3 TCU Players to Watch Against Oklahoma State
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are hoping to stop their six-game Big 12 Conference skid on Saturday when they take on the Horned Frogs of TCU. All is not lost for the Cowboys this season, and there is still a slim glimmer of hope that they can secure these next three victories and become bowl eligible.
They must first take it one game at time if they wish to pull even at 6-6 on the season. The first test on their pursuit of a bowl game comes on Saturday against the 5-4 TCU Horned Frogs. Let’s take a look at three TCU players to keep an eye on in Saturday’s game.
Sophomore quarterback Josh Hoover
Hoover enters this week with an impressive 2,947 passing yards and 21 touchdowns through the air in 2024. He has thrown for over 300 yards six times this season and even cracked the 400-yard mark in a 35-34 loss to the University of Central Florida in mid-September.
Shoutout Josh Hoover, dude really dropped 402 and 4 and has been ELITE all year.
— Barstool TCU (@BarstoolTCU) September 15, 2024
He’s still just a sophomore… pic.twitter.com/c4dedGsS1Y
One of his best games this season came last week in a narrow loss at the hands of the Baylor Bears. Hoover completed 25-of-34 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns. He also managed to score one rushing touchdown, marking his fourth rushing TD of the season.
Senior wide receiver Jack Bech
Bech has exploded onto the scene in 2024 for Horned Frogs. He had never logged more than 500 receiving yards in a season leading up to his final year in the TCU purple. Through the first nine games of his senior season, Bech has been on fire.
He currently has 923 receiving yards and nine touchdowns this season. Bech has proven to be Hoover’s top target on the outside and the senior receiver has found the end zone for a team-high nine times. Bech leads the team in receptions (51), yards (923) and touchdowns (9).
Junior wide receiver Eric McAlister
McAlister may not have the reception total as some of his counterparts, but he has proven he can do the most with what he has got. McAlister has 22 receptions on the season yet is third on the team in yardage with 511 receiving yards.
Week 9⃣ Microsoft @surface #Big12FB Moment of the Week
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 31, 2024
After trailing 31-14 late in the third quarter, @TCUFootball took a 35-34 lead when Josh Hoover hit Eric McAlister with an 84-yard touchdown pass with 5:10 to play. The game-winning pass tied for the 12th longest in TCU… pic.twitter.com/17eaWaSm8x
He is the big play threat that Oklahoma State needs to be aware of on Friday. He has four touchdowns on the season and is averaging a team best 23.2 yards per reception. His 84-yard touchdown against Texas Tech this season was the longest of the year for the Horned Frogs. McAlister has all the tools to be a major deciding factor on the outcome of the game on Saturday.
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Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.