Goodbye 2020! Hello 2021!

 

 

COVID Issues at TCU Force Texas Bowl Cancellation

 

COVID-19 strikes again!

The 2020 Mercari Texas Bowl has been canceled due "to an increased number of positive COVID-19 tests and other circumstances within the TCU football program."

TCU was scheduled to play Arkansas in NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, at 7 pm Central on Thursday, December 31. 

The Texas Bowl game is the second game the Horned Frogs had to cancel this year because of virus-related issues. They also had to cancel their season opener vs. SMU.

The Frogs end their season at 6-4. 

Here is the official statement from TCU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jeremiah Donati:

"Over the last 24 hours, between a combination of COVID-19 related issues, injuries and other circumstances, we have fallen below the established Big 12 Conference threshold for student-athlete availability that we have abided by all season. As such, we very regrettably will not be able to participate in Thursday night's Mercari Texas Bowl against Arkansas.

"Health and safety considerations for our student-athletes are always our top priority. Our entire football program, from our student-athletes to coaches and staff, is incredibly saddened, disappointed and heartbroken. We are very appreciative of the Mercari Texas Bowl for the invitation to participate in this year's game. While we have experienced these issues all season, the past 24 hours have been too much to overcome on such short notice for Thursday's game.

"I am very proud of our student-athletes and coaches for how they finished the season with victories in five of our last six games. We were playing our best football and are excited about the momentum we have going into the 2021 season. We appreciate the commitment, dedication and perseverance of our student-athletes, coaches and everyone in our football program this season."

TCU Notables:

• TCU's nonconference football games in 2021 will be against California, SMU and Duequesne. Big 12 home games will be against Baylor, Kansas, Texas and West Virginia. The game against Cal is scheduled for September 11. The game against SMU is scheduled for September 25. Other dates are to be determined.
• The Texas Bowl game against Arkansas would have been Gary Patterson's 253rd as TCU's head coach.
• Patterson is TCU’s winningest football coach. His record is 178-74.
• Patterson's 178 victories are the most by an active head coach at his current school.
  
• Patterson has won 22 national coach of the year honors.
  
• Patterson has 203 overall wins as a Horned Frog. He has 178 victories as a head coach. Before becoming the head coach, he was part of 25 wins as the team's defensive coordinator (1998-2000). TCU is 203-84 with Patterson on its sideline.
  
• Patterson is 44-38 against conference opponents since TCU joined the Big 12 Conference in 2012. 
• TCU is one of just seven programs nationally to finish in the top 10 of the final polls at least three times (2014, 2015, 2017) in the last six seasons. The others are Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Penn State.
• TCU had five 11-win seasons last decade, equaling the combined number of the 11 other FBS programs in Texas.
• With wins over Texas, Baylor and Texas Tech, TCU finished 3-0 during the 2020 season against in-state Big 12 opponents.
• TCU is 3-1 on the road this season, with wins over Texas in Austin, Texas, Baylor in Waco, Texas, and Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, and a loss to West Virginia, in Morgantown, West Virginia. 
  
• Since 2009, TCU is tied for third nationally with 44 road wins. The Horned Frogs are 44-20 in that stretch.
• TCU's 52-26 record in road and neutral-site games since 2009 is seventh-best nationally.
• The Horned Frogs have nine scholarship seniors on this year's team.
• TCU’s streak of scoring in 355 consecutive games is the nation's second-longest current streak and fourth on the NCAA’s all-time list, trailing only Florida (400, 1988-present), Michigan (365, 1984-04) and BYU (361, 1975-03). The Horned Frogs haven't been blanked since November 16, 1991, at Texas (32-0).
• TCU is one of 21 schools to have won multiple national championships (1935, 1938) and produce a Heisman Trophy winner (Davey O’Brien, 1938). The other schools are Alabama, Army, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pittsburgh, SMU, Texas, Texas A&M and USC.
• TCU is one of nine schools nationally with a Heisman Trophy winner (Davey O’Brien, 1938), NFL Most Valuable Player (LaDainian Tomlinson, 2006) and Super Bowl MVP (Larry Brown, Dallas Cowboys, Super Bowl XXX). The others are Alabama, BYU, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Syracuse and USC.
• TCU is tied for fourth nationally, with Ohio State and Texas, in most bowl wins (11) since 2000.
  
