Preview: Georgia (CFP National Championship)
1/5/2023 3:04:00 PM | Football
Horned Frogs and Bulldogs meet for the national title Monday night in Los Angeles
FORT WORTH -- TCU will make its first College Football Playoff National Championship appearance when it faces Georgia on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
ABOUT THE GAME
•The Horned Frogs are playing in the Los Angeles area for the first time since the 2011 Rose Bowl, when they defeated Wisconsin 21-19 to cap a 13-0 season and finish with a No. 2 national ranking.
•TCU is looking to win its third national title and first since 1938. The 1938 team was led by Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Davey O'Brien. TCU quarterback Max Duggan was the 2022 Heisman runner-up while also becoming the first Horned Frog to win the Davey O'Brien Award.
•TCU is looking to become just the fifth team, and first since Michigan State in 1962, to win a national championship after having a losing record the previous season.
•The Horned Frogs are the third team since 1998 to play in a national title game after being unranked in the Preseason Associated Press poll.
•TCU is the first Big 12 team to win a CFP game. The Horned Frogs are also the first Big 12 member to play for a national championship since Texas in 2009.
•TCU has tied a program record with its 13 wins, equaling the 2010 team.
•A TCU victory would make Sonny Dykes just the second college football head coach in history, joining George Washington Woodruff for Penn in 1892, to win 14 games in his first season.
•Dykes is just the eighth head coach with a CFP victory.
•TCU's six wins over ranked opponents ties Tennessee for the national lead.
•TCU will play outside the state of Texas for just the fifth time this season and second since Oct. 29 at West Virginia.
TALKING HORNED FROGS
•TCU was the first Big 12 team to be 12-0 since Texas in 2009. The Horned Frogs were also the first Big 12 member to go 9-0 in conference play since Oklahoma in 2016.
•TCU is the first school from the state of Texas to make the College Football Playoff and just the second team (Michigan, 2021) to be in the CFP after starting the season unranked.
•Five of TCU's wins were against teams it lost to by at least two scores last season, including four by at least three scores.
•TCU is the first team since 1975 to win seven straight games by 10 points or less.
•Sonny Dykes became the first head football coach in TCU and Big 12 history to start 12-0 in his first season. He's just the fourth head coach nationally since 1996 to accomplish the feat.
•The Horned Frogs are just the third team since 1960 (Stanford, 2012; Iowa, 1960) to win four consecutive games over ranked opponents in a calendar month.
•TCU's four consecutive games with a win over a ranked opponent ties for first nationally since 1996.
•TCU has eight more wins than it had all of last season. Only Tulane (+10) has a bigger improvement.
SERIES NOTES
•TCU and Georgia are meeting for just the fifth time and first since the 2016 Liberty Bowl, when the Bulldogs won 31-23 in Head Coach Kirby Smart's first season.
•Georgia holds a 4-0 series lead. Georgia won both games (1980, 1988) in Athens as well as taking a 40-26 victory in the 1942 Orange Bowl.
HOMECOMING
•TCU running back Emari Demercado, who has his master's degree, is an Inglewood, Calif., native who grew up walking distance from SoFi Stadium.
•Demercado rushed for a career-high 150 yards in the CFP Semifinal win over Michigan.
FAMILIAR FACE
•TCU defensive lineman Tymon Mitchell played his first three seasons at Georgia, including five games on last year's national championship team.
•Mitchell is fourth on TCU this season with 3.0 sacks. He has played in all 14 games with 19 tackles.
ABOUT THE GAME
•The Horned Frogs are playing in the Los Angeles area for the first time since the 2011 Rose Bowl, when they defeated Wisconsin 21-19 to cap a 13-0 season and finish with a No. 2 national ranking.
•TCU is looking to win its third national title and first since 1938. The 1938 team was led by Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Davey O'Brien. TCU quarterback Max Duggan was the 2022 Heisman runner-up while also becoming the first Horned Frog to win the Davey O'Brien Award.
•TCU is looking to become just the fifth team, and first since Michigan State in 1962, to win a national championship after having a losing record the previous season.
•The Horned Frogs are the third team since 1998 to play in a national title game after being unranked in the Preseason Associated Press poll.
•TCU is the first Big 12 team to win a CFP game. The Horned Frogs are also the first Big 12 member to play for a national championship since Texas in 2009.
•TCU has tied a program record with its 13 wins, equaling the 2010 team.
•A TCU victory would make Sonny Dykes just the second college football head coach in history, joining George Washington Woodruff for Penn in 1892, to win 14 games in his first season.
•Dykes is just the eighth head coach with a CFP victory.
•TCU's six wins over ranked opponents ties Tennessee for the national lead.
•TCU will play outside the state of Texas for just the fifth time this season and second since Oct. 29 at West Virginia.
TALKING HORNED FROGS
•TCU was the first Big 12 team to be 12-0 since Texas in 2009. The Horned Frogs were also the first Big 12 member to go 9-0 in conference play since Oklahoma in 2016.
•TCU is the first school from the state of Texas to make the College Football Playoff and just the second team (Michigan, 2021) to be in the CFP after starting the season unranked.
•Five of TCU's wins were against teams it lost to by at least two scores last season, including four by at least three scores.
•TCU is the first team since 1975 to win seven straight games by 10 points or less.
•Sonny Dykes became the first head football coach in TCU and Big 12 history to start 12-0 in his first season. He's just the fourth head coach nationally since 1996 to accomplish the feat.
•The Horned Frogs are just the third team since 1960 (Stanford, 2012; Iowa, 1960) to win four consecutive games over ranked opponents in a calendar month.
•TCU's four consecutive games with a win over a ranked opponent ties for first nationally since 1996.
•TCU has eight more wins than it had all of last season. Only Tulane (+10) has a bigger improvement.
SERIES NOTES
•TCU and Georgia are meeting for just the fifth time and first since the 2016 Liberty Bowl, when the Bulldogs won 31-23 in Head Coach Kirby Smart's first season.
•Georgia holds a 4-0 series lead. Georgia won both games (1980, 1988) in Athens as well as taking a 40-26 victory in the 1942 Orange Bowl.
HOMECOMING
•TCU running back Emari Demercado, who has his master's degree, is an Inglewood, Calif., native who grew up walking distance from SoFi Stadium.
•Demercado rushed for a career-high 150 yards in the CFP Semifinal win over Michigan.
FAMILIAR FACE
•TCU defensive lineman Tymon Mitchell played his first three seasons at Georgia, including five games on last year's national championship team.
•Mitchell is fourth on TCU this season with 3.0 sacks. He has played in all 14 games with 19 tackles.
GIVING BACK
•Jordy Sandy is donating $20 to Fort Worth's Hope Center for Autism for every punt inside the 20-yard line. Sandy has a 9-year-old cousin with autism back home in Australia. He has totaled $320 with 16 punts inside the 20 this season.
TCU SUPPORT
•Since it began Big 12 play in 2012, TCU has had over $400 million in donor-funded athletics facilities upgrades. The most recent project was the $113 million Legends Club & Suites which opened in Fall 2020 on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
P
/ FootballTCU Football | 2026 Signing Class Press Conference (December Group)
Wednesday, December 03
TCU Football: Frogs Cruise Past Cincinnati in 2025 Regular Season Finale (Postgame Press Conference)
Sunday, November 30
TCU Football | Frogs Cruise Past Cincinnati in 2025 Regular Season Finale
Sunday, November 30
Behind the Mic: TCU vs. Cincinnati
Saturday, November 29
