Why TCU isn’t worried about a playoff hangover heading into Horned Frogs fall camp
Every offseason pundits wonder if a team will have a Super Bowl or championship hangover after a deep postseason run.
Some have wondered the same about TCU after the Horned Frogs put together one of the most thrilling seasons in recent memory.
Drastic comebacks, a walk-off field goal at the buzzer, plus the shootout in the Fiesta Bowl was the definition of an emotional ride that culminated with a head on collision with an 18-wheeler that was the Georgia Bulldogs.
The 65-7 drubbing in the final game of the season is why defensive leader Johnny Hodges is certain there won’t be any College Football Playoff hangover.
“We lost the Super Bowl by 60 points,” Hodges said bluntly on Tuesday ahead of TCU opening fall camp.
As taxing as the 15-game journey was, that final result is ample motivation to drive the Horned Frogs this season.
“It doesn’t feel good to end things like that,” Hodges said. “Obviously, we want to rewrite that. So there’s not going to be much of a hangover. Not from what I’ve seen.”
Trey Sanders transferred to TCU from Alabama in the spring and as a player who knows a thing or two about what a championship culture looks like, Sanders has been impressed with what he saw from his teammates during the summer.
“I’ve got to learn where the program is going this offseason; they want to build a championship program,” Sanders said. “I’m starting to see that every day. Not only from the coaches, but the players. too.”
TCU is hungry and eager to prove the final game isn’t indicative of the program, but the team is letting that final result change the mental approach.
The Horned Frogs know what it takes to win games thanks to the lessons of last season and are putting what they learned into action.
“Those guys last year, they had a right mentality,” Sanders said. “I think that mentality is feeding onto this team, too, to go back to the championship and finish it off the right way. This team is definitely more hungry than last year. They’ve been to the big stage, they got to see it, they got to experience it.
“Even though it didn’t end the way they wanted it to, they got to taste it. So I feel like this team is very hungry to get back to that point and finish things off the right way.”
That internal mission is something all the Horned Frogs will strive to accomplish, but there’s also some external noise that will help keep TCU grounded ahead of the regular season.
Despite last year’s success and a defense returning seven starters, TCU was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 preseason media poll — only two spots higher than their preseason ranking last season.
“I don’t think we were projected to be very good last year, we’re not projected to be very good this year,” Hodges said. “I guess we’re doing something right. It is what it is.”
TCU should start the season as a preseason Top 25 team, but the Horned Frogs know that the expectation is for them to fall off from last season.
With a new chip on their shoulder that’s only grown since the national championship defeat, it’s clear the Horned Frogs are entering 2023 ready to prove themselves once again.
