GLENDALE, Arizona. – Max Duggan was responsible for four touchdowns, TCU returned two interceptions for points and the third-ranked Horned Frogs withstood a frenetic second-half surge from No. 2 Michigan to win the Fiesta Bowl 51-45 on Saturday night and into college football promote playoff national championship.
TCU (13-1), the most unlikely team to ever make the four-team playoffs in its nine-year history, has one game left in its unlikely season and will face either No. 1 Georgia or No. 4 Ohio State on January 9th at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
After a losing 2021 season and finishing seventh in the Big 12 in Sonny Dyke’s first year as coach, the Horned Frogs will seek to win the program’s first national championship since 1938.
Duggan and the Frogs will no doubt be misfits – again. That didn’t matter much against Michigan (13-1) as they took it to the big bad Big Ten champions and turned the Fiesta Bowl into a Big 12-style scorefest circa 2010.
It was the highest-scoring Fiesta Bowl of all time and the second-highest-scoring CFP game after Georgia’s 54-48 Rose Bowl win over Oklahoma on January 1, 2018.
Maybe it was fitting.
TCU, the small private school from Forth Worth, Texas that was excluded from the Big 12 when it was founded in the mid-1990s, was the first team at the conference to win a CFP game and will be the first to play for it a national title since Texas in 2009.
This one was 34-16 with 2:46 in the third quarter and the Hypnotoads, a nickname borrowed from the animated TV show Futurama, and their purple-clad fans could sense their wild ride wasn’t over yet.
Of course, nothing came easy to these frogs all year round. During their unbeaten regular season, they won seven straight games by 10 points or fewer.
What followed were five touchdown drives — with a TCU envelope in between — each lasting under a minute.
Roman Wilson’s 18-yard touchdown run on a reverse and a 2-point conversion put Michigan within 41-38 with 14-13 in the fourth quarter.
The frogs came back and unleashed their best weapon. Future first-round draft pick Quentin Johnston took a short crosser from Duggan and turned it on the sideline for a 76-yard score that put the Frogs to a 10.
Duggan threw for 225 yards and two interceptions and ran for 57. Johnston had six catches for 163 yards and Emari Demercado, closing the gap for an injured Kendre Miller, ran for 150. All of that against a defense that ranked third in the nation took come in.
TCU eventually stopped Michigan’s next possession and turned it into a 33-yard field goal from Griffin Kell to go 51-38 with a 10-02 left.
After the Frogs and Wolverines combined for 62 points in 20 minutes of the second half, the pace was reduced. But Michigan cut the lead to six with a 3:14 left on JJ McCarthy’s 5-yard TD pass to Wilson.
McCarthy was spectacular at times with 343 yards passing, 52 rushing and three touchdowns. He also made two killer mistakes and threw pick sixes in every half.
TCU failed to ice it and Michigan got another shot, starting at 25 with 52 seconds remaining – but couldn’t get down first.
Before TCU could line up in the victory formation, there was a check by officers to aim for the frogs. What was another minute of drama in a season it filled for TCU?
The game was clean. Heisman Trophy runner-up Duggan took one last snap and a knee, and the exhausted frogs charged across the field, celebrating under a cloud of purple and white confetti.
The Frogs took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, with safety Bud Clark making two of the biggest plays of the game. First, he chased Michigan’s Donovan Edwards to prevent a long touchdown on the first-ever play from scrimmage.
TCU then used a goal-line stand that prevented a Philly Special-style Michigan fourth down game to keep the Wolverines off the board.
On Michigan’s next possession, Clark broke quickly on a throw to McCarthy’s sideline and rushed 41 yards with a pick-6 that gave TCU a 7-0 lead.
Duggan ended a long touchdown drive with a 1-yard jump at 2:27 in the first quarter and the Frogs were 14-0 on touchdown favorites the Wolverines.
Michigan broke the ice with a field goal and then looked like they turned the game around again.
Rod Moore intercepted a tapped pass from Duggan in midfield and McCarthy went deep to Roman Wilson in the next game for what appeared to be a 51-yard touchdown pass. A review overturned the decision, setting Michigan up within the 1. No problem for a team with the best offensive line in the nation, right?
Michigan quickly tagged to fullback Kalel Mullings, who fumbled. TCU rallied and sat out another scoring threat from Michigan.
Coach Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines put in a better performance in their second straight CFP semifinals but will lament the missed chances. Their first three first-and-goals earned three points.
Michigan fell to 1-6 in bowl games under Harbaugh.
NEXT
TCU: The Frogs are an all-time combined 1-9-1 against Georgia and Ohio State.
Michigan: The Wolverines open next season in the big house against East Carolina.
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