PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — The biggest test for Michigan football on Saturday when it takes on TCU in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl will likely be TCU’s vaunted passing offense against the Wolverines secondary.
The Horned Frogs have a variety of options at receiver — led by standout Quentin Johnston and slot receiver Taye Barber — but overall just has speed, explosiveness, and a penchant for making big plays. There’s no team in college football that has as many explosive plays — especially for touchdown — than TCU.
On Thursday, we spoke with Michigan safeties coach Jay Harbaugh about what he’s expecting from the Horned Frog passing attack, and he broke down why they’re such a daunting challenge.
“They’re all explosive, very, very well-balanced, they can all make big plays, and the quarterback in this scheme, it’s just a great match between the two of them to be able to put those guys in position to make plays,” Harbaugh told WolverinesWire. “They create a lot of space, you’ve got to be great at tackling. I think that’s gonna be a huge, a huge part of it. They do great breaking tackles after the catch. The running backs are phenomenal players. So I think tackling — you’ve got to cover them, but an offense like that is going to complete balls. There’s gonna be times when they get the ball in space. If you can’t tackle you’re gonna have real problems. Gonna be a key.”
What’s more, TCU is more than capable of running the football. While the passing attack is what gets the most attention, ranked No. 25 in the country, the run game is also ranked 25th overall.
Given that it is capable on both fronts, defenses can’t simply lock in hoping to stop one element without expecting the other.
Harbaugh says that Michigan understands the balance that TCU strives for, and what he feels the Wolverines need to do to slow or stall the Horned Frog passing attack.
“It really takes everybody,” Harbaugh said. “They’re just like any other good offense, like there’s balance. They spread you out. And they have a lot of speed and a great quarterback. They’re a team that loves to run the ball. So you’ve got to understand the situation, understand what they’re trying to get accomplished.
“And then really the whole DB group in the back — anyone involved in coverage is going to have to be on point just because of the fact that (they have a lot of speed and targets and) guys that can hurt you. (The defensive backs will) actually to work in conjunction with the coverage. There’s gonna be a group effort if we’re going to have success.”
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Even so, Michigan’s defense has been solid all year long, no matter the opponent.
While TCU doesn’t have an offense that exactly resembles any team that Michigan has seen, it is some combination of Maryland and Ohio State — as well with some elements that Purdue’s offense runs.
Harbaugh notes that having seen all these different elements, albeit at different times against different teams, it helps the Wolverines, because nothing they’ll see will be entirely unfamiliar.
“Yeah, that’s a great point. I think just playing in our conference, you get a little bit of everything,” Harbaugh said. “We might not be a conference that airs it out as much as the Big 12. But you do get a little bit of everything. And so I think it’s at this point, it’s hard for us to really see anything that we haven’t had at least some exposure to, like you mentioned. So I think our schedule prepares us well, at least just to give us a base familiarity for okay, this was a lot like this team or that team. So I think it’s a good thing for us and we’ll soon find out.”
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