There’s no doubt that every Colorado football fan remembers where they were the last time the Buffaloes played in Fort Worth, Texas.
Then, newly hired head coach Deion Sanders led his team, featuring new additions Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, into TCU’s house and escaped with an improbable victory. The game ignited a media frenzy around Colorado, vaulting the team into must-see television every single week.
It’s been a long two years since that game, and much has changed about the two programs. Shedeur and Hunter are now NFL players, while TCU has completely rebuilt its roster back into a team that can contend for a Big 12 title. These two new-look programs meet each other in Amon G. Carter Stadium in week six of the 2025 season.
Fresh off a contest with BYU, Colorado will be heading into a true hostile environment for the first time all season. Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs will be fresh off a bout with the defending conference champions, Arizona State, revealing how well they can keep pace with the top of the conference.
Opponent Previews: Georgia Tech, Delaware, Houston, Wyoming, BYU
2024 in review
TCU is coming off a surface-level impressive 2024 season, with nine wins and a bowl victory to its name. A closer look at their schedule reveals that the Horned Frogs weren’t particularly impressive last season. They didn’t face a single ranked opponent and suffered a blowout loss to the eventual No. 12 seed in the CFP and their rival, SMU.
They were the definition of a slow-starting team, losing three of their four losses in the first half of the season. TCU was often in many of their games, playing in seven one-score games, many of which went in their favor, a mark that will be hard to repeat. The brightest spot of 2024 was, by far, the emergence of quarterback Josh Hoover, who grew into his role at the helm of Sonny Dykes’ air raid offense.
The Horned Frogs built momentum at the end of 2024, which they’ll need to carry into 2025 if they want to contend for the conference title.
Head coach profile
The Horned Frogs’ headman has been coaching football at TCU for four seasons, after he came over from SMU. Dykes’ tenure has been a rollercoaster for the program, with its peak being their first victory in the College Football Playoff and an unexpected appearance in the national championship game in 2022.
However, the year following saw the Horned Frogs still hurting from their shellacking in the title game at the hands of Georgia, ultimately going 5-7. Dykes has proven capable of building and leading contenders, but not consistently.
Top offensive player
Entering his third season as the quarterback for the Horned Frogs, Hoover showed an impressive jump in his second season. Despite throwing the ball over 470 times, Hoover completed 66% of his passes for almost 4,000 yards, 27 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions.
Hoover is a leader in the Horned Frog locker room, reportedly turning down a large offer from Tennessee to enter the transfer portal. TCU is losing Hoover’s top three targets from last season, Savion Williams, J.P. Richardson and Jack Bech to the NFL, so more will be on his shoulders heading into this season.
Top defensive player
A preseason All-Big 12 selection, Bud Clark might be the Horned Frog with the most hype, outside of Hoover, heading into 2025. Entering his final collegiate season, Clark has been a staple of consistent, high-quality play in TCU’s secondary. For the last three seasons, Clark has totaled three or more interceptions and never landed below the 30 total tackle mark. Coming off a fantastic season last year, the Buffaloes will have to scheme around No. 21 in this matchup.
2025 schedule
- Sept. 1 at North Carolina
- BYE
- Sept. 13 vs. Abilene Christian
- Sept. 20 vs. SMU
- Sept. 26 at Arizona State
- Oct. 4 vs. Colorado
- Oct. 11 at Kansas State
- Oct. 18 vs. Baylor
- Oct. 25 at West Virginia
- BYE
- Nov. 8 vs. Iowa State
- Nov. 15 at BYU
- Nov. 22 at Houston
- Nov. 29 vs. Cincinnati
Way-too-early Colorado matchup preview
Both of these teams enter with significant question marks on the offensive side of the ball. Colorado’s quest to find replacements for Shedeur and Hunter will most likely not be over by this point in the season, and that could cause some huge stumbles for the Buffaloes. The Horned Frogs are replacing virtually their entire offensive skill group, and there are likely to be huge bumps in the road.
Ultimately, the Horned Frogs should get the better of the Buffaloes in a tight contest. While both teams have questions, Hoover’s play could elevate a lacking skill group over the hump, mainly if Colorado’s pass rush can’t produce as effectively as it did last season. If Kaidon Salter impresses early on, I might have to revisit this game, but for now, TCU strikes me as a team with fewer questions to answer.
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