It happened. TCU’s crazy Fiesta Bowl win has the Horned Frogs in the national championship
READ MORE
TCU is playing for the national championship
TCU defeated Michigan to advance to become the first team to advance to the national championship in the College Football Playoff era.
Expand All
Attempt to write about TCU’s Fiesta Bowl game against Michigan, Take No. 8.4 billion.
There are words.
The problem is all 171,146 words in the English language are insufficient.
Maybe Greek will work.
TCU’s memorable 2022 year finished with the perfect game to encapsulate its entire season. The 2022 Fiesta Bowl left every player, coach and fan feeling as if they had lived multiple lifetimes.
The team that did not receive a single vote in college football’s preseason Top 25 poll will play for the national championship.
TCU is in the national title game in football.
Every single TCU fan, alum and administrator could be heard saying that all over the Arizona desert valley after No. 3 TCU, a 7.5 point underdog, defeated No. 2 Michigan 51-45.
This was the blowout that refused to be a blowout.
TCU led 14-0.
TCU led 21-3.
TCU led 21-16.
TCU led 41-22.
TCU led 41-38.
TCU led 51-45, and had the ball with less than one minute remaining and punted it away.
Every single TCU fan, and administrator, could not breathe. A national title game appearance for TCU means 100 times compared to the University of Michigan.
TCU’s defense came up with a stop on fourth down to start a New Year’s party like this school has never experienced.
That includes the Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin.
If this wasn’t the most exciting game in college football playoff history, it’s in the top one, or 1A.
“There’s a winner. There’s a non-winner. But the winner was football,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. “It was a great game by them.”
There were so many moments, and so many plays, from this game that it will require a college course to adequately cover all of the angles.
Max Duggan’s 76-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston in the fourth quarter.
TCU’s starting running back Kendre Miller being knocked out of the game in the first half, and replaced by Emari Demercado. The backup running back ran for 141 yards on 15 carries.
TCU scoring two defensive touchdowns, including the first score of the game on an safety Bud Clark’s 41-yard interception return.
Both teams committed three turnovers.
A handful of questionable (terrible?) calls from the officiating.
Twice Michigan penetrated TCU’s 5-yard line, and didn’t score a point.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes learning from his mistake in the Big 12 title game and consistently going with quarterback sneaks when he needed just one yard.
There was a stretch in the second half where TCU and Michigan combined for 58 points in eight minutes and 25 seconds.
“The last few minutes of the third quarter felt like an hour,” Dykes said.
Try four hours.
“Every time we answered,” Dykes said.
TCU will now advance to play for the national title against No. 1 Georgia.
TCU last “played” for a national title in 1938, the year it won the championship by winning the Sugar Bowl.
The title game is Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
All of the TCU fans who spent thousands of dollars, drove countless hours, or had to navigate the hell that were the flight cancellations all over the United States, will gladly take out multiple mortgages to see one more game in this season.
A season that is unlike any other.
A season where the English language comes up short to describe it.
(By the way: TCU, not Texas or Oklahoma, is the first team from the Big 12 to win a playoff game.)
This story was originally published December 31, 2022 at 7:11 PM.
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)