by GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Max Duggan scored four touchdowns, TCU returned two interceptions for scores and the third-ranked Horned Frogs withstood a frenzied second-half surge by No. 2 Michigan to win the Fiesta Bowl 51-45 in Saturday night and advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
TCU (13–1), the most unlikely team to reach a four-team playoff in its nine-year history, has one game left in its improbable season and will come against either No. 1 Georgia or No. 4 Ohio State on Jan. 9 at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Coming off a losing 2021 season and picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 in Sonny Dykes’ first year as coach, the Horned Frogs will look to win the program’s first national championship since 1938.
Duggan and the Frogs will undoubtedly be underdogs — again. That didn’t matter much against Michigan (13–1), as he took it to the big, bad Big Ten champions and turned the Fiesta Bowl into a circa-2010, Big 12-style scorefest.
It was the highest-scoring Fiesta Bowl ever and the second-highest-scoring CFP game behind Georgia’s 54–48 Rose Bowl win against Oklahoma on January 1, 2018.
That was 34–16 with 2:46 left in the third quarter, and the Hypnotoads, a nickname borrowed from the animated TV show “Futurama,” and their purple-clad fans could sense that their wild ride it wasn’t over.
Of course, nothing has been easy for these Frogs all year. During their undefeated regular season, they won seven straight games by 10 points or fewer.
What followed were five touchdown drives — with a TCU turnover sandwiched in between — each lasting less than a minute.
Roman Wilson’s 18-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion pulled Michigan within 41-38 with 14:13 left in the fourth quarter.
The Frogs are back, unleashing their best weapon. Future first-round draft pick Quentin Johnston took a short pass from Duggan and turned it around for a 76-yard score that put the Frogs up 10.
TCU finally stopped Michigan’s next possession and turned it into a 33-yard field goal by Griffin Kell to go up 51–38 with 10:02 left.
After the Frogs and Wolverines combined for 62 points in 20 second-half minutes, the pace slowed. But Michigan cut the lead to six with 3:14 left on JJ McCarthy’s 5-yard TD pass to Wilson.
TCU couldn’t overcome it, and Michigan got one more shot, starting at the 25 with 52 seconds left — but couldn’t get a first down.
Before TCU could line up in victory formation, there was a review by the officials to target the Frogs. What was another bit of drama in a season full of it for TCU?
The game was clean. Dugan, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, took one final snap and a knee, and the exhausted Frogs rushed the field and celebrated under a cloud of purple and white confetti.