• The Texas Bowl would have been the 35th bowl appearance in TCU's history. The Horned Frogs are 17-16-1 in bowl games.
• The bowl game would have been TCU's 17th bowl game in 20 seasons under Patterson, as the head coach, and the 20th with Patterson on the staff. TCU went to a bowl all three seasons (1998-2000) when Patterson was defensive coordinator.  
• TCU is 11-6 in bowl games with Patterson as head coach. The Frogs are 13-6 in bowls with Patterson on its coaching staff.  
• Patterson was named TCU's head coach prior to the 2000 Mobile Alabama Bowl.  
• Before Patterson's arrival at TCU in 1998, as the Frogs' defensive coordinator, the Horned Frogs had just four bowl wins in their history. 
• TCU's 11 bowl wins since 2000, all under Patterson, are tied for fourth nationally.  
• The Frogs’ last bowl appearance was in Phoenix, in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl. TCU defeated Cal, 10-7, in overtime. The Cheez-It Bowl now is played in Orlando, Florida, in Camping World Stadium. 
• The Texas Bowl was to have been played in NRG Stadium, the home of the Houston Texans. 
• TCU's Ross Blacklock is a rookie defensive tackle for the Houston Texans. 
  
• The Frogs are 2-0 in NRG Stadium. They beat Iowa State 27-24 in the 2005 Houston Bowl and Houston 20-13 in the 2007 Texas Bowl.
• TCU was planning to return to Houston for a bowl game for the first time in 13 years. In the 2007 Texas Bowl, the Horned Frogs beat Houston, 20-13. 
• TCU has appeared in a bowl game in Houston four other times, twice in the Bluebonnet Bowl, losing to Clemson, 23-7, in 1959, and losing to West Virginia, 31-14, in 1984.  
• In the 2001 GalleryFurniture.com Bowl, the Frogs lost to Texas A&M, 28-9. 
• In the 2005 EV1.net Houston Bowl, TCU beat Iowa State, 27-24.  
• TCU is 3-3 versus SEC opponents under Patterson. The Frogs have beaten Arkansas, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. TCU has lost to Arkansas, Georgia and LSU.
  
• Patterson is 1-1 versus the SEC in bowl games. The Frogs defeated Ole Miss, 42-3, in the 2014 Peach Bowl. TCU lost, 31-23, to Georgia in the 2016 Liberty Bowl. 
• TCU has won four of its past five bowl games.
  
• Over the last seven seasons, TCU is tied for the Big 12's second-best conference record (38-25) and has the third-best overall mark (58-30).
• The Horned Frogs have eight scholarship seniors on this year's team.
• TCU led the Big 12 and is 24th nationally this season in rushing at 214.7 yards per conference game. 
• The Horned Frogs are 6-0 this season and 101-8 under Patterson when running for at least 200 yards. 
• TCU averaged 275 yards per game rushing in its six wins this season and 124.3 yards per game rushing in its four losses.
• TCU has 22 sacks in the last six games, and 27 overall.
• TCU safety Trevon Moehrig is a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. A TCU player never has won the Jim Thorpe Award.
  
• Cornerback Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson is a Pro Football Focus First-Team All-American. 
• Moehrig and Hodges-Tomlinson are Associated Press second-team All-Americans.
• TCU true freshman defensive end Khari Coleman was named the Big 12's Defensive Co-Freshman of the Year. Coleman shared the honor with Iowa State defensive back Isheem Young. 
• Coleman racked up a team high 15 tackles for loss in his rookie campaign.
• TCU senior linebacker Garret Wallow, junior safety Trevon Moehrig and sophomore defensive back Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson were named to the conference's All-Big 12 Football First Team Defense. 
• Wallow also was Big 12 Honorable Mention for Defensive Player of the Year. 
• Wallow has accepted an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl, which is scheduled to be played on January 30, in Mobile, Alabama.
  
