Preview: vs. LIU - TCU Athletics (2024)

ABOUT THE GAME
•This will be the first meeting on the gridiron between the Horned Frogs and Sharks.
•TCU has won 20 of its last 22 home openers.
•The Horned Frogs are facing a team from the state of New York for the first time since a 31-17 win at Army West Point in 2006.
•One of TCU's more memorable victories in its history came against a New York team when it defeated Jim Brown and Syracuse, 28-27, in the 1957 Cotton Bowl. The 1-point win was keyed by Chico Mendoza blocking a Syracuse extra-point attempt.
•TCU is playing 11 Power Four Conference opponents this season.
•The Horned Frogs are 10-3 in home games under Head Coach Sonny Dykes.
•It has taken Dykes just 28 games to reach 19 wins at TCU. Only Francis A. Schmidt (23, 1929-30) and two-time national championship head coach Dutch Meyer (24, 1934-35) have reached the mark quicker.
•TCU has just 11 scholarship players remaining from its 2021 team, the year prior to Dykes arriving as head coach.

RECAPPING STANFORD
•The Stanford game marked the first time TCU opened its season with a Friday night road contest since 2022, when it won 38-13 at Colorado en route to a College Football Playoff National Championship appearance.
•The Horned Frogs outgained the Cardinal 457-to-286 in total offense.
•In its debut under first-year Defensive Coordinator Andy Avalos, TCU totaled 10.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks.
•For the first time in program history, TCU had three receivers with at least 85 yards in the same game: Jack Bech (139), JP Richardson (107) and Savion Williams (85).
•With the Stanford game on Aug. 30, it equaled (2008, 2014) the earliest date in history for the Horned Frogs to open their season. The previous occasion in 2014 saw the Horned Frogs defeat Samford 48-14 en route to a Big 12 Championship and 12-1 season that culminated with a 42-3 win over Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl.

THE GIFT
•TCU Head Football Coach Sonny Dykes and his wife Kate have donated $1 million to TCU Athletics.
•The Dykes' gift will be split between honoring former TCU offensive lineman Jamal Powell with his name on the weight room in the new Mike and Brenda Harrison Football Performance Center as well as recognizing Shirley Enis, late wife of TCU Trustee Hunter Enis, with an endowment in her name to support women's athletics at TCU.
•Powell was a three-year letterman (2000-02) for the Horned Frogs, earning First-Team All-Conference USA honors his senior year. He then began a collegiate coaching career with Dykes hiring Powell as his offensive line coach at SMU in 2018. They worked together for three years until Powell's passing in April 2021 at the age of 39.
•Construction began in January 2024 on the Mike and Brenda Harrison Football Performance Center and the other three facilities in the Athletics Human Performance Center Renovation and Expansion projects. Completion is set for July 2025.

THE FAB FOUR
•TCU has four former FBS head coaches on its staff.
•In addition to Defensive Coordinator Andy Avalos (Boise State) and Linebackers Coach Ken Wilson (Nevada), consultants Todd Graham (Rice, Tulsa, Pittsburgh, Arizona State, Hawaii) and Dana Hologorsen (West Virginia, Houston) are working under Head Coach Sonny Dykes.

TCU SUPPORT
•Since it began Big 12 play in 2012, TCU has had nearly $500 million in donor-funded athletics facilities upgrades.
•The most recent project is the $50 million Athletics Human Performance Center Renovation and Expansion projects with the four facilities set for completion in July 2025.
•The Mike and Brenda Harrison Football Performance Center will include the Jamal Powell Weight Room, while the Simpson Family Restoration and Wellness Center will make TCU the only school in the country with a Snow Room.
•Previously, the $113 million Legends Club & Suites opened in Fall 2020 on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium.

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