Beginning and Ends - What Did We Learn From the TCU Win Over SMU

When one door closes, another opens, and for the TCU Horned Frogs, a door is starting to open

Sep 20, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver Jordan Dwyer (7) and safety Austin Jordan (1) and celebrate with the Iron Skillet trophy after the Frogs defeat the SMU Mustangs at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Welcome back to another edition of What Did We Learn. With the return of the football season, myweekly article returns, a two-year-long tradition now. At the end of every weekend, I release my weekly "what did we learn"—an opinionated editorial detailing what Frog fans can take away from the week before that might not appear in the box score.

A tradition has come to an end. The 104th Iron Skillet has come and passed, and the TCU Horned Frogs took home the last rendition of the meeting between the two rivals. With it, the end of a storied rivalry that has seen the landscape of college football around the country change and with it the changing of the two programs.

Both teams have experienced highs and lows. Both have won in blowout fashion and gone on impressive winning streaks. Both are two of the only three FBS college football programs in Texas to participate in the college football playoffs.

Two Ships Passing In The Night

Sep 20, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver Eric McAlister (1) breaks the tackle of SMU Mustangs cornerback Jaelyn Davis-Robinson (13) and scores a touchdown during the second half at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

I talked earlier on X about the undeserved criticism the Frogs faced regarding the cancellation of the Iron Skillet and the grandstanding from the national media, which never cared about the rivalry before the last meeting. That, in turn, led to Sonny Dykes and his team being the "bad guys" in the final rendition of the game.

To that, I say, "Oh well," and I say that no one is scared of SMU, certainly not Dykes, who made that perfectly clear when speaking to the media after the game. Now it's over, though, and it's time to move on, and it already seems the Frogs are realizing there is a chance this season for something tangible to be accomplished.

There hasn't been a palpable buzz from the Frogs program since the 2022 season, and while one is built now after beating the Mustangs, it doesn't come without cautious optimism. The same feeling from the original thoughts of cancelling the rivalry, apprehension about what could come in the future, remains.

That's the thing, though. It ended. There won't be another Iron Skillet for at least five more years, and potentially never again. Regardless, the real season begins for the Horned Frogs now. They travel West to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils.

It's two programs traveling in different directions, both with respectable reputations for what they have accomplished in the last five years. They are always set to run near each other but never intersect.