When Michigan takes the field on Saturday in the College Football Playoff semifinals it will play an opponent the Wolverines are not familiar with. The maize and blue will take on the No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs and it will be the first matchup between the two schools.
TCU had a successful season this year going 12-1 with a loss against Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship. The Horned Frogs have an elite offense that ranks No. 6 scoring 40.3 points per game. The catalyst to the offense is Heisman finalist quarterback Max Duggan.
Duggan threw for over 3,300 yards this year and ran for over 400 yards. He threw 30 touchdown passes compared to 4 interceptions and was considered the heart and soul of the Horned Frogs’ offense.
The Horned Frogs played 10-straight Big 12 conference games. Michigan is known for having a physical defense under Jim Harbaugh and Duggan said he thinks the matchup is going to be fun for the TCU offense to try and figure out after playing so many conference games in a row.
“It will be a lot of fun,” said Duggan. “We know how good they are, how good they have been the last couple of years, and how competitive they are. We are looking forward to it.”
But what is most concering to the Heisman finalist? The Wolverines have a fearful front four even with the loss of Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo last season. Of course, Michigan has fast linebacker play and the defensive backs have only gotten better this season with the emergance of Will Johnson. Duggan believes all the above will be challenging for the Horned Frogs’ defense.
“There’s a lot,” Duggan said. “They are really good in all aspects of their team, especially on defense. Whether it’s the front four getting pressure, whether their backers creating trouble for us, guys on the back end, DBs making it hard for us.”
Duggan has weapons at his disposal and that is part of the reason why he has been so great this year. The main target for Duggan is a 6-foot-4 receiver that embodies physicality. Quentin Johnston is believed to be a high first round selection in the 2023 NFL draft and he could cause issues for the Wolverines’ secondary if not contained.
Johnston gives the Michigan defense and secondary a lot of credit. The Wolverines enter Saturday with the 22nd-ranked passing defense and the junior receiver believes the Michigan defenders are always in a good spot to make plays.
“I mean, like you said, they’re an elite team,” said Johnston. “An elite defense. They will always be in the right spot from what I have seen on film. they have got good size. At the end of the day, they are very well-coached.”
Johnston isn’t the only big-time playmaker for TCU in the passing game. Taye Barber, a 5-foot-10 receiver, is second on the team with 593 yards. Barber compared the Michigan cornerbacks to what Iowa State had this season. Like Johnston, Barber believes the defensive backs are always in the right spots.
“Oh, they are very good,” said Barber. “They are always going to be in the right spots. They are good, fast, big, and they start for a reason. They got a top 10 defense for a reason, so it will be tough.”
What makes the TCU offense complicated is that it can run as well as it passes the ball. The Horned Frogs have the 25th-ranked run offense that gains 200 yards a game. Junior Kendre Miller ran for over 1,300 yards this season on the ground and he is physical as well as having some speed to work with.
Like the two starting receivers said, Miller believes the best comparison to Michigan from a Big 12 perspective would be Iowa State. He called the sixth-ranked Wolverines’ run defense ‘great’ and he noted how physical they are.
“Physical,” stated Miller. “Great run, fit team. Their linebackers and safeties play by the run like no one I feel like we have seen so far. I feel like overall physical.”
But Miller believes his team is prepared for the physicality the Michigan defense has. There is a underdog menality the TCU players are playing with on Saturday.
“I feel like we’re very prepared,” said Miller. “And anybody who says we can’t, you should just look at the film. We come out and play every week. I feel like everybody is saying they are playing a big boy-little boy role with a Big 12 and Big Ten physicality.”
Michigan and TCU will kickoff at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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