• TCU sophomore defensive end Ochaun Mathis and punter Jordy Sandy were named to the All-Big 12 Football Team Second Team Defense.  
• Mathis also was Big 12 Honorable Mention for Defensive Lineman of the Year.
• Mathis led the Big 12 with nine sacks during the regular season. Eight of his sacks came in the final five games, including a career-high three sacks against Texas Tech on November 7.
  
• TCU wide receiver/returned Derius Davis was Big 12 Honorable Mention for Special Teams Player of the Year, as a punt/kick returner. 
• TCU players who received All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors are: sophomore offensive lineman Steve Avila, junior wide receiver Taye Barber, true freshman defensive end Khari Coleman, junior defensive tackle Terrell Cooper, true freshman wide receiver Quentin Johnston, senior offensive lineman T.J. Storment, junior safety La’Kendrick Van Zandt, and sophomore safety Ar’Darius Washington. 
• Over its 10-game regular season, TCU rushed for 2,147 yards, an average of 214.7 rushing yards per game.
• The Frogs had 1,963 passing yards through 10 games, an average of 196.3 passing yards per game.
• TCU averaged 411 total yards per game.
• The Horned Frogs averaged 30.8 points per game.
• Through 10 games, TCU's defense allowed 1,275 rushing yards, an average of 127.5 rushing yards per game.
• TCU's opponents accumulated 2,234 passing yards, an average of 223.4 passing yards per game.
• The Frogs allowed 350.9 total yards per game this season.
• Opponents averaged 24.20 points per game against the Frogs. 
• The Horned Frogs have had more runs than passes in 20 of their last 25 games.
• The 2020 campaign has seen TCU with its highest percentage of running plays in its nine seasons in the Big 12. It is TCU’s most since 2011 (60.3 percent), its last year in the Mountain West Conference. 
• Since 2001, Patterson’s first full season as TCU’s head coach, the Horned Frogs have been the most successful program in the state of Texas. 
• Since 2005, TCU has the best record in Texas among the 12 FBS programs. 
• TCU’s 47-41 triple-overtime victory over Oregon in the 2016 Valero Alamo Bowl was one of the more memorable games in college football history. TCU trailed 31-0 at the half and recorded the largest comeback in school history. The 31-point comeback tied the largest for any bowl game in history. The 31 points tied for the second-largest comeback all-time in an FBS game. Michigan State rallied from 35 points down to beat Northwestern 41-38 in 2006. 
• The 52-10 win over Louisiana Tech in the regular-season finale marked the first time TCU had two 100-yard rushers (Kendre Miller, 136; Zach Evans, 100) and a 100-yard receiver (Quentin Johnston, 133) in the same game since October 10, 2015, at Kansas State with Trevone Boykin (124 yards rushing), Aaron Green (121 yards rushing) and Josh Doctson (155 yards receiving). It was the first time this season a Big 12 team had had two 100-yard rushers and a 100-yard receiver in the same game. It was also the first time in at least the last 25 seasons an FBS team had two 100-yard true freshman rushers and a true freshman 100-yard receiver.   
• Twenty Horned Frogs, including quarterback Max Duggan, have caught a pass this season. 
• Since the NCAA began tracking statistics in 1937, TCU trails only Alabama for the most times leading the nation in total defense. The Crimson Tide have been No. 1 seven times, while all five No. 1 rankings for the Horned Frogs are in the last 20 seasons.
•  Since beginning Big 12 play in 2012, TCU is tied for first with Alabama among Power 5 programs for most times (five) leading its conference in total defense. 
• Despite only playing in eight of the Big 12’s first 24 seasons, TCU is just one shy of sharing the lead for most times leading the conference in total defense. Kansas State and Texas lead at six times. 
• With the exception of 2015, when it was fourth in an 11-win season, TCU has been first or second in the Big 12 in total defense each year it has been in the conference 
• TCU is the only FBS team in the nation to lead its conference in total defense the last three seasons -- 2017, 2018 and 2019.
• The Frogs' punter, Jordy Sandy, who hails from Australia and worked with scaffolding and paper mill companies before coming to TCU, is 27. He is the 11th-oldest FBS player in the nation this season. 
• TCU co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Sonny Cumbie has left TCU. He has been named the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, which is his alma mater.
  

