The college football national championship is nearly here. Georgia and TCU meet in a title game that is in many ways a different proposition from the semifinals. Both teams had weeks to plan for the semis, then bring out whatever wrinkles they’ve been working on. The title game is a much more normal game planning scenario, but the semifinal performances brings up new questions for each team, especially Georgia, which admittedly did not play anywhere near its best in the Peach Bowl. Each team has questions to answer if it hopes to take home college football’s most prized trophy. Here are three for each.
TCU1. If Georgia limits its turnovers and miscues … then what?
To call TCU lucky in the Fiesta Bowl would be dismissive, but the luck they worked to create cannot be ignored. It executed a perfect upset script against Michigan that was fueled in large part by three turnovers. Two were back-breaking pick-sixes, one of which helped the Frogs build their big halftime cushion. The other was a fumble on the goal line by the Wolverines after a play that likely should have been a touchdown was overturned by review. It’s one of two goal-line stops the Frogs got. The other came when Michigan ran a version of the Philly Special to disastrous effect that the Frogs saw coming from a mile away.
Michigan ripped off 39 points in the second half, albeit out of their normal game plan, and TCU was able to answer with haymakers of its own to keep the Wolverines at an arm’s length. Even the way the Horned Frogs got the two goal-line stops were advantageous. One, the ball bounced into the end zone for a recovered touchback and the other, instead of stymying the Wolverines at the 2-yard line (where the ball was snapped), they got a tackle for loss and assumed the ball at the 10 rather than being backed up. That amount of room offers an ability to run a different type of situational offense.
2. Can TCU have better results passing over the middle of the field?
Speaking of luck, TCU quarterback Max Duggan got the raw end of two tipped passes that ended up being interceptions. They certainly weren’t Duggan’s fault, and had he connected, the Frogs may have been able to build an even bigger lead.
You have to be on time and efficient throwing in that part of the field, especially against a defense as fast as Georgia. Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud was, as he went 13-of-16 beyond the line of scrimmage between the numbers. Can Duggan come close to matching that performance?
3. What is TCU’s play for Jalen Carter (and the rest of Georgia’s defensive front)?
Carter wasn’t terribly impactful on the stat sheet, and TCU did just neutralize Michigan interior defenders Mazi Smith and Kris Jenkins. But can they do that again against Carter? Part of Ohio State’s plan to mitigate Carter had Stroud on multiple bootleg plays and changing his launch point. He repeatedly rolled out of the pocket instead of dropping straight back behind the center where he would be a sitting duck. The strategy worked to mostly keep Stroud clean, and also gave him time to hit deep receivers, mitigating how much Georgia could just pin their ears back and rush. If TCU gets into a mode where it have to drop back pass for whatever reason, how will it keep Duggan clean?
