Five TCU football players to know on Saturday against Iowa State

AMES — Iowa State has suffered through just two five-game losing streaks in head coach Matt Campbell’s nearly 10-season tenure.

But now the reeling Cyclones (5-4, 2-4) find themselves on the verge of facing another one heading into Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. road matchup with TCU (6-2, 3-2), and largely because of the same reason: An utter inability to execute in key moments to win close games.

In Campbell’s first season at the helm in 2016, ISU’s five-game skid included three one-score losses. In the 2022, the Cyclones’ five-game swoon included four losses by seven points or fewer.

And amid the team’s recent funk, three of its four straight losses are one-score setbacks.

So there’s an unwelcome theme to the most lengthy losing stretches in the otherwise positive record-setting Campbell era — and ISU finds itself as a 6.5-point underdog against the Horned Frogs.

The Cyclones have receded to afterthought status in terms of the national scene for the first time in years, but that’s sometimes when they form a surprisingly strong response. With that in mind, here are five TCU players to know in advance of Saturday’s Fox-televised game:

QB Josh Hoover

The two-time team captain holds TCU’s record for passing yards in a single season (3,949).

Hoover, a junior, has compiled a 22-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio this season — a marked improvement over last season’s 27-to-11 rate in that regard. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder from Heath, Texas, has only faced ISU once (the two teams didn’t play last season), coming off the bench to go 11 of 19 for 119 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 27-14 road loss in 2023.

Hoover has been the Horned Frogs’ starting quarterback ever since, and he’s thrown for 300-plus yards 14 times. He’s particularly good at home, where he’s thrown 16 touchdowns to just one interception this season and is completing 67.6 percent of his passes. Hoover’s also rushed for eight career touchdowns, but rarely runs by design. He is capable of extending plays with his legs, however, even as he’s been sacked 12 times this season.

WR Eric McAlister

The 6-3, 205-pound former Boise State transfer has totaled 727 or more receiving yards in each of the past three seasons and owns 22 career touchdown catches.

Thirteen of those scoring grabs have come at TCU, where he continues to be a big-play receiver who confounds opposing cornerbacks. The Azle, Texas, native is averaging 19.6 yards per receptions this season — which matches his career average. McAlister has caught eight touchdowns in the past eight games — and he’s made multiple scoring grabs in three games this season.

He’s also 36 receiving yards from setting a career-high in that stat for the Horned Frogs, who also feature talented wide outs Jordan Dwyer (494 yards, three touchdowns) and Joseph Manjack IV (309 yards, two touchdowns).

LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr

Elarms-Orr has blossomed after transferring in from California in 2024. The 6-2, 235-pound senior notched sixth-most tackles for loss in a season (54) despite not starting a single game, and is now the Horned Frogs’ leading tackler with 80 stops in 2025.

He also boasts a team-best four sacks and has defended two passes. Elarms-Orr earned Big 12 defensive player of the week honors after TCU’s 42-36 win over Baylor on Oct. 18, and also was named the Shrine Bowl breakout star of the week after the Horned Frogs’ 23-17 win at West Virginia the following week. He had 16 total tackles in that road win.

RB Trent Battle

While Texas-San Antonio transfer Kevorian Barnes has been TCU’s workhorse (82 carries, 418 yards, three rushing touchdowns), Battle lurks as his big-play complement.

His 6.1 yards per carry and five rushing touchdowns lead the team — and he’s coming off a career-best 19-carry, 89-yard performance in the win over the Mountaineers.

S Jamel Johnson

The 6-2, 200-pound junior ranks second on the team in tackles with 62, but he has four of the Horned Frogs’ nine interceptions and one of their five fumble recoveries. So he’s one of the TCU defense’s preeminent playmakers and one of its most consistent performers. Johnson’s compiled between six and 10 tackles in each game this season.

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com