If you're looking for the tcu football score now, the Horned Frogs just wrapped up a wild ride in San Antonio. Honestly, if you blinked during the fourth quarter of the Valero Alamo Bowl on December 30, you probably missed three lead changes and a heart-stopping overtime finish.
TCU beat No. 16 USC 30-27 in a game that basically felt like a microcosm of their entire 2025 season. Grit. Chaos. A little bit of "refuse to lose" energy.
The Horned Frogs finished the year with a 9-4 record. It wasn't always pretty, especially during that mid-November slump where they dropped two straight to Iowa State and BYU, but they sure knew how to close.
That Wild Alamo Bowl: Breaking Down the Score
The game didn't start like a shootout. In fact, it was kinda sluggish early on. USC took a 3-0 lead in the first, and TCU didn't even touch the scoreboard until the second quarter when Jon Denman punched in a 5-yard run.
Everything changed in the fourth.
TCU trailed 24-14 with less than ten minutes to go. You’ve seen this movie before, right? The "Alamo Bowl Comeback" is basically a registered trademark for this program at this point. Ken Seals, the veteran quarterback playing in his final game as a Frog, looked cool as ever. He led a 75-yard drive capped by a Jeremy Payne touchdown run to cut the lead.
Then came the drama.
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With time expiring, Kyle Lemmermann nailed a 27-yard field goal to tie it at 24.
In overtime, USC settled for a field goal on their possession. TCU didn't settle. On 3rd and goal from the 35 (after a penalty pushed them back), Seals found Jeremy Payne for a 35-yard touchdown strike. Game over. 30-27. Fans in purple went absolutely nuts.
The 2025 TCU Football Schedule and Results
If you missed the regular season, here is how the Frogs got to that 9-win mark. It was a rollercoaster. They started hot with three straight wins, including a dominant 48-14 blowout against North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Then the Big 12 schedule hit.
They lost a heartbreaker to Arizona State by three points. They bounced back to beat Colorado 35-21 in a game where Josh Hoover threw for two fourth-quarter touchdowns. But then came the November "Wall."
The losses to Iowa State (20-17) and BYU (44-13) were tough pills to swallow. Honestly, most people thought the season was fizzling out. But Sonny Dykes kept the group together. They finished the regular season with wins over Houston and Cincinnati to secure that Alamo Bowl berth.
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Key Players Who Defined the 2025 Season
Ken Seals was the story of the bowl game, but the season was a team effort. Josh Hoover handled most of the snaps during the year, showing massive growth in his decision-making.
Jeremy Payne emerged as a genuine threat. Not just as a runner, but as a pass-catcher out of the backfield—as evidenced by that game-winning catch in the Alamo Bowl.
On the defensive side, Elarms-Orr was a beast. He was named the Defensive MVP of the bowl game for a reason. The guy was everywhere.
What Most People Get Wrong About TCU This Year
A lot of folks look at the four losses and think this was a "down" year. It really wasn't.
Three of those four losses were by one possession. They were roughly ten points away from being an 11-win team and potentially crashing the Big 12 Championship party. The depth in the Big 12 is just brutal right now.
You've got teams like Arizona, Utah, and BYU all playing high-level ball, so there are no "off" weeks. TCU's ability to navigate that and still end up with 9 wins is actually pretty impressive when you look at the strength of schedule.
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Looking Ahead: 2026 Schedule and Beyond
The pads are off for now. Since the season ended on December 30, the focus has shifted to the recruiting trail and the transfer portal.
The 2026 season opener is already set for August 29, 2026, against North Carolina. This time, the Tar Heels are coming to Fort Worth.
If you're checking for a tcu football score now because you think there's a game today, January 17, 2026, you're likely seeing the basketball scores. The TCU men's basketball team is currently in the thick of Big 12 play, having recently faced off against BYU and preparing for a matchup with Utah.
But for football? The 30-27 victory over USC is the final word until the fall.
To stay ahead of the curve for the 2026 season, keep an eye on the spring practice schedule which usually kicks off in March. That's when we'll get our first look at who's going to replace the departing seniors like Ken Seals. You should also track the Big 12 media days in July to see where the Frogs are picked in the preseason standings.