 343 total yards to 266 last week, but had four turnovers and 11 penalties in a 21-13 loss . They also had 11 penalties in their season-opening 15-10 loss to North Carolina in Ireland.

“We've just got to get out of our own way,” said Frogs quarterback Jayden Craig, the Harvard transfer who's second in the Big 12 with 303.3 yards passing per game.

Craig and the other team captains called a players-only meeting this week.

“They felt like we haven’t performed as well as we need to," coach Sonny Dykes said. “They understood that, we obviously did not need to point that out to them.”

Dykes said the biggest thing they have to realize is that the mistakes making it difficult on them have been self-inflicted ones.

Bear Bachmeier last year was thrust into becoming the first BYU true freshman to open a season as the starting quarterback. He became the AP Big 12 freshman of the year , and now as a sophomore is a team captain.

“He’s a leader now for us. Last year, he was just trying to understand the game and trying to understand his first year in college football while being the starting quarterback at BYU, which is a hard thing to balance,” Sitake said. “I’ve been really pleased with the way Bear has been able to approach the season, but also in the offseason, his connection to his teammates. ... The guys have really turned to him as a leader.”

Bachmeier is 44-of-62 passing (71%) for 642 yards with six touchdowns and an interception. He has two TD runs.

“Sometimes last year you’d hear LJ (Martin, the running back) behind me telling him what to do occasionally," said Bruce Mitchell, the standout senior center. "That has not been the case this season.”

BYU and TCU previously were in the Western Athletic and Mountain West conferences together before the Cougars joined the Big 12 in 2023.

Both Big 12 matchups have been lopsided home wins. BYU won 44-13 in Provo last year, after losing 44-11 in its last trip to Fort Worth in 2023. TCU has a 7-6 lead in the series, which has only two one-score games and an average margin of nearly 23 points the other 11 games. The Cougars won 27-22 in Provo in 2007, two years after the Frogs' 51-50 overtime win there.

TCU is 4-2 at home against top-10 opponents since 2014. The last was in 2023, when then-No. 7 Texas held on for a 29-26 win in its final Big 12 season. The Frogs split two such games against Oklahoma, and had top-10 wins over Kansas State, Baylor and Oklahoma State .

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