TCU seemed bound and determined to enter the Week 0 clash in Ireland against North Carolina as the most dysfunctional team. The Tar Heels suspended their general manager and didn’t have a defensive coordinator who is on leave for personal reasons, but they looked like the cleaner and crisper operation in the 15-10 victory in Dublin. 

The Horned Frogs shot themselves in the foot from a public relations standpoint by revoking credentials to the local paper over a story about a fight in the locker room that resulted in the loss of a wide receiver to injury and a safety to dismissal. They continued shooting themselves in the foot in the loss – a bad snap on a punt that resulted in a safety, 10 penalties, and three turnovers on downs, including two in the red zone to end the game. 

The TCU faithful hasn’t been exactly pleased with Dykes entering the season despite back-to-back nine-win seasons and a trip to the national championship game in 2022. The Horned Frogs are 14-13 in Big 12 play since 2023 and that includes multiple losses as touchdown favorites. They were a touchdown favorite entering the North Carolina game, too. 

The big changes in the offseason were on offense. Gordon Sammis was hired to replace Kendal Briles at offensive coordinator and Jaden Craig was added in the portal to replace Josh Hoover, who is now at Indiana. 

The hope was an improved running game and fewer turnovers combined with more red zone efficiency would unlock TCU’s potential. Instead, the Frogs scored 10 points in four trips to the red zone, averaged 3.5 yards per game, and Craig looked like a former Ivy League quarterback who was struggling to adjust to the speed and complexity of a Power Four defense. TCU scored 10 points on its first two drives. Zero points were scored on the last seven. 

So, where does TCU go from here? The good news is that they are idle next week before closing non-conference play with home games against Grambling State and Arkansas State. The Big 12 slate starts with a trip to UCF and home game against BYU before another idle date. Dykes’ group needs to be at least 3-2 by the Week 7 trip to rival Baylor. 

It feels like this fan base won’t buy back into this program being in Big 12 contention unless the Frogs can upset BYU at home in Week 5. 

It is Week 0. And the new CFP structure makes non-conference resumés mostly obsolete for Big 12 and ACC schools. The goal is to win the conference and nothing that happened in Dublin – good or bad – was going to impact the Frogs’ chances to play for the Big 12 Championship in Arlington. 

The best part of the college football offseason is the optimism. The worst part of the start of the season is that half of the teams will lose and that optimism will instantly turn to panic. There were high hopes in Fort Worth that 2026 would be a return to Big 12 contention. 

But the TCU team that we saw on Saturday won’t be in bowl contention. If Dykes & Co. want the benefit of the doubt from the fan base moving forward, the Frogs better clean up their operation on and off the field by the time Big 12 play starts on Sept. 26.