TCU, Michigan Players Slipping And Sliding Trigger Criticism Over Fiesta Bowl Field Quality

The Horned Frogs and Wolverines normally play on grass and FieldTurf, respectively.

The hits just keep on coming for college football’s major bowl games.

A day after Tennessee offensive tackle Gerald Mincey suggested the Orange Bowl had poorly accommodated the Volunteers, the Fiesta Bowl took repeated flak from fans and analysts for its slippery playing surface as Michigan and TCU clashed at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.

Jordan Strack of WTOL-TV in Toledo, Ohio tweeted video Friday evening of the playing surface being rolled into the stadium.

They've officially rolled in the field for the Fiesta Bowl!

Here is the time-lapse from State Farm Stadium: pic.twitter.com/mqjMh9dgC1

— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) December 31, 2022

The game was played on grass—the Wolverines’ first such game this season, as noted by Stadium’s Brett McMurphy, and Michigan’s first grass-surfaced game since the Orange Bowl last year against Georgia.

The surface became a repeated punching bag as the Wolverines and Horned Frogs slipped all over the field as TCU built a 21-3 halftime lead.

We've had the TCU punter slip and now Cornelius Johnson loses his footing coming out of the break. Just gotta have a better field surface for this kind of game

— Andrew E. Graham 🫡 (@AndrewEdGraham) December 31, 2022

This playing surface is not up to par for a national semifinal. Dudes slipping all over.

— Bud Elliott (@BudElliott3) December 31, 2022

This isn’t new for this stadium. But every year that it goes on and isn’t fixed makes it that much worse.

— Bud Elliott (@BudElliott3) December 31, 2022

Michigan and the Horned Frogs’ stadiums, Michigan Stadium and Amon G. Carter Stadium, have FieldTurf and grass surfaces, respectively.