INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — TCU coach Sonny Dykes sensed something wasn't right with his team when they came into the locker room after pregame warmups for Monday night's College Football Playoff championship game against Georgia.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — The College Football Playoff championship on Monday night is the biggest game of TCU coach Sonny Dykes’ career. But it didn’t have his full attention this week.
“Look, we were preparing this week for a national championship game and we had six transfers on campus on an official visit.
Let's all give a round of applause to TCU, the interloper at this year's national championship game.
The Horned Frogs might not win the title — reigning champ Georgia is a two-touchdown favorite heading into the game Monday night — but they've given the College Football Playoff something it desperately needed.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Sonny Dykes needed only about five minutes with Joe Gillespie to know that he wanted the defensive coordinator who wields an atypical 3-3-5 base scheme on his staff at TCU.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — TCU's defense, built for speed, turned off Michigan's power in a dominating first half.
When the Fiesta Bowl turned into a touchdown party, the Horned Frogs kept the lights on just long enough to earn a chance to play for their first national championship since 1938.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — TCU's wild ride has one more stop.
The Horned Frogs are headed to Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California, about 10 miles from Hollywood, just about the perfect place to end a storybook season for the most improbable College Football Playoff team.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Max Duggan accounted for four touchdowns, TCU returned two interceptions for scores and the third-ranked Horned Frogs withstood a frenetic second-half surge by No. 2 Michigan to win the Fiesta Bowl 51-45 on Saturday night and advance to the College Football Playoff national championship.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — A day before facing off in the College Football Playoff, TCU's Sonny Dykes and Michigan's Jim Harbaugh talked fondly about the fathers they followed into coaching and a time when they might have shared more than a stage for one final pregame press conference.
College Football Playoff
Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Michigan (13-0) vs. No. 3 TCU (12-1), Saturday, 4 p.m. Eastern (ESPN)
FanDuel Sportsbook College Line: Michigan by 7 1/2.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Sonny Dykes appeared to take a veiled shot at the mighty Southeastern Conference on Thursday morning.
The first-year TCU coach later said he was actually trying to pay the SEC a compliment.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Quentin Johnston had options when picking his college destination, eventually deciding on TCU because of the two decades of coaching stability provided by Gary Patterson.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson knows a good cornerback when he sees one — no matter if the school's three letters are ULM or TCU.
So when he heard that the Horned Frogs were looking to add Louisiana-Monroe transfer Josh Newton, the first-team AP All-America cornerback immediately wanted to see if the new guy could make the jump from the Sun Belt Conference to the Big 12.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Sonny Dykes was nearing the end of a season as an off-field offensive analyst, and pondering his next move.
Fired from his previous head coaching job and with three young kids at home, the son of longtime college coach Spike Dykes even considered a career change after more than two decades in football.
TCU's Sonny Dykes was named The Associated Press Coach of the Year on Monday after leading the No. 3 Horned Frogs to the College Football Playoff in his first season with the school.
Dykes received 37 of 46 first-place votes and 120 points from AP Top 25 voters to become the second TCU to win the award, which is presented by Regions Bank.
Some of the reaction around college football following the death of veteran college football coach Mike Leach:
TCU quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Max Duggan is The Associated Press Big 12 offensive player of the year in a unanimous vote, as was the selection of Sonny Dykes for coach of the year after his first season with the Horned Frogs.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — TCU offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Garrett Riley is the winner of the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the nation, the Frank and Barbara Broyles Foundation announced Tuesday.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — TCU had done nearly all it could to complete a massive turnaround under first-year coach Sonny Dykes, putting itself in position to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.
FIESTA BOWL
No. 2 Michigan (13-0, No. 2 College Football Playoff) vs. No. 3 TCU (12-1, No. 3 CFP), Dec. 31, 4 p.m. EST, ESPN
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — It has been quite a comeback for third-ranked TCU, one much bigger than that 18-point deficit the Horned Frogs erased to beat Kansas State six weeks ago.
A year after Sonny Dykes became their coach, the Frogs (12-0, 9-0 Big 12, No.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — TCU quarterback Max Duggan was named the Big 12's offensive player of the year Wednesday by the league's coaches, and Kansas State end Felix Anudike-Uzomah was picked as the top defensive player.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Without Max Duggan, the fourth-year quarterback who had lost his starting job going into this season, third-ranked TCU might not be undefeated, getting ready for the Big 12 championship game and on the verge of making the College Football Playoff.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Third-ranked TCU has a definite route to the playoff after another regular season-ending rout of Iowa State.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — There will be some people who look at how fourth-ranked TCU is still undefeated going into the final week of the regular season, and they will question if the Horned Frogs really deserve to be part of the playoff discussion.
