INGLEWOOD, Calif. — There’s a reason a few thousand heartbroken TCU fans remained in their seats at SoFi Stadium until the dying seconds of their team’s 65-7 loss on Monday night.
They endured every Stetson Bennett touchdown, every UGA chant, every rendition of Hello Georgia because history suggests it may be some time before they can see the Horned Frogs playing for the national championship again.
The last decade of college football has been dominated by the same half-dozen traditional powerhouses. Unexpectedly crashed intruders in the college football playoffs have usually turned out to be one-hit wonders.
At the height of Mark Dantonio’s tenure, Michigan State made a surprise semi-final appearance in 2016. The Spartans took a dive the following season and have won over seven games twice since then.
Behind a dynamic passing attack, Washington also slipped into the PCP the following year. The Huskies have gone through a pair of coaching changes since then and have only reached the Pac-12 title game once.
Last year, Cincinnati became the first All-Five program to shatter college football’s glass ceiling and fight their way into the playoffs. The Bearcats followed that up with a ho-hum four-game losing 2022 season culminating under coach Luke Fickell for Wisconsin.
Now it’s TCU’s turn to try to figure out how to reverse this trend and avoid falling back into the ranks of fringe suitors. As the red-eyed seniors left SoFi Stadium lamenting a humiliating loss and carrying locker nameplates under their arms as souvenirs, the underclassmen touted Monday’s bombing as offseason motivation and this season of 13 wins as a springboard.
“We’re going to try to use this season for confidence,” said Chandler Morris, who is expected to replace Max Duggan as TCU’s starting quarterback next season. “It was Coach Dykes’ first season here, and look what we did. We’re going to try to build on that and get to that level the Georgias and the Alabamas are at.
The impending changes to the CFP format inherently give TCU a better chance to build on its dream season than previous underdogs. Expanding the field from four to 12 teams in 2024 will allow a wider variety of teams to dare to dream of securing a playoff bid and racing out of nowhere.
The bolting of Texas and Oklahoma for the SEC also makes TCU’s path to the playoffs more open in the years to come. Soon there will be no more perennial behemoths in the Big 12. Why can’t TCU outshine Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati and Baylor to become the new-look conference big dog?
TCU produced 11 double-digit winning seasons from 2001 to 2017 before the Horned Frogs fell back in Gary Patterson’s final three seasons. They went 21-22 during that underperforming streak and lacked the toughness that defined the program at its peak.
When Sonny Dykes arrived after Patterson resigned, the heart of this year’s team was already in Fort Worth. Using a lighter vibe and innovative approach, Dykes and his team have done an admirable job of developing Heisman Trophy finalist Max Duggan and multi-year starting receiver Quentin Johnston, corner Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson and linebacker. Dee Winters.
The Transfer Portal makes it easier than ever to plug roster holes on the fly, and Dykes has taken full advantage of it. TCU added 13 transfers in Dykes’ first offseason, more than half of which became starters or key rotationals.
The result was a tough-minded, never-say-die team that rose from multiple double-digit deficits, won seven games in one possession and exceeded all expectations. The Big 12 media poll predicted TCU would finish seventh in the league this season. As recently as October, the Horned Frogs were 150 to 1 to win the national championship.
While TCU overcame its talent gap against Michigan in the semifinals nine days ago, the Horned Frogs looked like a deer laying down a tractor-trailer against the Georgian stable of future NFL prospects. The Bulldogs led 17-7 after one quarter, 38-7 at halftime and 52-7 when Kirby Smart retired starting quarterback Stetson Bennett after three quarters.
TCU may never be able to match Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State for five-star prospects, but transfer portal gives Dykes a way to store Dallas-Fort area talent Worth. The Horned Frogs’ 2022 roster included several of those players who originally signed with Texas, LSU and Oklahoma after high school, only to later transfer home to TCU in search of a second chance. Dykes has already landed key transfers for 2023 as well to accompany a high school recruiting class that Rivals ranks in the top 20 in the nation.
While Monday night was Duggan’s last game in a TCU uniform, the Horned Frogs don’t appear to be suffering at quarterback heading into next season. Morris, a former transfer from Oklahoma, won the starting job before Duggan entered this season, only to sprain his knee in the third quarter of TCU’s season opener. He adapts to Dykes’ offense even better than Duggan and has drawn praise for his arm skill and accuracy.
In a gloomy postgame locker room Monday night, after a remarkable season ended with a whimper, Morris made it clear he wouldn’t be satisfied being another Michigan state, Washington or Cincinnati. He thinks TCU can continue to close the gap with the Georgias and Alabamas of college football and get back to this point before long.
“At the end of the day, we want to win championships,” Morris said. “The seniors laid the foundations. Now we must continue. »