Tag: Kendre Miller

TCU injury report ahead of title game vs. Georgia

TCU injury report…

The fact that TCU has made it to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game is storybook stuff alone. Winning it all would warrant a Hollywood script.

Per BetMGM, Georgia enters the big game as a 13-point favorite over TCU. The over/under is set at 63.5 with the Georgia money line of minus-500 compared to plus-375 for the Horned Frogs.

But don’t tell that to the Horned Frogs, who feel they’re as worthy of playing in the big game as the defending champs, the Georgia Bulldogs. And they are. Despite starting the season with 200-1 odds to win the CFP, TCU, under first year head coach Sonny Dykes, had an undefeated regular season and took down Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl to make it this far. Even moreso, they boasted a Heisman finalist in quarterback Max Duggan and have one of the nation’s best receivers in Quentin Johnston.

But don’t stop there. Their explosive offense also features the No. 15 leading rusher in America, Kendre Miller, who is listed as questionable for the game.

Here’s the TCU injury report going into the national championship vs. Georgia:

Georgia vs. TCU: Top NFL draft prospects to watch during National Championship game

We’re looking at the top NFL Draft prospects for the Philadelphia Eagles to watch in the Georgia-TCU National Championship game

The Eagles are 13-3 and looking to wrap up the division and home-field advantage in the NFC with a win this weekend over the Giants.

The game has playoff and NFL draft implications, as Philadelphia owns New Orleans’s 2023 first-round pick after a draft night trade in 2022 that landed the Saints Chris Olave and the Birds Jordan Davis.

Even with the NFC playoffs here, it’s never too early for a look ahead to April’s draft, and the College Football Playoffs offer the perfect scouting opportunity.

With kickoff a little over 24 hours away, here are the top draft prospects to watch when Georgia and TCU meet.

TCU star running back questionable for national championship

What is the status of a few key TCU and Georgia players ahead of the national championship game?

TCU Horned Frogs running back Kendre Miller is questionable to play in the national championship game against the Georgia Bulldogs. Miller, a junior, has 224 rushing attempts for 1,399 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns entering the national championship.

Miller, who is TCU’s leading rusher, suffered a knee injury in the College Football Playoff semifinals against Michigan. Miller tried to return to action against Michigan in the second half, but could not play through the injury.

The Horned Frogs turned to senior running back Emari Demercado after Miller was unable to play. Demercado ran for 150 yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts against Michigan.

Demercado is expected to play a lot of snaps in the national championship. Additionally, TCU quarterback Max Duggan will bear a larger workload in the running game against Georgia.

TCU Horned Frogs running back Kendre Miller is an explosive runner when healthy. Joe Rondone-Arizona Republic

TCU has relied on Miller and Demercado throughout the season. The Horned Frogs’ third-leading rusher, Emani Bailey, has just 29 attempts this season. Bailey has been effective (241 yards and two touchdowns) in limited action, but he did not see a carry in the semifinal.

Georgia has more depth in its backfield. The Dawgs lean on Kenny McIntosh, Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards in their rushing attack.

Kirby Smart and Georgia have some injury concerns of their own. Tight end Darnell Washington missed most of the game against Ohio State with a leg injury and linebacker Chaz Chambliss exited with a hyperextended knee injury.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz2y40j067srkf player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Michigan vs. TCU: Top NFL draft prospects to watch during the Fiesta Bowl

With the Eagles set to have two first-round picks, we’re previewing the top NFL Draft prospects to watch in the Fiesta Bowl matchup between Michigan and TCU

The Eagles are 13-2 and looking to wrap up the division and home-field advantage in the NFC with a win this weekend over the Saints.

The game has playoff and NFL draft implications, as Philadelphia owns New Orleans’s 2023 first-round pick after a draft night trade in 2022 that landed the Saints Chris Olave and the Birds Jordan Davis.

Even with the NFC playoffs approaching, it’s never too early for a look ahead to April’s draft, and the College Football Playoffs offer the perfect scouting opportunity.