College Football Playoff contenders lived on the edge in Week 12, with the top four teams all teetering to varying degrees and at various points. Then No. 5 Tennessee went down with a thud.
WACO, Texas (AP) — Fourth-ranked TCU had players shuffling on and off the field as the final seconds were ticking off the clock. Kicker Griffin Kell was the last one to get into place.
“That looked like chaos, but we practice it every Thursday exactly like that,” Frogs coach Sonny Dykes said.
WACO, Texas (AP) — There have been times in Sonny Dykes' coaching career when he was up all night at the start of each new week, trying to think of ways to motivate his team and keep players focused on the present.
With two weeks left in the regular season, six teams remain alive for the second spot in the Big 12 championship game and others are still trying to become bowl-eligible.
Based on how the season has played out so far, it’s likely many of these final games will be close.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — TCU was far from pretty against Texas, yet the Horned Frogs are still undefeated and playing for a Big 12 championship.
And maybe even bigger things to come.
Kendre Miller rushed for 138 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown in the third quarter that broke open a tense defensive struggle, and No.
No. 4 TCU (9-0, 6-0 Big 12, No. 4 CFP) at No. 18 Texas (6-3, 4-2, No. 18 CFP), Saturday 7:30 p.m. EST (ABC)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK COLLEGE LINE: Texas by 7
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The big picture is laid out before No. 4 TCU, and the Horned Frogs have everything to play for.
They are undefeated and in striking range of clinching a berth in the Big 12 title game.
Georgia was the new No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night, followed by Ohio State, Michigan and TCU.
The Bulldogs' rise from No. 3 was no surprise after their dominant victory against previously top-ranked Tennessee on Saturday.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Even before undefeated Big 12 leader TCU was seventh in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, coach Sonny Dykes talked about how that wouldn't have any impact on his team.
No. 7 TCU (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) at West Virginia (3-4, 1-3), Saturday, 12 p.m. ET. (ESPN)
Line: TCU by 7 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — TCU coach Sonny Dykes is not hearing what could be expected from his players as they keep winning games, and that is a good thing.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Max Duggan, Kendre Miller and their TCU teammates certainly don't get fazed by double-digit deficits in the second half. For the second week in a row, they just came back to win and stay undefeated.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Kansas State coach Chris Klieman and TCU's Sonny Dykes provide similar descriptions about the focus of their teams, while players from both sides think much the same way.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Sonny Dykes and TCU have gotten halfway through their first regular season together still undefeated, a fact the coach succinctly put into perspective.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Max Duggan and No. 13 TCU found themselves down in a hurry in their biggest game so far with coach Sonny Dykes.
When it was all over against eighth-ranked Oklahoma State, the Horned Frogs were getting swarmed by their fans after needing some extra time to wrap up an impressive comeback.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Max Duggan has certainly surprised new TCU coach Sonny Dykes, who has even gotten emotional talking about the fourth-year quarterback who went from losing his job to being one of nation's most efficient passers.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Max Duggan almost single-handedly carried TCU to wins in its first four games. Against Kansas, another threat emerged for the Horned Frogs, and that should concern defensive coordinators across the Big 12.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Sonny Dykes has built winning programs all over the country, from Louisiana Tech to California to SMU and now TCU, where he has the Horned Frogs ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in more than three years.
Some things to watch in Week 6 of the Big 12 season:
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 17 TCU at No. 19 Kansas. An unexpected matchup of undefeated teams on the second Saturday in October when the Big 12 is usually focused on the Red River rivalry.
No. 18 Oklahoma (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) at TCU (3-0, 0-0), noon ET, Saturday (ABC)
Line: Oklahoma by 6 ½, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
DALLAS (AP) — Max Duggan completed 22 of 29 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns and Emari Demercado ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns in TCU’s 42-34 win over SMU on Saturday as coach Sonny Dykes’ Frogs won the Iron Skillet rivalry game against the program that he coached the previous four seasons.
TCU (2-0) at SMU (2-1), noon ET, Saturday (ESPNU)
Line: TCU by 2 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Sonny Dykes is now on the other side of the SMU-TCU rivalry, a 100-game series reinvigorated by two wins he had with the Mustangs before moving to become coach of the Big 12 program on the opposite end of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Max Duggan completed 23 of 29 passes for 390 yards and five touchdowns as TCU won its home opener 59-17 over lower-division Tarleton State on Saturday night, making Sonny Dykes the first new Horned Frogs coach to win his first two games since Dutch Meyer in 1934.