On the cover

FRONT COVER: TCU head coach Sonny Dykes holds up the Fiesta Bowl trophy after defeating Michigan at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on Dec. 31, 2022.

AMANDA MCCOY / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

BACK COVER PHOTO CREDITS:

(TOP ROW, FROM LEFT) MADELEINE COOK / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM; MADELEINE COOK / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM; AMANDA MCCOY / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM; (SECOND ROW, FROM LEFT) BOB BOOTH / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM; MADELEINE COOK / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM; MADELEINE COOK / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM; MADELEINE COOK / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM; (BOTTOM ROW, FROM LEFT) AMANDA MCCOY / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM; AMANDA MCCOY / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

Copyright © 2023 by McClatchy Publishing

All Rights Reserved • ISBN: 978-1-63846-053-4

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher.

Published by Pediment Publishing, a division of The Pediment Group, Inc. • www.pediment.com

Printed in Canada.

This book is an unofficial account of the TCU Horned Frogs men’s football season and is not endorsed by TCU or the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

PRESEASON

Sonny Dykes has two QB options, but he’s still looking for a starter 7

Player-first approach key for how Sonny Dykes wants to shape TCU

No. 7 TCU survives scare in Morgantown with 41–31 win over West Virginia 61

For the playoff selection committee, TCU’s win against Texas Tech won’t be enough 65

TCU’s method to beat Texas shows Frogs can win in the postseason 71

How Max Duggan’s Heisman moment set up TCU’s bazooka field goal to escape Baylor 77

College Football Playoff

Max Duggan belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of TCU legends

119

TCU’s Flying T and Hypnotoad a tale of two creators: A TCU football player, and Disney 122 Big plays, big stops vault TCU over Michigan, into national championship game 125

Notable moments from TCU’s 38–13 win at Colorado

No. 4 TCU dominates Iowa State to finish regular season perfect at 12–0 85

No. 3 TCU falls to No. 10 Kansas State in overtime thriller 93

TCU’s 2022 dream season will change the school, and finish in national title game 137

It happened. TCU’s crazy Fiesta Bowl win has the Horned Frogs in the national championship 141

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

How TCU pulled off the most improbable playoff run in history 99 TCU did it again; making the College Football Playoff it ‘advances the ball’ 105

Awards Week

Max Duggan the first TCU player to win the award named for the TCU QB, Davey O’Brien 111

Inside Max Duggan’s week-long Heisman odyssey: ‘This red-headed Targaryen was on fire’

115

Despite horrific final score, TCU belonged in the national title game against Georgia 145

TCU got close to the mountaintop, but realized how much further it has to go 149

Even after historic loss to Georgia, no team won the 2022 college season like TCU 155

2022 Horned Frogs team roster 158 Acknowledgements 160