Michigan football: What they're saying about the CFP loss to TCU

Michigan football’s 2022 season came to a crippling and devastating end in a 51-45 loss to TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, squandering a chance to play for a national title on Jan. 9. The season is now over, and it kicks off a bitter offseason where they must go back into the lab and figure out a championship formula.

Naturally, the local and national media had plenty to say about an objectively great football game, but one that will haunt the Michigan faithful for years to come.

Here is what they are saying about the Fiesta Bowl loss.

Chris Balas, The Wolverine

TCU 51, Michigan 45: Notes, quotes, & observations

This Michigan bowl game script was all too familiar. There were head scratching play calls, mistakes they hadn’t made all year — not just the big ones, like two pick-sixes from J.J. McCarthy, but missed fits in the run game, missed tackles, and blown coverages — and in the end, a 51-45 loss. 

“Just play a clean game and we’ll be okay” was the talk from the fan base, even some folks who work at Schembechler Hall …

And yet they just couldn’t do it again in a bowl game.

This was different from last year’s debacle. Georgia was simply the better team and would have won 10 out of 10 games against that Michigan team. This one was a was a shoulda, coulda, woulda type in which the Wolverines played their ‘C’ game (worse at times), and with a ‘B’ game would have won.

And yeah, there was some bad luck. What should have been a 14-10 game on a 51- yard touchdown to Roman Wilson was overturned to a catch at the half-yard line, following a spot on a Rod Moore interception that was two yards farther back than it should have been. In a game in which every yard makes a difference, that proved huge …

But only because Michigan let it. In a game like this, you can’t fumble at the one-yard line on first and goal (or any other down, for that matter). And while we understand the injury situation at running back, handing to converted linebacker Kalel Mullings in that situation … well, was like handing to fullback Ben Mason inside the Michigan State 10 a few years back.

You stick with what works or keep the ball in the hands of the playmakers who got you there. Try a quarterback sneak a few times behind your Rimington Award winning center (though grad Olu Oluwatimi didn’t play his best game … unfortunately, a theme for U-M in the postseason the last several years from its top players).

John Borton, The Wolverine

Michigan fashioned an incredible 13-0 run, winning a second straight Big Ten championship and belting back Ohio State on its home field.

The Wolverines did so with a ball-secure, run-dominant, second-half-seizing squad that locked down foes to 13.4 points per game, 5.7 in the final 30 minutes.

All those characteristics melted like snowballs on Arizona asphalt in U-M’s stunning 51-45 loss in the College Football Playoff semifinal loss. They put themselves in position to play for everything — then everything blew up in their faces.

TCU’s Horned Frogs horned in on the Wolverines’ dream run to the title shot. They cashed in on huge plays, pick-sixes, horrifically timed fumbles and a disappearing act by the Michigan defense in the wild second-half shootout.

The Wolverines will long remember their dream season. They’ll remember just as long the nightmarish way it ended.

But head coach Jim Harbaugh chose to focus on his team’s effort and refusal to give in.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Harbaugh said. “I talked to our guys about you don’t quit, you don’t give up. You never let up. You never give in. You just keep playing one play at a time.

“I could have been easily standing in our locker room at the end of our ballgame and congratulating the whole locker room of heroes, because that’s what they are. That’s what they have been this entire season, and including this game.

“It was a great effort by both teams. “I’m really proud of my team. One less big play, one more big play by us; one more opportunistic play by us, one less opportunistic play by them, and it would be a different situation.”

Pete Thamel, ESPN.com

179 points, two epic playoff games and one great day of college football

TCU will be in search of the program’s first national title since 1938, and they’ll invite anyone to assume they’re just SEC fodder. Just ask Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who cast them as Big Ten chum. Actually, you couldn’t, because he bolted from his press conference after one question in the wake of the loss, sounding a lot less lofty than in his pre-game predictions of Michigan pushing around TCU.

A day that began dreaming of the Big Ten having a pair of teams in the national title game ended with the league going empty handed. The league’s focus goes from the anticipatory euphoria of the conference’s first national title since 2014 to the leadership questions hovering over the league, with Commissioner Kevin Warren having interviewed to become the president of the Chicago Bears. It only took one minute into 2023 for the Big Ten’s issues to be ushered to the forefront.

Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports

TCU sits one win from improbable national championship after overcoming more doubters in upset of Michigan

A converted linebacker, Michigan’s Kalel Mullings sat by his locker in his team’s somber locker room. It was not until November that he switched to running back for depth purposes. In the Ohio State game, he was inserted and threw a funky option pass for 15 yards.

Against TCU in the first half, he fumbled a hand-off into the end zone from 1 yard out. That came one play after McCarthy had connected with wide receiver Roman Wilson what seemed to be a 50-yard touchdown. (It was overturned on review.) Mullings’ fumble was one of three turnovers by Michigan, which had committed only seven all season entering the game.

“It’s something we weren’t really used to,” Mullings said. “Normally, we’re the ones dictating the games.”

As the clock wound down, the fleet Frogs morphed into something new. They lined up and muscled up with 3:18 left, bleeding time off the clock. The Wolverines got the ball back with 52 seconds left.

The final, desperate gasp came when — with the game on the line at fourth-and-10 from the Michigan 25 — McCarthy somehow wasn’t ready for the snap. The release from All-American center Olu Oluwatimi, playing on the two-time offensive line of the year, clanged off McCarthy’s knee only to be picked up by Edwards, who completed a desperate pass to tight end Colston Loveland for a 1-yard loss.

It was over. Confetti. A purple reign.

Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press

Michigan football has only itself to blame for its stunning loss in CFP semifinal

Michigan football’s magical football season ended with a disappearing act.

