PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — On Saturday, all eyes will be on the two College Football Playoff semifinal games. In the first matchup, between Michigan football and TCU, the challenge for either team will come when the Horned Frogs are on offense.
The strength-on-strength matchup pits TCU’s vaunted offensive attack, led by Broyles Award-winning offensive coordinator Garrett Riley — the younger brother of USC head coach Lincoln Riley — and the Wolverine defense, which ranks No. 3 in the nation in yardage per game and No. 4 in the country in scoring defense.
We met up with Riley at TCU’s portion of the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl media day, and he shared what he’s seen from the Michigan defense on film.
“Very talented, I think they play extremely well together, which is kind of one of the first things that jumps out on tape,” Riley told WolverinesWire. “I think the secondary are very strong. And, obviously, up front, their front seven, they do a great job. So I mean, they’re very, very solid and well-coached, you could tell. They’re in position a lot of times and they’ll challenge your guys defensively. I think they expect for them to make one-on-one plays, and you see it happen out there on the perimeter and on the edge.
“So it’s gonna be a fun matchup. And we obviously expect to make those plays on offense.”
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Football games tend to be won in the trenches, and while TCU is loaded at the skill positions, it will need to be stout up front given what the Wolverines present on the defensive line.
Riley believes Michigan’s attack starts with Mazi Smith and Kris Jenkins and works outwards from there.
“They are very strong in the interior,” Riley said. “And they certainly provide some pass rush and can be active on the edge as well. And so I think that’s going to be the big thing is just throughout the game — who can kind of get stronger as the game goes on and who doesn’t? To me, it’s kind of strength on strength, to be honest. But I think that’s gonna the real key just as the game goes on, who gets stronger.”
Given how multiple Jesse Minter’s defense has been this year, how does one figure out what Michigan is going to do?
Naturally, the inclination, if you’re TCU, would be to look at the Maryland, Ohio State and Purdue games, which Riley said was the focus of his study. But, he says he also spent a lot of time looking at the games where the offensive style of Michigan’s opponent was wildly dissimilar from the Horned Frogs’ attack.
“We look at it all, especially when you have this much time, when you can,” Riley said. “You’re always gonna err on looking at people that you think are maybe a little bit more similar to yourself, and how they react to a style like that. So I mean, yeah, you’re always gonna kind of look at that first. But, like I said, when you have this much time, you’re able to look at everything a little bit more than what you typically would.”
Michigan and TCU kick off at 4 p.m. EST on Saturday.
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