Keep Score With Me as TCU Tries to Prove It Fixed Dublin

The scoreboard may show whether TCU beats Grambling State, but Jason Phillips has five different ways to measure whether the Horned Frogs actually improved.

Aug 29, 2026; Dublin, Co. Dublin, IRL; North Carolina Tar Heels huddle in the second half against the TCU Horned Frogs at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Laszlo Geczo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

TCU should beat Grambling State Saturday night.

That also means the final score might be one of the least interesting things about the game.

Two weeks ago, TCU left Dublin with a 15-10 loss to North Carolina after committing 11 penalties for 89 yards, failing on four of five fourth-down attempts, giving up a safety on a bad punt snap and going scoreless for the final 49 minutes.

Then came a Week 1 bye and 13 days for the Frogs to stare at everything that went wrong.

Before Dublin, I gave you five things to watch that had nothing to do with the scoreboard. That scorecard was designed to help us determine whether North Carolina had actually changed under Bill Belichick.

This time, we’re turning that same lens on TCU.

Because if the Frogs beat Grambling State 45 -10 Saturday, that won’t automatically tell me they fixed anything.

An inferior opponent can hide your problems just as easily as a good opponent can expose them.

So let’s do it again.

Aug 29, 2026; Dublin, Co. Dublin, IRL; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick against the TCU Horned Frogs in the first half at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Laszlo Geczo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Keep score with me.

Not the scoreboard. I’m grading five things that will tell us whether TCU actually used the last two weeks to get better.

1. Did the Same Mistakes Follow Them Home?

TCU had 11 penalties for 89 yards against North Carolina.

That’s where I’m starting, but I’m not just counting flags. I want to know what caused them and what they cost.

There’s a difference between an aggressive penalty during a football play and lining up wrong, jumping before the snap or repeatedly making the same technical mistake. There’s also a difference between five yards on first-and-10 and a penalty that wipes out a touchdown.

Those mistakes become easier to overlook against Grambling because TCU may be talented enough to erase them.

My grade:

A: Four penalties or fewer, no repeated procedural issues and nothing that consistently disrupts drives.

B: Five or six penalties, or one consequential mistake, but no recurring problem.

C: Seven or more penalties, multiple drive-changing flags or the same types of mistakes we saw in Dublin.

If TCU wins by 40 and commits 11 penalties again, this category is still a failure.

2. What Happens When Plan A Stops Working?

This is the one I’m watching most closely.

Jeremy Payne ran for 142 yards against North Carolina. TCU had things working early. Then those answers stopped producing the same results, and the Frogs never consistently found the next one.

Aug 29, 2026; Dublin, Co. Dublin, IRL; TCU Horned Frogs running back Jeremy Payne (26) is tackled by North Carolina Tar Heels linebacker Derek McDonald (15) and linebacker Jonathan Agumadu (8) in the second half at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Laszlo Geczo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

That’s football. Nobody gets to run Plan A for four quarters without the other sideline trying to take it away.

Maybe Grambling adds a defender to the box, pressures Jaden Craig or changes coverage. What comes next?

Does TCU keep banging its head against the same problem? Or does the offense make Grambling wrong for changing the picture?

Watching on television, I won’t know every call or whether Craig checked something, whether the sideline changed the play or if the answer was already built into the game plan.

But we can watch the sequence.

What was working? What changed? What did TCU do next?

My grade:

A: When Grambling takes something away, TCU shows a clear answer within the next series or two.

B: The offense eventually finds another answer, but it takes longer than it should.

C: Something stops working, and TCU continues searching without consistently finding the counter.

I don’t care if Craig throws for 350 yards.

I care about how he gets them.

What happens when the picture changes?

3. Does TCU Finish Drives?

TCU had opportunities to beat North Carolina.

The Frogs were stopped on fourth-and-1 at the North Carolina 5 late in the third quarter. Then they reached the UNC 10 in the fourth and came away with nothing again.

TCU moved the football.