Two New Year’s Eve contests will feature the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes meeting the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs in the Peach Bowl and the No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs battling the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines in the Fiesta Bowl.

With kickoff a little over 24 hours away, here are the top draft prospects to watch when Michigan and TCU meet.

Top 10 Big 12 rushers based on their PFF run grades

A look at the top 10 running backs in 2022 for the Big 12 Conference. Kansas State, Texas, and Texas Tech claim six of the 10 best runners.

When it came to running the football, the Big 12 Conference had plenty of top-tier runners led by [autotag]Bijan Robinson[/autotag] of Texas.

Alongside [autotag]Roschon Johnson[/autotag], the Longhorns had one of the best one-two punches in the Big 12 and in FBS. We will likely see a different duo wearing the burnt orange in 2023 with Johnson and Robinson likely going to the NFL next season. Robinson is viewed as the No. 1 running back in the NFL draft and has first-round aspirations.

Kansas State and Texas Tech also had a formidable duo in the backfield this past season. With the regular season firmly behind us, Longhorns Wire breaks down the top 10 running backs in the conference based on their grades from PFF (subscription required).

Top 4 remain unbeaten, Oregon stumbles: College Football Power Rankings after Week 11

The top four teams in college football remained undefeated, while Oregon saw their playoff hopes dashed in their 37-34 loss to Washington. From @john9williams

Entering the home stretch of the college football season, there’s little margin for error for the nation’s top teams.

The Oregon Ducks saw their playoff hopes dashed at the hands of border rival Washington in a 37-34 loss that was arguably the best game of the weekend. Bo Nix and Michael Penix went blow for blow, but an untimely illegal touching penalty killed Oregon’s attempt to get into field goal range and send it to overtime.

Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan won in blowout fashion; their average margin of victory was 33 points. TCU played a close defensive battle on the road with the Texas Longhorns and looked on their way to a 14-point win before Texas picked up a botched mesh-point handoff between [autotag]Max Duggan[/autotag] and [autotag]Kendre Miller[/autotag]. The Longhorns returned it for a touchdown. Still, the Horned Frogs showed a defensive element that they hadn’t leading into their matchup with Texas.

Tennessee continues to make a strong case for inclusion in the College Football playoff with its 66-24 win over Missouri. However, with four undefeated teams in front of them, they’re going to need some help. That could come when the Buckeyes and Wolverines go to battle in two weeks, but a close game between the Big Ten rivals could spell doom for the Volunteers.

LSU clinched a berth in the SEC title game and looks headed for a showdown with top-ranked Georgia. Could the Tigers throw everything into disarray and make a case for playoff inclusion even with two losses?

USC had an impressive win over Colorado, but its strength of schedule took a hit with UCLA’s loss to Arizona.

We’re in for another fantastic finish to the season. Let’s take a look at this week’s power rankings.

TCU stays undefeated with win over Texas: Big 12 Power Rankings after week 11

How do this week’s Big 12 power rankings look after week 11 action?

The Big 12’s College Football Playoff hopes stayed alive with TCU’s impressive road win over the Texas Longhorns.

It wasn’t an impressive margin of victory, but its ability to slow Bijan Robinson was impressive. The offense is what helped the Horned Frogs get to 9-0, but it was the defense that gave them their 10th win.

They held Texas to 199 total yards and 28 net rushing yards in the game. If they can get consistent defensive efforts from that side of the ball, they’ll be hard to beat in Big 12 play and should cement themselves as a College Football Playoff team in a month.

They stayed at No. 1 in this week’s power rankings, but what about the rest of the Big 12?

Big 12 power rankings: TCU rolls in Morgantown, Cowboys trounced by Kansas State

TCU continues to roll and Oklahoma State fell flat in week nine against Kansas State. How did this week’s Big 12 power rankings turn out? from @john9williams

After nine weeks of play, there’s a clear frontrunner for the Big 12 title after the TCU Horned Frogs stayed undefeated in their win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. Though it was just West Virginia, this is the same team that put 43 points up on the Baylor Bears two weeks ago before falling flat against Texas Tech last week.

