TCU Football Continues Rewriting History, Claims Spot in National Title Game
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For nearly a month leading up to the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, the No. 3 TCU football team heard every reason in the world why No. 2 Michigan would win the College Football Playoff semifinal match-up.
The Wolverines were perceived as a more physical team, had been in the playoffs before, and are just a well-known brand in college football.
Plus, the Horned Frogs did not win the Big 12 Championship and were simply “lucky” to be 12-1 after five comeback wins during the season. Those thoughts did not sit well with TCU players and coaches.
So, TCU responded on the field with a 51-45 win over Michigan (13-1) and punched a ticket to face Georgia in the national championship on Monday, January 9.
“They just played really tough football, hard-nosed football, believed in each other, believed in their teammates, and just found a way to overcome and persevere,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said. “It's kind of what we've done all year.”
The Horned Frogs had already made history as the first team from Texas and the first team from the Big 12 not named Oklahoma to make the College Football Playoffs.
Now, the Horned Frogs will play for their first national title since 1938.
“There's been so many great teams that have come through and built this program up, quarterback Max Duggan said. “There's probably too many to name. They did a lot to get this program to where we're at.”
Duggan accounted for two touchdowns, two interceptions, and 225 passing yards on 14-of-29 completions and added 57 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He also kneeled out the clock as time expired but getting to that play required patience.
Michigan had the ball with 15 seconds left, facing fourth-and-10 from its own 25-yard line. Anything short of a first down meant game over. After a botched snap made its way from running back Jonathan Edwards to tight end Colston Loveland for a one-yard loss, the referees tossed a flag for targeting.
The review took several minutes, or what felt like an hour according to Dykes, but eventually the targeting call was reversed.
“This is a big win,” Duggan said. “We're going to celebrate it tonight (Saturday) as a team and as a fan base. But we know that we got a bigger one coming up, and that's the one we really want.”
A chaotic final sequence seemed like a fitting ending for a game featuring a Fiesta Bowl record 96 combined points, including 69 in the second half, and a game-record 59-yard field goal from Michigan kicker Jake Moody.
That kick sent TCU into the locker room with a 21-6 lead. Another field goal to open the third quarter and a 34-yard throw from Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy to wide receiver Ronnie Bell off a flea flicker quickly made it a 21-16 game.
McCarthy completed 20-of-34 passes for 343 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while Bell caught six passes for 135 yards and the score.
Duggan’s second interception set up Bell’s touchdown. Both of Duggan’s turnovers bounced off the intended receivers’ hands and were then corralled by the defense.
Speaking of interceptions, the Horned Frogs defense created a whole host of problems for McCarthy. Safety Bud Clark and linebacker Dee Winters each recorded a pick-six and defensive end Dylan Horton recorded 4 sacks.
Clark’s 41-yard score put TCU up 7-0 in the first quarter while Winters’ 29-yard dash extended the third quarter lead to 34-16. The Horned Frogs also kept Michigan’s vaunted rushing attack under 200 yards. Edwards carried the ball 23 times for 119 yards and McCarthy added 52 rushing yards.
“Our ability to stop the run, I think, was the difference in the ballgame,” Dykes said.
A couple long runs, including Edwards’ game-opening 54-yard scamper, and several long pass completions put TCU’s defense on its heels at different times throughout the game.
But the Horned Frogs never wavered. Stopping Michigan’s “Philly Special”, trick play attempt on fourth-and-goal from the two-yard line on the game’s opening drive helped set the defensive tone.
“We heard all week that they were going to out-physical us,” Winters said. “I think it just gave us a little bit of motivation. So I think the guys handled it well during practicing and were very physical, and it showcased tonight.”
TCU accumulated 263 rushing yards between Duggan and running backs Kendre Miller and Emari Demercado. Demercado led the charge with 150 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. He stepped in for teammate Kendre Miller who left the game at halftime with a knee injury. Miller had 8 carries for 57 yards.
The Horned Frogs held the lead throughout the game. TCU tried delivering a knockout punch when wide receiver Quentin Johnston turned a five-yard pass into a 76-yard score just by making one defender miss a tackle.
Johnston finished with six catches for 163 yards and a touchdown.
A 33-yard Griffin Kell field goal on the next possession put the Horned Frogs up 51-38.
Michigan would not go away as McCarthy found wide receiver Roman Wilson for a five-yard touchdown with 3:28 left. Wilson also took a reverse pitch 18 yards for a touchdown earlier in the fourth quarter. A two-point conversion pass from McCarthy to Bell cut TCU’s advantage to 41-38.
The game’s back-and-forth nature did not bother a Horned Frog team well-versed in tight games.
“If you walked up and down our sideline you are going to hear everybody on the sideline saying, ‘next play,’” Duggan said. “Continuing to fight, continuing to believe, not worrying about what that last play was.”
That mentality will face its toughest test all season as TCU prepares for the biggest game in program history.
Doubters remain and the same questions as always will come up, but this team has shown the noise means nothing.
A chance to unseat the defending national champions, another highly-regarded program that plays very physical football, feels like the perfect ending for a season that has defied all odds.
“You always have to fight for credibility,” Dykes said. “It's part of the deal. It's part of what makes TCU great, though, is that they roll their sleeves up, they go to work, they figure out a way to do it.”
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