ATLANTA — TCU punched its ticket to the CFP Championship Game with a 51-45 win over Michigan on Saturday night.
The winner of the CFP Peach Bowl Semifinal between Georgia (13-0) and Ohio State (11-1) will play the Horned Fogs at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 9 in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
The Bulldogs are 4-0 all-time against TCU, last meeting the Horned Frogs at the conclusion of Coach Kirby Smart’s first season in 2016, a 31-23 win in the Liberty Bowl.
TCU will likely be a prohibitive underdog over whoever they face, whether it is No. 1 Georgia or No. 4 Ohio State.
The No. 3-seed Horned Frogs (13-1) led from wire-to-wire over the No. 2-seed Wolverines (13-1), racing to a 21-6 halftime lead that few saw coming.
Michigan tailback Donovan Edwards broke loose on a 54-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, running behind a Wolverines’ offensive line that was named the Joe Moore Award winners for a second-straight season.
But facing a fourth-and-goal from the TCU 2, Coach Jim Harbaugh opted for some razzle dazzle, and the Horned Frogs stopped what was going to be a reverse throw-back pass to the quarterback.
Little did Michigan fans know the Wolverines would not get into the end zone for a touchdown until there was 6:32 left in the third quarter, drawing to within 21-16 on a J.J. McCarthy TD pass to Ronnie Bell.
McCarthy was 20-of-34 passing for 2 touchdowns, but also, 2 interceptions that were returned for TCU touchdowns.
TCU quarterback Max Duggan, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, was 14-of-29 passing for 225 yards with 2 TDs and 2 Interceptions.
