Michigan football falls to TCU in Fiesta Bowl: Game recap, box score

Michigan football could not stay out of its own way at the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl, losing 51-45 to the TCU Horned Frogs. TCU will now advance to the national title game against Georgia in Los Angeles on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium.

Michigan had its opportunities in both halves but was unable to make plays in critical moments. It was a bitter pill to swallow in the playoff for the second year in a row and the sixth straight bowl game loss under head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Here is a recap of how the game went down in Glendale.

First quarter

TCU won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, putting Michigan’s offense on the field first. Sophomore back Donovan Edwards ripped off a 54-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, setting the Wolverines up with a prime scoring chance. Sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy hit junior wideout Roman Wilson on a key third down in the red zone. On the next third down, McCarthy escaped pressure for a 5-yard scramble that set Michigan up at fourth-and-goal from the 2 with 10:39 to go. The Wolverines ran a “Philly Special” trick play with freshman tight end Colston Loveland, but he never got the pass off, and U-M turned the ball over on downs at the 10-yard line. The Wolverine defense took care of its business, though, forcing a three-and-out on TCU’s first offensive drive.

Michigan started its next drive from its own 39-yard line with 9:31 to go in the quarter. McCarthy threw an interception on first down that was returned 39 yards for a touchdown by TCU’s Bud Clark. The Horned Frogs took a 7-0 lead with 9:22 remaining. The Wolverines got the ball back on offense on the next possession, but went three-and-out and were forced to punt down to the TCU 24-yard line.

The Horned Frogs would go up two scores on a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Max Duggan to cap off a 12-play, 76-yard drive to take a 14-0 lead with 2:27 left in the first quarter. The end of the quarter would see Michigan drive down to the TCU 29-yard line after a pair of McCarthy completions to graduate tight end Luke Schoonmaker and Loveland.

Second quarter

Michigan’s offense would ultimately sputter, but put its first points of the day on the board thanks to a 42-yard field goal from graduate kicker Jake Moody. The score was 14-3 in favor of TCU with 13:46 left in the first half. Michigan’s defense made a play on the next series when sophomore safety Rod Moore grabbed an interception at the U-M 49-yard line.

Michigan thought it had something cooking on a 50-yard completion from McCarthy to Wilson that appeared to cross the goal line. The video review official thought otherwise, ruling him down at the 1-yard line. Junior running back Kalel Mullings fumbled on the goal line on the next play, giving way to the TCU offense after a touchback. Michigan’s defense responded with another three-and-out on defense and took over at its 26-yard line with 11:35 to go in the half. They would go 17 yards in 5 plays before punting down to the TCU 17-yard line with 9:20 remaining.

The Horned Frogs did their part to take more control of the game on the next drive. A 10-play, 83-yard march capped off by a Duggan pass out of pressure to wideout Taye Barber helped TCU take a 21-3 lead with 4:56 left in the second quarter after the extra point. Michigan’s drive would stall at midfield, forcing another punt down to the TCU 15-yard line with 1:33 remaining. A quick four-play drive helped Michigan get the ball back on its own 33-yard line with 47 seconds left. The Wolverines would settle for a school record 59-yard field goal attempt from Moody that was good as time expired, narrowing the score to 21-6 heading into the locker room.

Third quarter

The Michigan defense came out of the locker room with its hair on fire, forcing a quick stop. The Wolverines would start on their own 33-yard line with 13 minutes left in the quarter and drive down the field thanks to a 43-yard shot from McCarthy to graduate wideout Ronnie Bell. But again, the offense would stall in the red zone. Moody drilled a 21-yard field goal, narrowing the deficit to 21-9 TCU with 9:29 remaining in the quarter.

Michigan’s defense would again come up with a big play thanks to the first-career interception from senior defensive back Mike Sainristil at midfield with about 7 minutes remaining. The Wolverines took advantage on a 34-yard flea flicker strike from McCarthy to Bell. Michigan narrowed the deficit to 21-16 with 6:32 to go in the quarter after Moody’s extra point.

TCU was not going to fold, though. The Horned Frogs went right down the field 75 yards in 6 plays and scored on a 1-yard run by Emari Demercado to put them back up 28-16 with 4:25 remaining. Disaster would strike on the next possession with McCarthy throwing his second pick-six of the day, allowing TCU to take a 34-16 lead with just under 3 minutes to go in the quarter after a botched extra point.

McCarthy and the Wolverines would not quit. Despite it being a brutal day at the office through the first three quarters, McCarthy scored on a 20-yard touchdown run to get the score within 34-22 with 1:47 to go in the third quarter after a missed 2-point try.

Michigan’s defense fell apart again, though. The Horned Frogs went 78 yards in 3 plays – aided by a 69-yard run from Demercado – to go back up 41-22 after the extra point with 49 seconds remaining. Michigan struck back quickly, aided by a 44-yard strike from McCarthy to Bell and finished off by a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Mullings. The 2-point conversion try was good on a run from McCarthy, narrowing the deficit to 41-30 with 9 seconds left in the third quarter. TCU fumbled on its next play from scrimmage, giving Michigan the ball at the TCU 27-yard line to start the fourth quarter.

Fourth quarter

Two plays and 27 yards later, Michigan made it an even closer ballgame. An 18-yard rushing score from Wilson and 2-point conversion pass to Bell got the score to 41-38 in favor of TCU with 14:11 left in the game. TCU was able to fire right back on a 76-yard reception to star Quentin Johnston on third-and-7 to take the lead back up to double digits at 48-38 with 13:07 to go.

Michigan would go three-and-out and punt on its next drive, which was returned by TCU down to the U-M 16-yard line with 12 minutes left. The Horned Frogs then took a 51-38 lead on a 33-yard field goal with 10:02 remaining. The Wolverines would go three-and-out before Robbins punted down to the TCU 10-yard line. Michigan’s defense forced a three-and-out of its own and got the ball back with just under 7 minutes to go. The Wolverine offense would start at its own 44-yard line with 6:46 remaining.

Michigan went down the field in nine plays — with some questionable clock management — to get the game within striking distance. McCarthy found Wilson for a 5-yard touchdown that drew things to 51-45 with 3:18 to go after the extra point. The Wolverines had to use all three timeouts, but forced a punt with 59 seconds left and took over at their own 23-yard line with 52 seconds remaining. Michigan was unable to sustain anything, fumbling on fourth-and-10 to end the football game and U-M’s perfect season. TCU won 51-45.

Michigan vs. TCU: Box score, stats