Why Michigan Will Win The College Football Playoff Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Run the ball, keep running, rely on the defense, wait for the dam to break, repeat.
That’s been Michigan all year.
The team gets into a little bit of trouble as it takes a half to warm up, and then in the second half it runs for a gajillion yards on its first few drives, the defense settles in, and all is right with the world from there. Expect more of the same.
TCU’s run defense is fine, but it lost to Kansas State when it gave up 205 rushing yards in the Big 12 Championship, and it needed a miraculous late comeback and kick to get by Baylor despite allowing 232 yards on the ground.
The Horned Frog defense hasn’t faced anything like this, and it certainly hasn’t faced an O line this good.
Again, you know exactly what you’re getting from Michigan. It’s going to keep the ball for almost 35 minutes, it’s not going to allow any pressure in the backfield, and it’s going to eventually get the attack moving with long, sustained drives with a few occasional big rushing bursts. All that, and the Wolverines come into this with the third-best defense in America.
If that wasn’t enough … 7. That’s how many turnovers the Wolverines have given away. They don’t commit penalties, they don’t make a slew of big mistakes, and they’re as methodical in what they do as any team over the last several years.
However …
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Why TCU Will Win The College Football Playoff Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
TCU will stretch the field a bit. The weapons are there to keep pressing the Michigan defense.
No, the Horned Frog lines can’t and won’t hold up against what Michigan does, but Max Duggan can hit the deep shot, WR Quentin Johnson might just be the best player in this game – at least he’s close – and Kendra Miller is a tough, explosive back who was good for at least one touchdown in every game and over six yards per carry.
How do you hang with Michigan? You have to convert on your third down chances and keep that O line on the other side from taking over.
Maryland was able to make it a fight in a 34-27 loss by keeping the pressure on with the passing game, and Illinois was able to use its combination of running, defense, and third down conversions to almost pull of a win in a 19-17 loss.
TCU has to do all of that, and it can.
Only five teams were able to hit 100 yards rushing on Michigan. Maryland was one, Illinois ran for a season-high 148 yards and two scores, and it’s going to be bothered by a Horned Frog ground game that was only held under 140 yards twice, and that’s because the Iowa State game was a blowout and the passing attack worked too well against Baylor.
– College Football Playoff Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History