Fear the Frog! A Fan’s Guide to TCU Horned Frogs Football Game Day

Feel the heat of Hell’s Half Acre at Amon G. Carter Stadium, home of the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs football team. Located on TCU’s campus in Fort Worth, players and fans alike have contributed to the historic legacy of the nearly-century old stadium, nicknamed for its host city’s notorious, and often deadly, district during the Wild West era. Nowadays, nothing else makes Fort Worth feel more alive than a Horned Frogs home game. After claiming your TCU Horned Frogs tickets and Amon Carter Stadium tickets, check out the TCU football game day guide for tailgating tips, in-game traditions and more.

TCU Tailgating Tips

Tailgating at TCU can be done with fellow fans at Frog Alley, in private parking spots across campus or in premium, full-service stations by The Carter. The free Frog Alley pregame event begins three hours prior to kickoff on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium, offering guests a selection of food truck vendors, live music and meet-and-greet opportunities as well as a front-row seat to the football team’s Frog Walk entrance. Within Frog Alley, parents can find the all-ages Kid Zone, with inflatables, face painting and games.

The TCU Commons are also a popular gathering area on game day, while Lots 1, 2, 3, 4 and 13 are some of the biggest parking areas used for single-space tailgating. Conveniently, guests can access many of the pregame events by taking a shuttle from the free lots at the Travis Avenue Baptist Church and Doxology Bible Church or paid lots at Paschal High School, St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church and University United Methodist Church. Check out up-to-date game day parking information via the TCU website.

Premium and VIP tailgating at Amon G. Carter Stadium can be booked via REVELxp.

TCU Horned Frogs tailgating wouldn’t be complete without Texas barbecue; from sausage to brisket to ribs, farm-raised beef is bound to be on the menu. Alternatively, feel at home in Fort Worth with any variety of Tex-Mex dishes and cheers to a TCU victory with a local brew from Martin House Brewing Company. Before game day, review TCU’s tailgating policies on the university’s website.

If you decide to wear TCU cowboy boots, you won’t be alone; the spirited fashion statement has actually become a school tradition in itself. Finally, be sure to check what the game’s color theme is; several games are designated for one of the Frogs’ purple, white and black team colors.

Pre-Game Traditions

Wherever you end up for your TCU football pregame prep, be sure to make it over to Amon G. Carter Stadium two hours ahead of kickoff to catch the Frog Walk. Walking from Schollmaier Arena through Frog Alley, the TCU football team gets up close to fans and hyped out with help from the cheerleading squad, TCU Rangers spirit group, TCU Showgirls, and SuperFrog before entering the stadium. About an hour later, the Horned Frog Marching Band leads a procession into The Carter from Brown-Lupton University Union.

Gates at Amon G. Carter Stadium open 90 minutes prior to kickoff. For guests with children, arrive early to have your little ones qualify for the Bleacher Creatures run. Each home pregame, passes are given in line to the first 300 children under 12 years old to sprint across the field just before kickoff. The running ritual is followed by the TCU Horned Frog Marching Band’s pregame show featuring an electric performance and fireworks leading to the players’ entrance.

Inside Amon G. Carter Stadium

When it’s time to walk into The Carter, be ready with the biggest traditions in mind as well as the entry rules and bag policy for the TCU Horned Frogs football stadium.

Go Frogs Hand Sign

Representing the curved points of TCU’s Horned Frog mascot, fans flash the Go Frogs hand sign by making a peace sign with their index and middle fingers then bending them slightly. The sign was introduced in 1980.

SuperFrog

Named after the horned lizard indigenous to the Lone Star State, SuperFrog has been a high point in every Horned Frogs football game day since 1979.

Riff Ram Chant

Riff, Ram, Bah, Zoo! Dating back to the 1920s, TCU touts this unique cheer as the oldest in the Southwest Conference (where the school played until 1995). The cheer always occurs before kickoff and becomes critical throughout the game as fans remind the players to “Give ‘em Hell, TCU!”

Frog Horn

If each TCU touchdown sounds like a freight train going off the rails, that’s just the 3,000-pound Frog Horn on the sidelines. Unveiled in 1994, the Frog Horn is a one-of-a-kind train horn built with an authentic brass bell, painted in TCU purple and adorned with lights and a fog machine. If the impressive size wasn’t intimidating enough, just wait until a Horned Frog leaps into the endzone.

Touchdown Fireworks

For more firepower after a touchdown, TCU sets off fireworks whenever the team scores at home. The tradition has only fizzled out once, in 2014, when the school actually ran out of fireworks in the middle of an 82-27 victory over Texas Tech.

TCU Rangers

The co-ed TCU Rangers spirit team takes the field with the football team while waving TCU flags and ushering in the Frog Horn. The Rangers’ cowboy hats and belt buckle uniforms help tie together the school’s heritage to the Wild West.

Post-Game Activities

Following the final whistle, Horned Frogs fans can go bar-hopping near Amon G. Carter Stadium to spots like Buffalo Bros, Dutch’s Hamburgers, Lot 12 Rooftop Bar and The University Pub. Within minutes, you can whet your appetite between Ol’ South Pancake House, B&B Butchers & Restaurant and The Purple Frog Restaurant & Cantina, or explore deeper into Fort Worth at local hubs like Joe T. Garcia’s, The Railhead Smokehouse, Heim Barbecue, The Rabbit Hole Pub and Fort Brewery.

TCU Horned Frogs Game Day Schedule

Catch every moment of a Horned Frogs game day by checking out TCU’s regular season football schedule.