TCU is college football’s one true Cinderella … at least in the last 38 years … and even then it’s a discussion.
BYU won the 1984 national championship through a series of circumstances but mostly because it beat Michigan in the Holiday Bowl and stood as the only undefeated major-college team in the country (13-0). In the days before the “Power Five” designation, BYU was considered a power program in a major conference (WAC).
Boise State beat Oklahoma, finished in the top five and sent scores of players to the NFL during Chris Petersen’s heyday. Cincinnati made it to the College Football Playoff but was quickly eliminated. And as one observer quickly pointed out Saturday night, the Horned Frogs played a tougher schedule in a better conference than the Bearcats on their way to the CFP.
Oh yeah, TCU also pulled off one of the upsets of the ages. Michigan was not only favored by more than a touchdown, it was in the middle of its best season ever. The great Bo Schembechler never won a national championship. Now with NFL rumors swirling around him again, the question begs itself: Will Jim Harbaugh ever win one?
Maybe that’s being too picky. The point now is that TCU is a Cinderella with brass knuckles. The Frogs proved they could hang and in some cases dominate the physical Wolverines. So take that concern off the table in the matchup with Georgia.
These Frogs don’t know they’re not supposed to win, that they’re not a traditional power … or even a power at all considering their history.
So, like any big game, an analysis of the College Football Playoff National Championship becomes more about strategy than combine numbers. The Bulldogs are probably better, surely bigger and definitely hairier. TCU, though, isn’t intimidated.
How TCU can win
Turn quarterback Max Duggan loose. No one has stopped him this season since the senior took over in the season opener for the injured Chandler Morris. Michigan came the closest holding the Heisman finalist to his worst passing day of the season (14 of 29) and intercepting him twice. But Duggan was there when needed, finding wide receiver Quentin Johnston on a simple crossing route that turned into a 76-yard touchdown pass that turned out to be a game-winning play in the CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl. Johnston has been playing with a high-ankle sprain the last half of the season. It certainly didn’t seem to impact him…
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