TCU tops Michigan in wild CFP semifinal that had just about everything
GLENDALE, Ariz. – The little school that could is now one victory away from the top of the college football world.
Underdog TCU stunned Michigan and pretty much everybody outside of the Fort Worth, Texas, city limits, upending Big Ten champion Michigan 51-45 in the College Football Playoffs at the Fiesta Bowl. The Horned Frogs (13-1) advance to the national championship game in Los Angeles on Jan. 9 against the winner of Georgia (13-0) and Ohio State (11-1).
Purple pride was on full display in the postgame victory celebration at State Farm Stadium.
Heisman Trophy runner-up Max Duggan threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more to lead the victory. His 76-yard touchdown pass to Quinton Johnston in the fourth quarter gave TCU a 48-38 lead. The Horned Frogs built the margin to 51-38 on a 33-yard field goal by Griffin Kell.
As had been the pattern throughout a second half gone mad, Michigan responded on a 5-yard touchdown pass from JJ McCarthy to Roman Wilson with 3:18 remaining. After TCU punted, the TCU defense stymied Michigan on its final possession, forcing a fumble.
When Duggan took the snap and knelt after a strange delay for a targeting review, TCU was bound for L.A.
The Horned Frogs become the first team from Texas and the first from the Big 12 to win a CFP game.
TCU was 5-7 last season and parted ways midway through the season with Gary Patterson, the winningest coach in school history.
Enter Sonny Dykes from SMU with an upbeat strategy and a wide-open offense. Few believed. Unranked and unheralded, TCU was picked to finish seventh in the Big 12.
After beginning the season as the team’s backup, Duggan moved into the starting lineup and never relinquished the QB1 label.
There were plenty of other heroes. Johnston was named the game MVP with six catches for 163 yards and the touchdown. Emari Demercado ran for 150 yards and a touchdown, stepping in for the injured Kendre Miller.
Defensive end Dylan Horton had four sacks, and linebacker Dee Winters contributed three tackles for loss to go with a return for a touchdown.
TCU more than held its own in the trenches.
“All week long we heard about Big Ten football and how they were going to line up and run over us,” Dykes said. “We did a great job stopping the run and forcing them to do some things they probably weren’t comfortable doing.”
TCU held Michigan to 185 yards rushing, 58 yards under its average.
For all the drama that came in the fourth quarter, nothing could match the epic goofiness of the third quarter
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The teams combined for 44 points, Michigan outscoring TCU 24-20 in what seemed like a video game come to life. The teams combined for 420 yards of total offense, 239 by Michigan.
Anyone who blinked missed a touchdown. Or two.
It was crazy and compelling and everything that CFP football should be and seldom is. Consider: Four touchdowns came in the final 2:52 of the quarter.
The other semifinal game between Georgia and Ohio State went past print deadline.