Sonny Dykes Reveals Motivation Behind Team’s Play in Upset of Michigan

The Horned Frogs coach led his team to the national title game in his first season with the school.

No. 3 TCU punched its ticket to the College Football Playoff national championship with a wild 51–45 victory over No. 2 Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday.

In his first season as coach of the Horned Frogs, Sonny Dykes took an Associated Press preseason unranked TCU team to a national championship game appearance.

Dykes has been unwavering in his leadership of the TCU program, and has found different ways to motivate his team all season long. The three weeks leading up to the semifinal matchup with the Wolverines was no different.

In the postgame interview on Saturday following the victory, he detailed how the Horned Frogs gathered motivation heading into the matchup.

“All week, we heard about Big Ten football and how they were going to line up and run all over us. They made some plays, but we stopped the run,” Dykes said.

Michigan carried the ball 40 times in total for 186 yards, and outside of a few big plays, it had to earn every yard it got against the TCU defense on the ground. 

Michigan’s chunk plays came through the air, but TCU’s two pick-sixes defensively proved to be pivotal in the outcome as the Horned Frogs await the winner of No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Ohio State in the national championship.