Six TCU players who could give SMU fits

The SMU Mustangs host the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday for yet another Battle for the Iron Skillet. This year’s game means even more to the cross-town rivals, both part of major conferences now for the first time since the 1990s. 

While SMU has had a week off, the Horned Frogs are coming off of their first loss of the 2024 season. They dropped a conference matchup against UCF – losing by just one point, 35-34.

Though the Mustangs had an open Saturday in Week 2, they are also feeling the sting of a loss. The BYU Cougars came out on top of a tight 18-15 contest, and the Horned Frogs will try to do the same before SMU begins ACC play.

Like the Mustangs, the Horned Frogs have reloaded on talent since the end of the 2023 season. Here are the players who could give SMU some trouble on Saturday at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

Quarterback Josh Hoover

If TCU is going to have a successful day on Saturday, it will hinge on the arm of Josh Hoover. A Dallas-area native, Hoover knows what the rivalry game means for the two programs, though he hasn’t yet played in one. 

The son of a former NFL linebacker, he played in eight games last season and started the final six. He’s having a standout year so far, throwing for 1,022 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions through three games. Hoover’s 69.7% completion rate is a major improvement over last season (62.1%). He’s also taken just one sack though he’s not much of a scrambler.

Wide receiver Jack Bech 

TCU’s leading receiver heading into Week 4 is senior Jack Bech. Bech began his career with the LSU Tigers before transferring to the TCU program for 2022. Though Savion Williams leads the Horned Frogs with three touchdowns to Bech’s two, the former Tiger has the most receiving yards – 350 on 17 catches. His longest reception was for 50 yards, bumping his average up to 20.6 yards per catch.

Wide receiver Savion Williams

A matchup nightmare at 6-5, 225, the East Texas native was once down to SMU-TCU in his recruitment. Now, he’s been a key wideout for the Horned Frogs for years. Against UCF, he caught four passes for 37 yards and two touchdowns. Williams hasn’t topped 600 yards receiving in a year, but he’s a big, physical receiver that SMU’s secondary will have to account for in a big way.

Running back Cam Cook

Like his quarterback, running back Cam Cook played significant snaps last season – but not against SMU. He’s up to 44 carries and 174 yards this year through three games. Cook leads the Horned Frogs with four touchdowns, which have all come on runs. Though he hasn’t caught a touchdown yet, he has totaled six receptions. TCU has had much more success through the air than on the ground this season, but Cook can occasionally break off an explosive play.

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Linebacker Namdi Obiazor

The TCU Horned Frogs have a do-it-all defender in former JUCO standout Namdi Obiazor. In the first three games of the season, he’s tallied 20 tackles, which is good for third on the defense, but he also has 1.5 sacks and one of the team’s two interceptions. 

Obiazor has the eyes of NFL scouts on him after leading the TCU defense last season with 84 tackles with four sacks and six tackles for loss. In last year’s matchup against SMU, he was a disruptive force with 11 tackles, including a sack, in the 34-17 win.

Defensive end NaNa Osafo-Mensah

Another Dallas-area native who knows the stakes, NaNa Osafo-Mensah will be putting pressure on SMU from the edge on Saturday. The former Notre Dame standout has seven tackles with one sack in three games. In his final season for the Fighting Irish, Osafo-Mensah posted 20 tackles with three sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss. The TCU defense has six sacks so far this year, which is one more than the SMU defense.