The worst kind.

TCU made all of Michigan’s strengths disappear in a wild, stunning, 51-45 upset on Saturday afternoon in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl.

Suddenly, Michigan couldn’t run the ball.

Suddenly, the Wolverines couldn’t stop the run.

Suddenly, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy was throwing interceptions — a pair of pick-sixes that put Michigan in a devastating hole.

Suddenly, this dominant team was getting dominated, outplayed and overwhelmed.

Every time, Michigan had a chance — every time the Wolverines cut the deficit or started to get something going — they made another mistake.

A missed tackle here.

A bad punt return coverage there.

Or a dropped ball.

And the so-called smash fest turned into a mistake fest.

Which was stunning.

Was it the long layoff after the Big Ten championship game at the start of December? Clearly, whatever mojo Michigan had built after 13 games disappeared.

Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News

Wojo: Wolverines toss away prime chance, beaten by TCU at their own game

One team had been here before, but didn’t play like it. The other team hadn’t been anywhere near here, and played like it had everything to prove.

The Wolverines finally ran into a team they couldn’t bully and couldn’t shake. They made the mistakes they’d avoided during their 13-0 run to the national semifinal, and TCU was exactly the opportunistic upstart to take advantage. From an early rout to a riveting rally, the Wolverines spent most of Saturday night scrambling, at times panicking, their identity dissected by the Horned Frogs.

TCU’s wild 51-45 victory will go down as one of the biggest upsets in CFP history, but at least the Wolverines won’t have to wonder what went wrong. For a while, everything went wrong. J.J. McCarthy threw two pick-six interceptions. The Wolverines fumbled at TCU’s goal line, and squandered another opportunity with a ridiculous failed trick play at TCU’s 2.

If there’s a lesson here, it’s different than the one last season, when Michigan was pounded by a superior Georgia. To win it all, you have to be able to win all ways. UM’s physical style was strong enough to pound Ohio State, but TCU matched it. Then the Buckeyes unleashed C.J. Stroud and their speedy receivers and nearly stunned Georgia, falling 42-41 Saturday night.

Another possible lesson: To win the national title, you can’t harbor a speck of entitlement, or a hint of over-confidence. The Wolverines were more than a touchdown favorite, but they had their swagger knocked askew quickly by the swarming Horned Frogs.

Austin Meek, The Athletic

Michigan’s loss to TCU in CFP thriller leaves it stuck wanting more once again

J.J. McCarthy stood with his back to the line of cameras, perfectly framed against the backdrop of the TCU celebration.

For a minute, maybe longer, McCarthy lingered on the field. Consciously or unconsciously, he was recreating a scene from last year’s Orange Bowl that became motivation for Michigan’s return to the College Football Playoff. Last year, McCarthy and Donovan Edwards stood on the turf at Hard Rock Stadium as Georgia players tossed oranges to the crowd. In the fairy tale version of the story, that was supposed to be the moment that propelled Michigan to a national championship, the adversity before the ultimate triumph.

Life isn’t a Disney movie. Or sometimes it is, and you realize too late that the movie isn’t about you. That was the fate of this Michigan team, which will be remembered as the giant slayed by TCU, the star of college football’s ultimate underdog story.

“Great season,” coach Jim Harbaugh said, “that ends one week early.”

The Fiesta Bowl itself was a heck of a show. After years of blowouts in the CFP semis, TCU and Michigan combined for a 51-45 thriller that will go down as one of the best games in the fleeting era of the four-team Playoff.

That was a small consolation for the Wolverines, who began this season with the explicit goal of winning a national championship. Michigan didn’t need another motivational photo. That was last year. This year was supposed to be the coronation.

Instead, Michigan got pain. Last year stung, but the Wolverines knew on some level that they weren’t ready to dethrone Georgia. This year’s team believed in its own destiny, right up to the moment TCU spoiled the story.

Michael Cohen, Fox Sports

After Duplicate Result, Michigan Must Search For What It’s Missing

A year ago, the demeanor of Michigan’s players and coaches during their week at the Orange Bowl suggested they’d fallen victim to the trappings of South Florida. They spent too much time at the beach, became too enamored with the star power their on-field success supplied and finally admitted those mistakes during interviews in Arizona ahead of kickoff with TCU. If last year’s trip was more of a vacation, they said, this year’s return to the CFP was all business. But even their renewed dedication wasn’t enough to prevent an embarrassing trail of mistakes that called into question the team’s preparedness. There were two pick-6s thrown by McCarthy and a debilitating fumble by Mullings. There were bizarre play calls from co-offensive coordinators Sherrone Moore and Matt Weiss and head-scratching substitution patterns from running backs coach Mike Hart. There was an ill-timed intentional grounding penalty when Michigan could have trimmed the lead to three in the fourth quarter and a mistimed snap on fourth down that clanged off McCarthy’s shins to seal the win for TCU.

“The self-inflicted wounds, really,” Schoonmaker said. “Just a few things here and there. Obviously it’s a big stage and the spotlight is on, but I think that’s when this team shines its best — and we did that in the second half. But, unfortunately, ran out of time and didn’t have the success that we needed in the first half.”

More concerning than all of that is Harbaugh’s abysmal record in the postseason at Michigan, where time and again he’s been outfoxed by opponents who have a full month to prepare. This year’s loss sunk Harbaugh to 1-6 in bowl games with six consecutive defeats. His lone victory came in his debut season, in 2015, when they pummeled Florida in the Citrus Bowl.

So how much closer has Harbaugh really gotten to winning a national title? The Wolverines gave everything they had in 2022 and still fell noticeably short.