TCU offense hitting stride heading into final meeting with Sooners
Nov. 22—Oklahoma's final Big 12 home game will be a rare one.
The Sooners face TCU to close out the regular season and will be moving to the SEC next season. It's the 81st time in school history they've played on a Friday with just six of those coming in bowl games.
Still, it's only happened 15 times since World War II, with the last time coming in 2018 against West Virginia. Lately, it's been even rarer for a Friday game to occur at home.
This will mark the first time the Sooners have played at home on Friday since 1994 against Nebraska. The two rivals faced each other 10 times in Friday games from 1973-1995.
The Sooners are 59-19-2 all-time in games played on Friday.
They're going up against a TCU program that was in the national championship game last year. The Horned Frogs have had an up-and-down season and are one win away from earning bowl eligibility.
Here's a breakdown of the Horned Frogs on both sides of the ball:
Offense
TCU may have five losses on its record, but it's got an offense that's really starting to click as the season draws on.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Hoover (wears No. 10) has thrown for over 300 yards in four of his last five games. Last week against Baylor he completed over 80% of his passes for 412 yards and two touchdowns.
It wasn't the first time Hoover has lit up a defense for 400 yards this season.
"They're going to test us in every way," Venables said about TCU. "Quarterback's playing fantastic."
Since the start of October, it's this redshirt freshman, not Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel, that's leading the conference in passing with 355 yards per game.
Hoover does have eight interceptions this season which is tied for the fifth-most in the conference. 6-7 tight end Jared Wiley (wears No. 19) leads the team in touchdown catches with six and is second in total receptions with 39.
In the running game, Emani Bailey (wears No. 9) has had five 100-yard rushing games this season and a 98-yard rushing game against Texas.
"Really like Bailey," Venables said. "He's running down hill. He's really explosive. He's a home run hitter as well. They're blocking up front (well)."
The Horned Frogs are sixth nationally in plays run per game (77) and are 124th in time of possession (27:03 per game).
Defense
TCU is fifth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 24.1 points per game. The Horned Frogs have only allowed two teams to score more than 30 points on them this season.
They rank second in the Big 12 in fourth down conversions allowed (34.5%) and fifth in third down conversions allowed (38%).
But opposing teams have still managed to average 390 yards of total offense per game and 240 yards through the air, both of which are in the bottom four in the conference. The Horned Frogs struggle to create turnovers, forcing a league-low 10 all season.
Sam linebacker Namdi Obiazor (wears No. 4) has been TCU's leading tackler (79) with six tackles for loss and four sacks. Will linebacker Shad Banks Jr. (wears No. 0) leads the team with 7.5 tackles for loss and is fourth on the team in total tackles (51).
In the defensive backfield, nickel Millard Bradford (wears No. 28) leads the team with two interceptions and has a fumble recovery.
Tarik Masri is the sports editor for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com
