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As a lot combat as Michigan confirmed, rallying from 18 factors late within the third quarter to attract inside a area objective, the Wolverines bungled a bushel stuffed with alternatives — together with their final fourth-down gasp, when the snap from heart caught McCarthy off guard and the ball bounced off his knee, resulting in a mad scramble of laterals with lower than 30 seconds to play.
The Horned Frogs then needed to survive a disquieting second when officers reviewed the play for focusing on earlier than deciding that no foul had occurred.
“It was a hell of a technique to finish a ballgame,” Dykes stated.
The Wolverines had spoken this week of being a lot better ready this season than final, after they met their two said targets by profitable the Huge Ten and snapping an eight-game dropping streak to Ohio State. Of their playoff loss to Georgia a yr in the past, they have been simply glad to be there, they acknowledged this week.
However from the beginning on Saturday, they performed as if their place right here was not a privilege however a burden. Michigan fumbled away one scoring likelihood ultimately zone, wasted one other when a trick play went kaput, settled for 2 quick area targets, and surrendered a landing when Bud Clark — who additionally recovered the fumble — picked off McCarthy and bolted 41 yards for the sport’s preliminary rating, giving T.C.U. a lead it by no means relinquished even amid the chaos.
The Horned Frogs, against this, have been excellent when it mattered most.
The roots of their offensive execution, significantly close to the objective line, have been borne from the frustration of their solely loss — to Kansas State within the Huge 12 title recreation in early December.
When T.C.U. was stonewalled on back-to-back cracks from contained in the 1-yard line in extra time, Dykes instantly pledged to be higher there if his staff bought into the playoff. Earlier this week, he stated the Horned Frogs must be stronger up entrance, but in addition extra artistic.
“We’ve put a whole lot of work into, a whole lot of consideration to it,” Dykes stated a number of days in the past. “While you take a look at faculty soccer lately, groups are so evenly matched, usually what the sport comes all the way down to is with the ability to convert third downs and, particularly, fourth downs and scoring conditions.”
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