TCU coach Sonny Dykes sounds off on Georgia’s 65-7 win, Horned Frogs’ formula failed

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — TCU coach Sonny Dykes left SoFi Stadium puzzled and searching for answers.

Did anyone get the license plate number of that big, red and black truck that ran over the Horned Frogs?

Georgia beat TCU 65-7 in the CFP Championship Game on Saturday night in the most lopsided title game of the BCS (1998-current) Era.

“We’ll sit down as a staff and begin trying to figure out what happened tomorrow,” said Dykes, who in 150 games as a head coach had only been held to 7 points once, back in 2014 when Washington beat his Cal team 31-7.

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs were a two-touchdown favorite, but most expected the Horned Frogs to make a game of it after they beat Michigan 51-45 in the CFP Fiesta Bowl Semifinal.

“Georgia did a great job, got off to a fast start,” Dykes said. “We answered. Cut it to 10-7. And then, for whatever reason, it went downhill from there.”

Did it ever: the Bulldogs scored the next 55 points, turning the game into a rout.

“We had a formula that worked, where we played pretty well for 14 straight weeks,” Dykes said. “And we carried the same formula into this game. We didn’t do anything different.

“There was no preparation that was any different …. there was zero difference between preparation for this game than there was for the Michigan game 10 days ago.”

Georgia, of course, is a very different sort of program than Michigan, as evidenced by the Bulldogs’ 34-11 blowout win over the Wolverines in the CFP Orange Bowl Semifinal last year.

Dykes reflected on how TCU was able to give Heisman Trophy runner-up Max Duggan time to throw in the first quarter.

“We really protected the quarterback well when we dropped back to throw, (but) it got worse as the game went along,” Dykes said. “Our threat of running the football consistently went away.”

Duggan ended up getting sacked a season-high six times, and the Horned Frogs were held to just 36 yards rushing on 28 carries

TCU’s explosive offense managed just one play longer than 24 yards — a 60-yard pass in the first quarter when Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo and safety Javon Bullard got their wires cross on an assignment.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, had five pass plays of 24 yards or more.

“I thought we had some busts defensively, some alignment busts, assignment busts,” Dykes said. “We cut some receivers loose. Again, that’s not something we’ve done.”

Duggan, 14-of-22 passing for 152 yards with 2 interceptions, had few answers.

“They’re a great team, everybody knows how good they’ve been this year and prior years, and we knew that,” Duggan said.

“Obviously that’s not what we thought was going to happen or wanted to happen or what we worked for. But it was just one of those nights where we couldn’t really do much on our end.”