The Battle of the Saddle rolls back into town on Thanksgiving night, and this year neither side is totally sure who's taking the snaps.
Bush’s Picks
TCUTTU
TCUTTU
OverUnder
Best BetTexas Tech
Texas Tech's the more talented roster top to bottom right now, a reigning Big 12 champion that reloaded through the portal while TCU is still auditioning for a starting quarterback. Backing the Red Raiders at home makes sense as long as Hammond's knee looks like it did before the injury. If Tech has to lean on an unproven arm too, this line tightens fast.
TCU
+RB Jeremy Payne returns to anchor the backfield
+O-line depth added via Oklahoma State transfer guard
+Schedule seen as favorable/winnable entering the year
−Lost record-setting starter Josh Hoover to Indiana transfer
−New starter unproven at Big 12 level (Craig or Schobel)
−Was 14th in Big 12 in rush offense in 2025
Texas Tech
+Reigning first-ever Big 12 champions
+Top-ranked Big 12 recruiting/portal class for 2026
−Lost 3-year starter Behren Morton to the NFL Draft
−New starter still working back from a torn ACL
−Got blown out 0-23 by Oregon in the CFP
Texas Tech spent the offseason replacing Behren Morton, who went in the 7th round of the NFL Draft to the Patriots after three years running the show in Lubbock. The heir apparent, Will Hammond, tore his ACL last October against Oklahoma State, but Joey McGuire has since moved up the recovery timeline and is now talking about Hammond as a realistic Week 1 option. If that holds, the Red Raiders get to the rivalry game with a QB who's had a full season to shake off the rust.
TCU's answer is murkier. Josh Hoover, the winningest passer in program history with 9,629 career yards and a school-record 3,949 in a single season, transferred to Indiana to chase a starting job there. Sonny Dykes is turning to a battle between Harvard grad transfer Jaden Craig, who posted a 52-12 TD-to-INT ratio in the Ivy League, and true freshman Adam Schobel, a legacy recruit who redshirted in 2025. Neither has taken a live Big 12 snap.
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TCU TCU
TTU Texas Tech
This is a rematch nobody saw slipping this far into irrelevance a year ago. Texas Tech won the program's first-ever Big 12 title with a 34-7 rout of BYU before getting run off the field 0-23 by Oregon in the CFP quarterfinal — a gap McGuire admitted the Big 12 schedule didn't prepare them for. TCU, meanwhile, is chasing the breakout season it's promised since Dykes arrived, betting that a retooled offensive line and a healthy Jeremy Payne in the backfield can cover for the uncertainty at quarterback.
TCU Horned Frogs
Nov 20?vs Utah—
Nov 13?vs Kansas State—
Nov 6?@ Arizona—
Oct 30?vs Kansas—
Oct 16?@ Baylor—
Oct 2?vs BYU—
Sep 25?@ UCF—
Sep 19?vs Arkansas State—
Sep 12?vs Grambling—
Aug 29?vs North Carolina—
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Nov 20?@ Baylor—
Nov 13?@ Oklahoma State—
Nov 6?vs West Virginia—
Oct 30?vs Arizona—
Oct 16?vs Arizona State—
Oct 2?@ Colorado—
Sep 25?vs Sam Houston—
Sep 18?vs Houston—
Sep 12?@ Oregon State—
Sep 5?vs Abilene Christian—
Recent form.
TCU's biggest problem in 2025 wasn't scheme, it was the run game — 14th in the Big 12 at 131.4 yards per game, and that number collapsed to 77.5 in losses. Payne gives them a proven piece, and the staff added Oklahoma State transfer guard Noah McKinney to shore up an offensive line that lost both starting guards. Whether that's enough to insulate two green quarterbacks in a rivalry road environment is the real question for the Horned Frogs this fall.
TCU Horned Frogs
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Texas Tech Red Raiders
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Texas Tech's whole offseason plan was built around fixing an offense that stalled out against elite competition, and the coaching staff leaned hard into the transfer portal — 21 additions plus a 2026 class ranked first in the Big 12 by both major recruiting services. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, Hammond should either be firmly entrenched as QB1 or Tech will have found out the hard way that ACL recoveries don't always go according to plan. Either way, this version of the rivalry hinges less on tradition and more on which quarterback room settled first.