It didn’t finish.

Against Grambling, the Frogs should get opportunities in the red zone and short-yardage situations. Can the offensive line create movement? Can TCU stay on schedule? When a drive reaches scoring position, does it end in the end zone?

Aug 29, 2026; Dublin, Co. Dublin, IRL; TCU Horned Frogs tight end Ka'morreun Pimpton (88) against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the second half at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Laszlo Geczo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

My grade:

A: Touchdowns on at least 75 percent of red-zone possessions, with clean execution in short-yardage situations.

B: TCU scores on most red-zone possessions but leaves touchdowns on the field or has one or two short-yardage failures.

C: Drives repeatedly reach scoring position without becoming touchdowns, or the same short-yardage problems from Dublin show up again.

Don’t show me 500 yards and 27 points.

Show me an offense that finishes what it starts.

4. Are Routine Plays Routine Again?

The punt snap that resulted in a safety against North Carolina was a routine operation that became a catastrophic mistake.

Football is difficult enough when the other team beats you. You can’t keep beating yourself on things you’ve practiced hundreds of times.

So I’m watching punts. Field goals. Extra points. Snaps. Substitutions. Getting lined up.

Aug 29, 2026; Dublin, Co. Dublin, IRL; TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Jaden Craig (1) looks to pass against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the first half at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Laszlo Geczo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The boring stuff.

Because good football teams make boring football look boring.

My grade:

A: Clean operations. If I barely notice this category Saturday night, TCU probably earned an A.

B: One minor mistake that doesn’t cost points, possession or significant field position.

C: Another unforced operational error creates a real consequence.

Against Grambling, routine should look routine.

5. Does the Standard Survive the Scoreboard?

TCU should be better than Grambling.

The question is what happens when the scoreboard starts confirming it.

What happens when TCU goes up three scores?

That’s when I’m watching penalties, tackling, pursuit, substitutions and obvious assignment errors. Eventually, I’m watching the backups.

I’m not expecting the second-team offense to look exactly like the first. I’m expecting the standard of execution to remain.

Get lined up correctly. Know your responsibility. Tackle. Protect the football. Don’t commit stupid penalties.

Grambling gives TCU’s defense something legitimate to handle. The Tigers are 2-0 after scoring 97 points while averaging 565.5 yards of offense and 292 rushing yards per game.

TCU should have the better players.

Now show it by playing clean football.

My grade:

A: The execution remains clean after the game separates, including when the backups enter.

B: There’s a natural drop-off in performance, but not in basic execution.

C: The scoreboard gets comfortable and TCU gets sloppy.

I’m not grading whether the backups are as talented as the starters.

I’m grading whether they operate like players who have been coached to the same standard.

So that’s my scorecard.

Keep Your Own Score

Aug 29, 2026; Dublin, Co. Dublin, IRL; TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver Major Everhart (3) signals fair catch against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the first half at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Laszlo Geczo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mistakes. Adjustments. Finishing. Routine execution. Maintaining the standard.

Five categories. A through C.

And I’m putting the test out there before kickoff for a reason.

I don’t get to move the goalposts Sunday morning because I know the final score.

Neither do you.

If TCU wins 52-7 with eight penalties, sloppy special teams and an offense that struggles whenever its first answer disappears, I’m not giving the Frogs an A because the scoreboard looks pretty.

If TCU plays clean football, finishes drives, responds to adjustments and handles routine situations like they’re supposed to be routine, I’ll feel a hell of a lot better about where this team is headed.

Talent can hide mistakes.

TCU should physically overwhelm Grambling in places Saturday night. Once that happens, separating dominance from actual improvement becomes the challenge.

Two weeks ago, North Carolina exposed the problems.

TCU has had 13 days to work on the corrections.

Saturday night, we’re grading the corrections.

Bookmark this story. Text it to yourself. Save the scorecard somewhere you can find it after the game.

Then come back Sunday, when the final score can’t change the standards we established before kickoff.

Keep score with me.