TCU begins preparing for Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix

The long wait is over.

It’s time for TCU to practice in Phoenix for Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl and the College Football semifinal matchup against Michigan.

The Horned Frogs will practice at Notre Dame Prep High School on Tuesday, the first of their daily practices in Phoenix leading up to Saturday’s 3 p.m. CT kickoff.

The Horned Frogs, who arrived in Phoenix on Saturday and spent the holiday weekend together, held 10 practices in Fort Worth on the TCU campus before arriving for the national semifinal.

“It’s been a long time since we played,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. “That’s the one thing about playing a bowl game this late, on December 31st. There’s a lot of time between when we last played in the Big 12 Championship and this game.Our guys are excited to get back out there.”

“Ready to go and compete. We took a little bit of time off and let our guys rest up a little bit, recover.We had an unusual season this year. We played 11 consecutive weeks without an open date. Our open day occurred after the second week of the season so we needed some rest. We were a little bit worn out, a little bit beat up.”

Despite all of the attractions that go with playing on the national stage, Dykes’ team understands its mission.

“We go out there and play our game, we can really show everybody what we’re capable of and what we can do,” offensive lineman Wes Harris said. “We have got a lot of confidence in our group, a lot of belief in each other. We are just excited to go out there and get the game going.

“I know we’re excited to get out there and kind of show what we can do. But it’s also big for TCU. I don’t think we’ve been on the map or a scale this big in quite a long time, so we’re excited to get out there and show what we can do and show what we can do against an opponent like this.”

Michigan was scheduled to arrive late Monday and will practice daily at Tempe Diablo Stadium.