Like Georgia’s Stetson Bennett Last Season, TCU’s Max Duggan Did Not Begin This Season As Starting QB

Sonny Dykes did not name a starting quarterback ahead of TCU’s season opener at Colorado. The coach, in his first year with the Horned Frogs after four seasons at SMU, played it close to the vest saying that three quarterbacks would receive playing time.

After TCU took the field in Boulder, it was Chandler Morris who trotted out to lead the offense. Morris, son of former Arkansas and SMU coach Chad Morris, transferred from Oklahoma following the 2020 season and made two starts in 2021. In his first start, in place of the injured (foot) Max Duggan, he totaled 531 yards in leading the Horned Frogs to an upset of No. 12 Baylor.

As eye-opening as the performance against Baylor was, things went downhill the following week when Morris net all of 100 total yards in a 63-17 embarrassment at Oklahoma State. Duggan then started the Horned Frogs’ last two games of 2021.

During fall camp, and with a new coaching staff that included Dykes and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, who joined the former in Fort Worth after two seasons in the same capacity at SMU, a quarterback battle between Duggan and Morris, as well as redshirt freshman Sam Jackson, played out. Duggan was easily the most experienced having started 29 games in his first three seasons with TCU.

All three quarterbacks saw time in a 38-13 win at Colorado, though certainly not in a way Dykes planned. A knee injury in the third quarter forced Morris to sideline. Duggan came on and led a pair of scoring drives to seal the victory. Jackson shined while mopping up.

With Morris sidelined, Duggan took over the offense the following week against Tarleton State and put together a season that resulted in finishing second in the Heisman voting.

Duggan, who declared for the NFL draft in December, enters Monday night’s national championship game against Georgia tenth nationally in touchdown passes (32) and pass efficiency. He has also rushed for eight touchdowns and has totaled exactly 100 touchdowns in his career with the Horned Frogs.

Morris? The knee injury rendered him unavailable for a couple of weeks before seeing action in two conference matchups. He has attempted 26 passes. To his credit, Morris stuck with the program and intends to remain in Fort Worth to compete for the starting job again next season.

The situation at Georgia last season was far different. Injuries did not play a role in determining the quarterback who led the Bulldogs to the promised land. Rather, it was a season-long debate over who Kirby Smart should anoint to lead the offense, JT Daniels or Stetson Bennett. The former arrived in 2020 from USC, where he struggled with injuries. The latter was consistently doubted about his ability to lead the offense.

Even heading into Georgia’s College Football Playoff semifinal against Michigan there was still some question, at least externally. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken left no doubt who the Bulldogs were going with, saying Bennett gave them the best chance to win.

Having to identify the No. 1 signal caller ahead of such a huge game was far from ideal. Still, Bennett silenced the critics with his performance against the Wolverines by throwing the first of his three touchdown passes only four minutes into the game, which the former walk-on and his teammates dominated from the coin toss.

In the national championship game against Alabama, who UGA lost to in the SEC championship, Bennett had a costly turnover leading to a touchdown that gave the Crimson Tide an 18-13 lead with 10:14 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Bennett’s character and determination, not to mention a pair of touchdown passes, took center stage the rest of the way as Georgia scored 20 straight points to win their first national championship in four decades.

There was no debate this season over who the starting quarterback would be. At least not since about a week after the national championship game when Bennett announced he was returning to Athens for a final season.

Bennett enters his second national title game having thrown for 3,823 yards with 23 touchdowns (plus eight on the ground) and only seven interceptions in 429 attempts.