Steven Johnson: TCU got close to the mountaintop, but realized how much further it has to go
That was tough to watch.
TCU was manhandled by Georgia 65-7 in Monday night’s national championship game at SoFi Stadium. How quickly all the euphoria from last week’s Fiesta Bowl win and the season overall evaporated in a span of about four hours.
It’s easy to say that TCU fans shouldn’t let the loss be the defining memory from the season, but in the immediate aftermath it’s understandable why those words could feel hollow.
So, instead try to focus on this: Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs got a crash course on what it takes to win a national championship. The toughest lessons in school are always the least enjoyable.
TCU got close to the mountaintop of college football, but Georgia reminded them how much further the Horned Frogs will need to climb for supremacy.
“That’s the good thing about our program and really our coaching staff. We’ll look in the mirror,” Dykes said. “We have to look in the mirror. It all starts with me and works down from there.”
It won’t feel like it now or anytime soon, but even Dykes can acknowledge there’s some value to be extracted from such a lopsided defeat. How can you truly become a champion without knowing exactly what it takes?
In so many ways TCU showed that it has the qualities of a champion. Resiliency, tenacity, explosiveness on both sides of the ball and a team-first mentality that prioritizes ‘We’ over ‘Me.’
But as valuable as those intangibles are, they can only carry you so far. Especially when you’re facing a program that already has the same mental intangibles plus the championship experience and overwhelming talent to match.
“We’ll sit down as a staff and begin trying to figure out what happened tomorrow,” Dykes said. “(We’ll) make sure it doesn’t happen again and learn from it.”
What happened? TCU ran into a buzzsaw led by a top-five NFL draft pick in Jalen Carter and a legion of former blue chip recruits that will end up in the NFL sooner or later.
The Bulldogs are a juggernaut and aren’t going anywhere as Kirby Smart has constructed the next dynasty in college football.
Dykes believes TCU isn’t going anywhere either, but how can he close the gap? Not just with Georgia, but the Alabamas and LSUs of the world?
The Horned Frogs already beat Michigan and would’ve matched up better with Ohio State, but the top of the SEC is the true barometer of how close you are to winning a ring.
Even when the College Football Playoff expands in a few years, that will only make it easier to make the CFP not win it.
In the near future the Horned Frogs could find themselves having to win three games against programs like Georgia, Michigan, Alabama etc. to win a national championship. As much as Dykes and the Horned Frogs accomplished this season, the result of the title game has put the program at a crossroads.
But its a crossroads programs that don’t have championship pedigree want to be at. TCU can either ascend to a new tier in college football as a consistent power in the new look Big 12 and playoff contender or it can be satisfied with a magical run.
Judging by Dykes’ comments, he knows what path he wants the program to head down.
“I think that’s the best thing that happens when you face adversity like this,” Dykes said. “You make mistakes and you learn from them. And you get better as a program. You get better as a coach. You get better as players. And the next time you handle the situation a little bit better.”
Now TCU has a much better understanding of what it takes to truly be a champion in this era of college football. You know what will help the Horned Frogs handle the next playoff situation they’re in? Having SEC caliber talent.
It’s no coincidence that every transfer the Horned Frogs have a commitment from is from the same conference as Georgia. Three are from Alabama, another is from LSU. Two of them are former five-star recruits that were top-10 prospects in their classes.
In the high school ranks, TCU currently has its best recruiting class ever which is highlighted by a number of defensive linemen with SEC size and talent. Like Markis Deal, a 6-foot-4, 275 pounder that would probably be in TCU’s rotation today.
There’s Avion Carter, another incoming freshman standing at 6-4, 260 pounds plus Zachary Chapman and more. They all had SEC offers, Deal even had an offer to Georgia and officially visited Athens in 2022. One recruiting class isn’t enough to close the gap we saw Monday night, but it’s a start.
These are the type of prospects TCU will need to continue to sign and eventually develop if the program wants to truly stand toe-to-toe with the SEC giants.
The blowout defeat is sure to invigorate Dykes and the rest of the coaching staff just like the overtime loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship. The taste of a 58-point defeat isn’t easily washed away, even with wins on the recruiting trail.
TCU had its chance to come at the king and it missed badly, but TCU will eventually get another crack at the king whether it’s King Smart or King Saban.
“This program’s moving in the right way in the right direction,” Max Duggan said after the defeat.
Duggan, who will be one of a number of TCU players headed to the NFL draft, is correct. TCU is moving in the right direction and is building momentum to be the new power in the Big 12 once Oklahoma and Texas leave.
But now the expectations and standards have changed. TCU has gotten a taste of what it’s like to play for a national championship and that itch won’t go away anytime soon.
The next time they have the opportunity to take down the king, they know what type of arsenal they’ll need to finally become the kings of college football.
