DALLAS – Head coach Sonny Dykes was so ready for the final scheduled Battle of the Iron Skillet on the Hilltop to be over that he left early, via ejection in the third quarter. The TCU faithful wasn’t far behind. 

“I apologize to our players and fans,” Dykes said after the game about his ejection. 

TCU (2-2) made it clear the Horned Frogs didn’t want to visit Dallas anymore when they canceled the century-long rivalry with SMU following the 2025 season. The admin wanted a guaranteed seventh home game each year, suggesting they’re open to SMU (3-1) visiting Fort Worth, but the Frogs weren’t hopping back to Big D anytime soon. 

The 66-42 loss to the rival Mustangs in Week 4 illustrated the reason why: The nearly three-decade long choke hold on the rivalry is in the past. TCU thought hiring Dykes from SMU would end the Ponies’ revival in the series, but it only ignited a money drive that resulted in an ACC invite and a new end zone facility. And enough NIL to build a roster that could beat their crosstown rival. 

SMU didn’t dwell on the future or the past, however. The Mustangs had the present to worry about after a Week 2 loss to BYU that caused a quarterback change from Preston Stone to Kevin Jennings. The 2022 return of Dykes to SMU was emotionally charged. SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee admitted he placed too much emphasis on the 2023 meeting in Fort Worth. For 2024, SMU looked in the mirror. 

“We didn’t talk about TCU once this week,” Lashlee said after the game. “Their logo wasn’t anyone in our building this week. We knew who our opponent was. I didn’t need to tell our guys it was a big game.” 

TCU and SMU shared the Southwestern Conference from 1923 through 1995. The two rivals were peers then. Both small, private universities with a religious affiliation. Both attempted to punch above their weight classes in yearly clashes with Texas, Texas A&M, and Arkansas. And both were left in the cold when four of the SWC members merged with the Big 8 to form the Big 12 ahead of the 1996 season. 

The two DFW institutions stuck together at first as members of the WAC. And that’s where their stories diverge. TCU decided it wanted to return to college football’s elite and started raising the resources to compete on and off the field. The Frogs leapt from the WAC to Conference USA to the Mountain West and eventually into the Big 12 in 2012. They hired a big-time coach in Gary Patterson and built facilities to match their ambitions.

SMU remained stuck in the mud. When TCU left the WAC for CUSA in 2001, the Ponies stayed behind. By the time SMU did jump from the WAC to CUSA in 2005, TCU was on the next rung in the ladder in the Mountain West. The Frogs flexed their muscles on the field against SMU, as well. The Ponies led the all-time series 34-28-7 prior to the Death Penalty. TCU led the series 25-8 after that, including a 9-2 mark since joining the Big 12. 

College football programs are no longer measured by beating their rivals. A good season for TCU once rested on beating rivals like SMU and Baylor while occasionally competing for a conference title. The emphasis on the national championship and the growing College Football Playoff changed priorities. TCU saw its potential come to light in 2022 when Dykes led the Horned Frogs to the national championship game. 

TCU’s ambitions grew with a taste of the national spotlight and the Horned Frogs figured they didn’t need SMU anymore. When the announcement was made that the Battle for the Iron Skillet would go on indefinite pause following 2025, SMU hadn’t won a conference championship since the mid-80s. A win over SMU didn’t bolster TCU’s playoff resume or help national perception. It didn’t help in recruiting. What was there to gain?

The only time the Mustangs beat TCU twice in a row since the SWC dissolved was when Dykes beat TCU in 2019 and 2021. The Frogs responded by hiring him away. Dykes had won four straight Iron Skillets entering Week 4, including the last two as TCU head coach by a combined score of 76-51. But with the blowout victory on Saturday, SMU has won three of the last five against TCU for the first time since 1992-1996. 

The Frogs thought they left the Mustangs in the dust. In the past. In college football purgatory. Instead, SMU’s boosters were fueled by Dykes’ departure to finally pony up and invest into a return to national prominence. The Mustangs, once buried and left for dead by the NCAA, are no longer on life support. 

“This was a great win for our entire SMU family,” Lashlee said. “The Skillet is here in Dallas, and I’ll probably be cooking with cast iron tonight.”