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2025 TCU

9–⁠4 (5–⁠4 Big 12), coached by Sonny Dykes, finished No. 25 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

TCU in 2025, game by game: won at North Carolina 48–14; won vs. Abilene Christian 42–21; won vs. SMU 35–24; lost at Arizona State 24–27; won vs. Colorado 35–21; lost at Kansas State 28–41; won vs. Baylor 42–36; won at West Virginia 23–17; lost vs. Iowa State 17–20; lost at No. 12 BYU 13–44; won at No. 25 Houston 17–14; won vs. Cincinnati 45–23; won vs. No. 16 USC 30–27+34−31Won 48–14 at North Carolina+34North CarolinaWon 42–21 vs. Abilene Christian+21Abilene Christi…Won 35–24 vs. SMU+11SMULost 24–27 at Arizona State-3Arizona StateWon 35–21 vs. Colorado+14ColoradoLost 28–41 at Kansas State-13Kansas StateWon 42–36 vs. Baylor+6BaylorWon 23–17 at West Virginia+6West VirginiaLost 17–20 vs. Iowa State-3Iowa StateLost 13–44 at No. 12 BYU-31No. 12 BYUWon 17–14 at No. 25 Houston+3No. 25 HoustonWon 45–23 vs. Cincinnati+22CincinnatiWon 30–27 vs. No. 16 USC+3No. 16 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1atNorth CarolinaW 48–⁠1456%
Sep 13vsAbilene ChristianW 42–⁠2187%
Sep 20vsSMUW 35–⁠2458%
Sep 26atArizona StateL 24–⁠2744%
Oct 4vsColoradoW 35–⁠2172%
Oct 11atKansas StateL 28–⁠4154%
Oct 18vsBaylorW 42–⁠3665%
Oct 25atWest VirginiaW 23–⁠1770%
Nov 8vsIowa StateL 17–⁠2068%
Nov 15at12BYUL 13–⁠4433%
Nov 22at25HoustonW 17–⁠1450%
Nov 29vsCincinnatiW 45–⁠2368%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvs16USCAlamo BowlW 30–⁠2744%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat USC 30–⁠27 in the Alamo Bowl; No. 25 in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 24
  2. Final: 25
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠4 tied for 7th in Big 12
AP final
No. 25 peak No. 24
Points
399–⁠329
Coach
Sonny Dykes
Elo
1649 +62 this season
SP+ rating
8.3 No. 37 of 136; offense No. 30, defense No. 50, special teams No. 84
SRS
8.5 No. 33 of 136 in FBS
Returning
57% of last season’s EPA, No. 30 of 134
Recruiting class
No. 24 roster talent No. 32 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Kendal Briles and A.J. Ricker
Defensive coordinator
Andy Avalos
Offense
Bear raid
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense48th of 136
  • Defense42nd of 136
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted43rd of 136
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted37th of 136
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1344%1.2748th of 136
Defense0.0539%1.3142nd of 136
Opponent-adjusted0.14 off
0.03 def		44% off
38% def		—43rd off
37th def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense48%7.7 yds10%2.9019%
Defense45%9.2 yds14%2.8016%
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.1own 3015% allowed
Defense3.5own 2915% caused

CORE rating 10.4, 37th of 136 (offense 6.0, defense -4.4).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJosh Hoover QB3,472 yds
Passing touchdownsJosh Hoover QB29 TD
Rushing yardsJeremy Payne RB623 yds
Rushing touchdownsTrent Battle RB6 TD
Receiving yardsEric McAlister WR1,190 yds
Receiving touchdownsEric McAlister WR10 TD
TacklesKaleb Elarms-Orr LB130 tkl
SacksKaleb Elarms-Orr LB4 sacks
InterceptionsJamel Johnson S5 INT

Top recruits in the 2025 class

Chad Woodfork DE★★★★No. 101
Adam Schobel QB★★★★No. 212
Terry Shelton WR★★★★No. 224
Micah Strickland CB★★★★No. 310
Kilian Registe OT★★★★No. 461
Ed Small WR★★★★No. 463

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2025 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.921
Running backs13.00.863
Receivers53.40.881
Offensive line43.30.877
Defensive line63.20.880
Linebackers43.00.870
Defensive backs53.20.875
Athletes and specialists13.00.859
Whole class273.20.877

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2026

The 2026 draft
Rd 2Bud Clark SSeattle Seahawks
Rd 4Kaleb Elarms-Orr LBBuffalo Bills
Rd 6Namdi Obiazor LBNew England Patriots

Roster 117

The 2025 roster

117 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2025 line; 62 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 11

The 2025 portal
Jordan Dwyer WR★★★★from Idaho
Elijah Jackson CB★★★from Washington
Ka’Morreun Pimpton TE★★★from LSU
Dylan Kinney OL★★★from Abilene Christian
Joseph Manjack WR★★★from Houston
Kylin Jackson S★★★from LSU
Michael Teason LB★★★from Missouri State
Ansel Din-Mbuh DL★★★from Washington State
Kevorian Barnes RB★★★from UTSA
Rasheed Jackson OT★★★from Incarnate Word
Ryan Yaites S★★★from California

Transfers out 19

James Brockermeyer OL★★★to Miami
Hauss Hejny QB★★★to Oklahoma State
Cam Cook RB★★★to Jacksonville State
JoJo Earle WR★★★to UNLV
Julian Knox S★★★to North Texas
Richard Toney S★★★to Purdue
Shadrach Banks LB★★★to UTSA
Cole Snodgrass TE★★★to Texas State
Kollin Collier S★★★to Old Dominion
Kylan Salter LB★★★to Colorado
Mitch Hodnett OL★★★to Tulane
Avion Carter DL★★★to North Texas

And 7 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-Big 12

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2025 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2025 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas Tech8–⁠112–⁠27
BYU8–⁠112–⁠211
Utah7–⁠211–⁠214
Arizona7–⁠39–⁠4
Houston6–⁠310–⁠322
Arizona State6–⁠38–⁠5
TCU5–⁠49–⁠425
Iowa State5–⁠48–⁠4
Cincinnati5–⁠47–⁠6
Kansas State5–⁠56–⁠6
Baylor3–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas3–⁠65–⁠7
UCF2–⁠75–⁠7
West Virginia2–⁠74–⁠8
Colorado1–⁠83–⁠9
Oklahoma State0–⁠91–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.