LISTEN! KillerFrogs Podcast Episode 188: Fiesta Bowl, Part Two

The gang continues their discussion of whether TCU can hold its own against Michigan

Shannon (Brazzell), Nathan (Hernandez), Sean (Foushee), and Nick (Howard) wrap up our Fiesta Bowl preview with a look at what the TCU defense needs to do to stop the balanced and physical Michigan’s offense.

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The podcast begins with the guys discussing TCU’s defense against Michigan’s offense, and how TCU stacks up. As Foushee puts it: “This offense looks really, really stout.”

Brazzell agrees. “For the second time, I watched the Ohio State/Michigan game and the bottom line is, what Michigan does really well is, you’re gonna have to stop the run. They’re going to line up and try to play bully ball, especially with us. They have a quarterback who can run the ball, who can throw the ball, and that can open up the run.”

Foushee takes that as a call to lean on TCU’s speed. “The bend-don’t-break mentality. You’re not expecting a ton of blitzes in this game, it’s about containment on McCarthy.”

Continuing on his point about defense, Brazzell says: “We know the complete game that we played from a defensive standpoint was against Texas. They had the best running back in the country and we shut him down. And so, if we can do that, and get the quarterback throwing, and at least have that, where our secondary can fly around and have some picks, I think that’s the game plan. You’ve got to shut something off. I’m not saying we can shut it all off. But you’ve got to shut the quarterback down or the running back, if not both. We have our work cut out for us but I’m excited to see how we make the adjustments, based on film, and see how things transpire on the field.”

Hernandez comes in, saying: “I think that if we can be physical . . . we just have to win the physical battles. If we can stay in their head and stay physical and let them make the mistakes, then I think we’ll be okay. We just can’t get caught like we did against K-State, where we have a guy running down the field wide open. You’ve got a month to learn this offense, your coverage, where you need to be.”

Foushee invites Howard into the discussion at this point, drawing a parallel to the game against Wisconsin at the Rose Bowl. “Physicality is a big part of the stat line in this game and the early storyline too—if you go back to 2010, against Wisconsin, Wisconsin was supposed to be the bigger, tougher team, and was going to push small TCU around the Rose Bowl like it was nobody’s business. And the same thing’s happening now . . . How do you feel the Frogs stack up physically against a team like Michigan.”

Howard responds: “I think they match up pretty well. I think It’s a matter of who’s going to break first. I don’t think TCU’s going to break first. And I think TCU defense has got to find a way to break McCarthy’s rhythm, the quarterback. Find a way to break his rhythm.”

Recalling the 2014 Bowl game, Hernandez adds a bit about being an UnderFrog. “We were in downtown Atlanta. He (Gary Patterson) didn’t really have to do that much; we were just so fired for that game. We were pissed off because we got left out of the playoff. All we heard, everywhere we went, it was all SEC fans saying ‘Good luck this weekend, y’all are going to need it,’ and it added so much motivation. Even today, some Georgia fan was like ‘good luck to y’all.’ And I said, ‘That’s what everyone said in 2014.’”

The podcast concludes with predictions: who wins the Fiesta Bowl between TCU and Michigan?

Nathan Hernandez: 31-21 TCU

Nick Howard: 24-13 TCU

Shannon Brazzell: 23-21 TCU

Sean Foushee: 34-27 TCU 

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