Sonny Dykes: TCU was ‘disrespected’ before game against North Carolina

After TCU finished off its 48-14 beating of North Carolina on Monday night, Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes made a point to emphasize how much his team felt overlooked and disrespected.

ESPN’s Holly Rowe started by acknowledging the “other headlines leading into this game tonight” before asking how Dykes shifted the focus of his team.

“I think we all felt a little disrespected, maybe, coming in,” Dykes said. “There was a lot of conversation, and none of it was about us. I think we all were highly motivated. Our players were certainly excited to play.”

“I think we all felt a little disrespected, maybe, coming in. There was a lot of conversation and none of it was about us. I think we all were highly motivated. Our players were certainly excited to play.”

TCU coach Sonny Dykes after TCU’s 48-14 beatdown of North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/KE43WKBzbg

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 2, 2025

While players and coaches often lament being overlooked, the Horned Frogs had a more valid gripe than most. Monday’s game was the North Carolina coaching debut of Bill Belichick. Given the number of great (and famous) athletes who went to North Carolina or played under Belichick in the NFL (or both in the case of Lawrence Taylor), it wasn’t surprising to see a lot of famous faces in Chapel Hill on Monday. So, considering that, and the attention that the Tar Heels got in the offseason, it wasn’t surprising to see them as the main story.

That said, the Horned Frogs were 9-4 a season ago and still have some players remaining from the team that went to the National Championship Game in 2022. This was hardly an FCS pushover.

So, was it understandable that North Carolina got most of the attention coming into the game, making TCU the “other team” on Monday night? Sure. But Dykes and the Horned Frogs using that as motivation was just as understandable.