TCU acknowledges UGA’s higher ‘tier’ after loss
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Paolo UggettiESPN
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — As TCU players ripped their name decals off the top of their locker rooms inside SoFi Stadium to take home in the aftermath of a 65-7 loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff title game Monday, the emotions that hung in the air inside the quiet room were a mix of disappointment for what the lopsided nature of the game had shown, as well as a glimmer of optimism for what could come.
“We want to be on that tier where Alabama and Georgia are on,” backup quarterback Chandler Morris said, acknowledging that TCU had failed to do that Monday night. “We’re going to get away from it a little bit, but we’re going to use this as confidence.”
Unlike quarterback Max Duggan, who struggled in the face of a ferocious Georgia defense that sacked him five times, Morris will return next season and be in competition for the starting quarterback job in the Frogs’ second year under head coach Sonny Dykes. (Duggan is set to enter the NFL draft.) Despite the sour finishing note, Dykes’ 13-2 year at TCU has set a high bar.
“This doesn’t take away from the season we had coming from a year ago,” running back Emari Demercado said. “Being in the national championship, that’s like something nobody would’ve ever thought would happen here.”
All season long, the Horned Frogs found ways to win, to come back, to overcome and continue their magical season. But against Georgia, the magic ran out in nightmare fashion. From the game’s first snap — a bad omen where the Frogs were called for a false start — any chance TCU had of pulling off a second, and more improbable, playoff upset appeared to vanish.
“We just didn’t play our style of football,” tight end Jared Wylie said. “They had us on our heels.”
By the time the red and white confetti papered the field, Georgia had put up not just 65 points but also gained a whopping 589 yards to TCU’s 188. At one point, Georgia had nearly as many points (45) as it had plays (48).
“We got our ass kicked,” offensive lineman Wes Harris said.
“It will take some time for the sting to go away, I assure you,” Dykes said. “We will look back on this season and build on it from here.”
How the Horned Frogs do just that remains to be seen. After a demoralizing loss, both departing and returning players had some ideas, noting that despite the leap TCU made this season, most of the players on the team had only experienced losing seasons and a lack of development because of that. The foundation that Dykes and his new staff have set provides a perfect point from which to restart.
“Now, they’ll know what it takes to prepare for this moment,” an outgoing Demercado said. “A lot of these guys had never been to bowl games. Emotions might have gotten to them, but just understanding that and knowing how to be ready to go out there and do what you gotta do.”
Dykes said he told the team afterward that they had to “look in the mirror” after a result like that and figure out what they needed to do to improve in order to not let it happen again.
“I think that’s the best thing that happens when you face adversity like this,” Dykes said. “You make mistakes and you learn from them and you get better as a program, get better as a coach, you get better as players, and the next time you handle the situation better.”
It is unclear if TCU will get a “next time.” For teams that aren’t the powerhouses that Alabama and Georgia have become, success in college football is fickle. Moreover, next season is set to bring a different challenge. TCU won’t be the underdog that was picked seventh in the Big 12 anymore, but because of its surprising success this season, the expectations will now be a built-in feature of its season, not a bug.
Playing in garbage time, Morris threw only one pass Monday night. But as he spoke postgame, there was a sense that he was taking on the baton from Duggan heading into next season. As the Frogs’ Heisman finalist took off his pads for the final time, the freshman made his stance clear for next season and beyond.
“At the end of the day, we want to win championships,” Morris said. “We fell short in the conference championship, we fell short in the national championship. We just have got to build from there, and this is going to be motivation for us in the future.”
Knight’s Choice has won the 2024 Melbourne Cup, defeating Warp Speed and Okita Soushi in a thrilling finish at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon.
The massive outsider saluted for Irish-born jockey Robbie Dolan, who claimed victory in what was his first ever ride in the “race that stops a nation”.
In what was a gripping 164th staging of Australia’s most-watched thoroughbred race, Knight’s Choice proved too strong in a sprint to the finish, pulling over the top of Okita Soushi and holding off Warp Speed by the barest of margins.
Trained by John Symons and Sheila Laxon on the Sunshine Coast, Knight’s Choice was well down the betting across all markets. It was Laxon’s second Melbourne Cup triumph after she trained Ethereal to victory 23 years ago.
“This is the pinnacle of all pinnacles, this is the Melbourne Cup,” Symons said.
Zardozi rounded out the first four.
As the field approached the final few hundred metres it appeared as though Jamie Kah, aboard Okita Soushi, would become just the second woman to ride the winner in the Melbourne Cup. But Okita Soushi was swallowed up as the winning post neared, with Knight’s Choice beating Warp Speed to the line after a peach of a ride from Dolan.
“We’ll be singing tonight after a few beers,” Dolan, who was a contestant on the 2022 edition of “The Voice”, told Channel 9.
“It is amazing and a lot of people doubted this little horse. Doubt me now.”
Laxon was more than happy with the ride, with Dolan threading his way through the field from near last on the bend.
“He started the race, and he knew how to ride him. We didn’t give him instructions, he knew what to do,” she said.
“I love it being down for the Australians. The Australian horse has done it, and Robbie is Australian now as well, so I’m thrilled to win the Cup, and it is the people’s Cup, and that’s what it is all about.”
Knight’s Choice is just the sixth Australian-bred horse to win since 1993, and the first since Vow and Declare back in 2019.
The five-year-old gelding carried only 51kg to victory and was making its first start over the 3200m trip. It had most recently come off a fifth-placed finish in the Bendigo Cup, but had showed sparing little form this preparation otherwise.
“I watched every Melbourne Cup for the last 40 years. I thought my best chance was to get him to stay the trip and, hopefully, he can run home and do the quick sectionals he can on a good track and he proved everybody wrong,” Dolan said.
MILWAUKEE — The Brewers‘ starting rotation could have a new look next season with right-handers Frankie Montas and Colin Rea heading into free agency.
The Brewers announced Monday that Montas had declined his part of a $20 million mutual option for 2025. The Brewers turned down the $5.5 million club option on Rea’s contract.
Montas receives a $2 million buyout and Rea gets a $1 million buyout.
In other moves Monday, right-hander Kevin Herget was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets, and left-hander Rob Zastryzny was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs. First baseman Jake Bauers and right-hander Bryse Wilson cleared waivers and were sent outright to Triple-A Nashville.
Montas, 31, had a combined 7-11 record with a 4.84 ERA and 148 strikeouts over 150⅔ innings in 30 starts for the Cincinnati Reds and Brewers this season. He was 3-3 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts for the Brewers, who acquired him just before the trade deadline.
Rea, 34, was 12-6 with a 4.28 ERA this season in 32 appearances, including 27 starts. He struck out 135 in 167⅔ innings. Rea had an 8.31 ERA in September and was left off the Brewers’ NL Wild Card Series roster.
Herget, 33, had no record with one save and a 1.59 ERA in seven appearances with Milwaukee this year. He was 5-1 with four saves and a 2.27 ERA in 38 relief outings with Triple-A Nashville.
Zastryzny, 32, was 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in nine appearances with Milwaukee. He pitched in 30 games with Nashville and went 4-0 with a 3.03 ERA.
The 29-year-old Bauers batted .199 with a .301 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 43 RBIs in 116 games this season. He also hit a seventh-inning homer that broke a scoreless tie in the decisive Game 3 of the Wild Card Series with the Mets, who rallied in the ninth to win 4-2.
Wilson, who turns 27 on Dec. 20, went 5-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 34 appearances, including nine starts.
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