 

Merry Christmas, 2020!

 

 

 

 

2020 College Football Season Bowl Schedule and Scores

 

Details for the 2020 College Football Championship Playoff and the 2020 college football season bowl games:

(All times Central)

College Football Championship Playoff

January 11, 2021
College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T

No.1 Alabama vs. No. 3. Ohio State
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
7 p.m.; ESPN

January 1, 2021
College Football Playoff Semifinal at The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Capital One   

No. 1 Alabama 31, No. 4 Notre Dame 17
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
*Only the second time in a century-long history that the "Granddaddy of Them All" will be played outside Pasadena.

January 1, 2021
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl   

No. 3 Ohio State 49, No. 2 Clemson 28
Mercedes-Benz Superdome (New Orleans)

Bowl Schedule

Dec. 21

Myrtle Beach Bowl
Appalachian State 56, North Texas 28
Brooks Stadium (Conway, South Carolina)

Dec. 22

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Nevada 38, Tulane 27
Albertsons Stadium (Boise, Idaho)

RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
BYU 49, UCF 23
FAU Stadium (Boca Raton, Florida)

Dec. 23
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Georgia Southern 38, Louisiana Tech 3
Mercedes-Benz Superdome (New Orleans)

Montgomery Bowl
Memphis 25, Florida Atlantic 10
Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama)

Dec. 24

New Mexico Bowl
Hawai'i 28, Houston 14
Toyota Stadium (Frisco, Texas)

Dec. 25

Camellia Bowl
Buffalo 17, Marshall 10
Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama)

Dec. 26

CANCELED: Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
South Carolina vs. UAB (South Carolina pulls out of the game because of coronavirus cases within football program)
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Louisiana 31, UTSA 24
Gerald J. Ford Stadium (SMU Campus, Dallas)

LendingTree Bowl
Georgia State 39, Western Kentucky 21
Ladd-Peebles Stadium (Mobile, Alabama)

Cure Bowl
Liberty 37, Coastal Carolina 34 (OT)
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)

Dec. 29

Cheez-It Bowl
Oklahoma State 37, Miami 34
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)

Valero Alamo Bowl
Texas 55, Colorado 23
Alamodome (San Antonio)

Dec. 30

CANCELED: TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Iowa vs. Missouri (Missouri pulls out of the game because of coronavirus cases within football program)
Nissan Stadium (Nashville, Tennessee)

Duke's Mayo Bowl
Wisconsin 42, Wake Forest 28
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, North Carolina)

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
Oklahoma 55, Florida 20
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)

Dec. 31

Mercari Texas Bowl
CANCELED: Arkansas vs. TCU (TCU pulls out of the game because of a combination of COVID-19 related issues, injuries and other circumstances)
NRG Stadium (Houston)

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Mississippi State 28, Tulsa 24
Amon G. Carter Stadium (Fort Worth, Texas)

Arizona Bowl
Ball State 34, San Jose State 13
Arizona Stadium (Tucson, Arizona)

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
West Virginia 24, Army 21
(Army replaced Tennessee, which had to withdraw because of COVID-19 infections)
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (Memphis, Tennessee)

Jan. 1

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Georgia 24, Cincinnati 21
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)

Vrbo Citrus Bowl
Northwestern 35, Auburn 19
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)

College Football Playoff Semifinal at The Rose Bowl Game

No. 1 Alabama 31, No. 4 Notre Dame 17
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
*Only the second time in a century-long history that the "Granddaddy of Them All" will be played outside of Pasadena.

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl   

No. 3 Ohio State 49, No. 2 Clemson 28
Mercedes-Benz Superdome (New Orleans)

Jan. 2

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Kentucky 23, NC State 21
TIAA Bank Field (Jacksonville, Florida)

Outback Bowl
Ole Miss 26, Indiana 20
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
Iowa State 34, Oregon 17
State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)

Capital One Orange Bowl
Texas A&M 41, North Carolina 27
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)