TCU Football

TCU will honor late Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach with decals on their helmets during the College Football Playoff semifinal against Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday.

According to ESPN's Dave Wilson, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes announced that his Horned Frogs players will have pirate flag decals on their helmets due to Leach's love for pirate history.

A few other teams have also worn decals in honor of Leach, including one of the schools at which he formerly coached in Texas Tech, which utilized the pirate flag idea as well.

Regarding the decision to honor Leach in that way, Dykes said the following:

"I think that's going to be a big part of my feelings pregame tomorrow—just the impact Mike had on my life and really college football in general. I'm sure there'll be a little bit of shoutout to Coach Leach before I take the field, just what he meant to me personally in my life.'

'I certainly wouldn't be here without his guidance or mentorship and the huge impact he had on my life."

Leach died on Dec. 12 after being hospitalized with a heart condition while in preparation for Mississippi State's ReliaQuest Bowl game against Illinois on Jan. 2.

Both Dykes and Leach were assistant coaches at Kentucky in 1997, and Dykes later served as an assistant under Leach from 2000 to 2006 when Leach was the head coach at Texas Tech.

That stint helped launch Dykes' head coaching career, as he went on to coach Louisiana Tech, California and SMU. Dykes is in the midst of his first season at TCU, and he has led them to a 12-1 record and the school's first CFP berth.

At the time of his death, Leach was in the midst of his third season as the head coach at Mississippi State and had led the Bulldogs to an 8-4 record this season.

All told, Leach went 158-107 in 21 seasons as the head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State.

Michigan has never won a College Football Playoff game. The Wolverines lost in their CFP debut in the 2021 season, falling to Georgia in the Orange Bowl, which was a semifinal matchup.

TCU has never played in a College Football Playoff game. The Horned Frogs have mostly struggled since the four-team format was introduced ahead of the 2014 season.

One of these programs will soon be notching its first CFP win and advancing to play for the national championship. Which one will it be? That will be decided on Dec. 31.

No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 TCU are set to face off in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on New Year's Eve. The winner will advance to face the victor of the Peach Bowl, which features a matchup between No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Ohio State.

Here's all of the latest information on this year's Fiesta Bowl, including odds, comments and more.

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Fiesta Bowl Odds

Spread: Michigan (-8)

Over/Under: 58.5 total points

Moneyline: Michigan -305 (bet $305 to win $100); TCU +255 (bet $100 to win $255)

Via DraftKings Sportsbook

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Preview, Top Comments

Michigan has rolled through the 2022 season, winning each of its first 13 games. It won a big matchup against Ohio State to end the regular season, then took down Purdue in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Now, the Wolverines will face a challenging opponent in TCU. Although the Horned Frogs lost to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game, they won each of their 12 games before that. So the Fiesta Bowl has the potential to be a competitive game.

If Michigan is going to end up on top, it likely will need to find a way to limit the production of TCU senior quarterback Max Duggan, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist and is having a stellar season.

"We'll be fired up to compete against a relentless competitor like him," Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh said, per Josh Henschke of Maize & Blue Review.

Duggan has passed for 3,321 yards, 30 touchdowns and only four interceptions in 13 games. He's also rushed for 405 yards and six scores.

The talented QB is the primary reason why TCU led the Big 12 in points (40.3) and total yards (473) this season.

"Nothing but tremendous respect for the type of competitor that he is," Harbaugh said, per Henschke. "And it's going to be a huge challenge getting ready for a quarterback like that. All I have seen is just relentless competitor, super-talented, tremendous effort."

But Michigan's defense has excelled in tough matchups already this season. The Wolverines have allowed only 277.1 total yards per game, which ranked third best among FBS teams. Their 13.4 points allowed per contest ranked fifth.

In 13 games, Michigan has allowed more than 17 points only three times.

Duggan is ready for the challenge. Not only because the Wolverines have been dominant this season, but because the school has thrived for so many years.

"You get to play a great program that has so much history, and that's what you want," Duggan said, per The Athletic's Sam Khan Jr. "You want to play the best."

Michigan has had steady leadership for quite some time. Harbaugh took over as the head coach at his alma mater ahead of the 2015 season, and it took him no time to get the program on track. The Wolverines have won 10 or more games in five of his eight seasons at the helm, including his first two and the past two.

Sonny Dykes is also having immediate success at TCU. He took over as the Horned Frogs' head coach prior to the 2022 campaign. Before that, they hadn't won more than seven games in any of the previous four seasons.

"It's been quite a journey from where we were this time last year to where we are today," Dykes said, per Khan. "You got to give our players and everybody associated with our program a ton of credit for just believing and doing things the right way."

On Dec. 31, one of these two teams will be taking another big step forward and moving on to the CFP National Championship Game, which is set for Jan. 9. And at that point, they'll be only one win away from a national title.

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The Associated Press on Monday named TCU's Sonny Dykes its Coach of the Year for the 2022 season.

The Horned Frogs claimed the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff after going 12-1 in the regular season. Their success helped make Dykes a runaway winner for the award. He collected 37 out of 46 first-place votes.

"It's the ultimate team award," Dykes said to the AP's Ralph D. Russo. "It's indicative of literally everybody in our office, coaches, players, everybody, because more so than ever in college football it is truly a team effort."

Dykes had massive shoes to fill when he made the move to TCU from SMU.

As much as the program had stagnated under Gary Patterson, Patterson is still the program's winningest coach (181-79). Under his watch, the Horned Frogs won six conference titles and earned victories in the 2011 Rose Bowl and 2014 Peach Bowl.

After TCU went 5-7 for the second time in three years in 2021, it looked like Dykes would need at least a year or two to get things on track.

Not only did the 53-year-old provide immediate results, but he also did so without significantly upending the roster through the transfer portal. The Frogs' leading passer (Max Duggan), rusher (Kendre Miller) and receiver (Quentin Johnston) were all holdovers. The same was true for linebacker Dee Winters and safety Bud Clark, who led the team in sacks and interceptions.

Dykes told Russo the Horned Frogs "really had no expectations whatsoever when the year started." That attitude probably changed after his squad dropped 55 points on Oklahoma to improve to 4-0. It was the first of four straight wins over Top 20 opponents.

Regardless of what happens in the playoff, this has been one of TCU's best seasons, and no Power Five program overachieved more.

TCU quarterback Max Duggan is ready to take his talents to the next level.

The senior announced on Twitter that he will be declaring for the 2023 NFL draft after the College Football Playoff. The third-ranked Horned Frogs will face No. 2 Michigan in a semifinal game on Saturday Dec. 31.

Forever, Go Frogs pic.twitter.com/629SLM8I1C

— Max Duggan (@MaxDuggan_10) December 18, 2022

While Duggan played in at least 10 games in each of the last four seasons, he still had a full season of eligibility remaining because of COVID-19 and the extra year the NCAA extended to student-athletes. However, it appears he's confident in his chances at being drafted highly after his stellar showing throughout the 2022 campaign.

Duggan led TCU to a 12-1 record, the team's most wins since 2014. However, the Horned Frogs lost to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship on a game-winning field goal in overtime.

The 6'2", 210-pound signal-caller threw for 3,321 yards, 30 touchdowns and just four interceptions to become the first TCU player since 2014 to be named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. He also won the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top quarterback and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the first player in program history to win either accolade.

Duggan was the first TCU player since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2000 to be named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. He finished second in the voting behind USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

After a banner year, it comes as no surprise that Duggan wants to test his skills at the professional level. His performance against the Wolverines could be an audition for the NFL, as he will be up against one of the top defensive units in the country.