Sonny Dykes’ plan for TCU to slow Michigan down should work fantastically, in theory.
Let’s just say Sonny Dykes and the TCU Horned Frogs will have to harness all the power the Hypnotoad can hope to provide if they are to beat the Michigan Wolverines in the Fiesta Bowl and reach the national championship.
The Dykes Horned Frogs became the first unnamed Oklahoma Big 12 team to make the College Football playoffs. Although TCU fell short of the conference title, the Frogs managed a perfect regular season that earned them a berth in the national semifinals. Of course, they will have to face an undefeated team, Michigan, for a chance to play for a national title.
Dams appeared The Herd with Colin Cowherd before the Fiesta Bowl. Although the TCU coach has given Jim Harbaugh’s program much credit, his team’s plan to slow down Michigan’s offense is as delusional as it is misguided. If TCU can pull it off, then that’s great for them. However, even this approach does not beat Georgia…
Dykes wants to stop the run and make Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy the one to beat them.
“This will be the big challenge for us: stop the run and get the quarterback to beat us. Certainly he is capable of doing that, but we have to stop the race because he stops their attack,” Dykes told the team website. The Herd with Colin Cowherd on trying to stop Michigan’s attack on the Fiesta Bowl.
It’s not that McCarthy was a complete wretch in the role, since he was a former five-star when he left…
Frankly, McCarthy is the main reason this year’s team could potentially beat Georgia.
Sonny Dykes reveals TCU’s flawed plan to shut down Michigan’s offense.
Yep, in theory, that’s the way to beat Michigan. However, TCU doesn’t have the players or the defensive depth to pull it off. Running defense is not the Frogs strong suit, while Michigan won the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line in the nation for the second straight year. In short, Michigan’s offensive strength is a huge weakness to TCU’s average loss defense.
Even though TCU had to slow down to get the ball into McCarthy’s hands to try and win the Fiesta Bowl, he’s more talented than his predecessor Cade McNamara. It was obvious that Michigan needed to switch quarterbacks after the way the Orange Bowl went against Georgia in the last College Football Playoff. McCarthy helps close the gap with Georgia to strengthen Michigan.
The best way for TCU to beat Michigan is to steal some assets from the Wolverines offense and try to screw them up a bit. Sure, this game is played in perfect conditions inside a dome, but you get the picture. Maybe what TCU needs to do is take a cue from Chris Klieman’s playbook at Kansas State, you know, the team that won the Big 12 this year.
TCU can beat Michigan, but beating Michigan and Georgia back-to-back is probably too daunting.
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