Inside the Iron Skillet's final battle: Why TCU vs. SMU is the eternal rivalry of missed connections

SMU and TCU have been linked at the hip since the Mustangs launched a college football program.

SMU's first game ever was against the Frogs, a 43-0 loss in 1915 at Y.M.C.A Athletic Park in Fort Worth. In 1918, the Mustangs picked up their first victory -- by forfeit -- because the TCU team bus got stuck in the mud after heavy rain in Grand Prairie, Texas. Their first on-field victory followed in 1923.

On Saturday, the rivalry joins that fateful bus in the mud, closing the door on a matchup that has been played 103 times. The teams have played all but four seasons in the past century, three of which were canceled by either the pandemic or SMU's infamous Death Penalty. This time, the pause of the Iron Skillet will be voluntary. Once overlooked as 'not flashy,' TCU QB Josh Hoover