The undefeated Cougars head to Fort Worth for a rare conference clash, seeking to snap a long road drought against the Horned Frogs under the Saturday night lights.
The 9th-ranked BYU Cougars are in the midst of a bye week after defeating Colorado State 41-23 on Saturday. Despite having time to reset, Kalani Sitake's team now knows the kickoff time when they face TCU on Oct. 3.
BYU will take on the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth at 7 p.m. ET in two weeks. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN or ESPN2. This allows for flexibility depending on the remaining matchups in the Big 12.
This actually is a rare matchup for the Cougars. It's the first time in 21 years BYU will play on the Saturday of the Semiannual General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Don't worry, the two don't conflict with the conference coming earlier in the day.
BYU starts the season at 3-0 with wins over Utah Tech, Arizona and CSU. This will mark the second time in four games the Cougars hit the road, and the first time in a state that doesn't share a border with Utah.
BYU's best win of the season came against Arizona. But the Cougars haven't hit the bulk of the schedule yet. Two stats to watch in the coming week are BYU being No. 7 in the country in offensive efficiency and No. 12 in total efficiency. While BYU does have the bye week, TCU starts a difficult stretch. They'll return home for a two-game home stand against Iowa State and No. 3 Notre Dame. If BYU can defeat the Fighting Irish at home on Oct. 17, that will increase its chances of reaching the College Football Playoff should it finish as the Big 12 runner-up.
TCU is 2-1 overall this season. They've been around the globe so far this season after a Week 0 loss in Ireland against Bill Belichick and North Carolina. The Horned Frog bounced back after falling to the Tar Heels. They've beaten lesser opponents, Grambling and Arkansas State, in back-to-back weeks. Sonny Dykes' team will be in Orlando this weekend before facing BYU the following week.
The Cougars have a bad history in Fort Worth and haven't pulled off a win in the land of the Stockyards since 2006. In fact, BYU snapped a five-game losing streak in the series last year in Provo with a 44-13 win. The last trip to TCU ended with a 44-11 loss in 2023. Overall, BYU has two road wins in six tries in the series dating back to 1987.
The two programs were among Mountain West Conference foes before both ending up in the Big 12 together.
Game info
No. 9 BYU at TCU
Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN or ESPN2
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