While TCU stayed the course, Oklahoma State was crushed by Kansas State, who rebounded nicely after their first Big 12 loss a week ago to TCU. Will Howard was in complete control and the Wildcats defense played their best game of the season, shutting down Spencer Sanders and an explosive Oklahoma State offense.

The Big 12 has been an entertaining league through the first nine weeks of the season and the final stretch will provide a lot of drama for the conference on the way to Arlington. Let’s take a look at this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

[lawrence-related id=74413]

‘As explosive as anyone in the conference’: Matt Campbell likes what he sees from Oklahoma’s offense

With Dillon Gabriel at the helm, Big 12 teams haven’t been able to slow down the Oklahoma offense and Matt Campbell’s taken notice.

Iowa State’s defense has performed really well in 2022. They’ve only allowed two teams to score more than 20 points this season, the Baylor Bears and the Texas Longhorns.

Oklahoma comes into this game having scored 30 or more points in each contest in which Dillon Gabriel played the entire game. And that’s been the key to Oklahoma’s success. Their quarterback.

Gabriel is completing 65.2% of his passes and averaging 9.1 yards per attempt on the season. In the game against Kansas, Gabriel was phenomenal, throwing for 403 yards and two touchdowns. Despite some turnover issues throughout the game (an interception and two fumbles), the Sooners moved the ball at will. It was a far cry from what this team looked like for two and a half quarters against TCU and in the Red River Showdown against Texas.

And that’s stood out to Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. When speaking to the media, Campbell was complimentary of Oklahoma’s offense and had this to say:

“I think the biggest thing you see with this team is, I think you see a team that when their quarterback’s been healthy, they’ve been as explosive as anyone in this conference,” Campbell said. “He’s a young man that knows this system really well, has played and had a lot of success in this system. They still have dynamic playmakers at their skill positions and really have a running back on the offense that has been playing really good football.”

Explosive is right. [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] is tied for second in the Big 12 with five touchdowns on throws of 20 yards or more. Eric Gray is tied with [autotag]Bijan Robinson[/autotag] for first in the Big 12 with 24 runs of 10 yards or more and with [autotag]Kendre Miller[/autotag] for first in the Big 12 with 13 runs of 15 yards or more.

As explosive as the Sooners have been, they’ll need a more patient approach this week against one of the best defenses in the country.

Iowa State will put an emphasis on not allowing Oklahoma to make big plays. Instead, they’ll try to keep everything in front of them and force the Sooners to go on long drives. Oklahoma will need to be patient offensively, taking what Iowa State gives them and making plays after the catch in the quick passing game.

The offensive line will need to keep doing what they’ve been doing in the running game to help Eric Gray get free to make big plays on the ground. If the Sooners can find some efficiency running the football, it will take a lot of pressure off of Dillon Gabriel and the passing attack.

But against this Iowa State defense, doing anything offensively is easier said than done.

[listicle id=74153]

[listicle id=74031]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=none image=https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Best photos from Oklahoma’s loss to the TCU Horned Frogs

Best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners’ 55-24 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday in Fort Worth.

It was not the bounce-back performance many hoped for when the Sooners traveled to Fort Worth to take on the TCU Horned Frogs. The Frogs got an early turnover from Marvin Mims and immediately capitalized to take a 7-0 lead.

That opening sequence set the tone in a game where the Oklahoma Sooners had no answer for what Sonny Dykes and the TCU Horned Frogs were throwing at them. Offensively and defensively, the Sooners were outplayed and outcoached.

TCU was the more physical and more aggressive team on Saturday and the Sooners were never able to recover from their early 20-3 hole in the first quarter.

As demoralizing as the game was, watching the Sooners succumb to injuries was unfortunate as well. In particular, seeing Dillon Gabriel and Damond Harmon lay motionless on the field was incredibly difficult.

Oklahoma falls to 0-2 in Big 12 play and 3-2 on the season ahead of its showdown with the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry.

Here are some of the best photos from the Sooners’ loss to TCU.