LOS ANGELES — Georgia has not faced a quarterback this season like TCU’s Max Duggan, whom the Bulldogs will try to contain in Monday’s College Football Playoff Championship game at SoFi Stadium.
“He’s unique,” Georgia co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said Saturday.
Schumann started rattling off Duggan’s video game-like stats: more than 500 yards on designed runs and more than 150 on scrambles. Because yards lost on sacks are subtracted from a quarterback’s rushing totals in college football, Duggan officially has rushed 127 times for 461 yards and eight touchdowns. While his legs are good, his arm is even better. He’s passed for 3,546 yards and 32 touchdowns, with only six interceptions.
Though Georgia has faced Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, another Heisman Trophy finalist, and talented signal-callers such as Spencer Rattler, Anthony Richardson, Hendon Hooker, Jayden Daniels and Will Levis, Duggan stands alone.
“There’s a reason he’s a Heisman finalist, right?” Schumann said.
The Bulldogs haven’t done well in their past two games facing skilled quarterbacks. Stroud almost single-handedly led the Buckeyes to an upset Dec. 31 in the Peach Bowl CFP semifinal with his passing and running. Had wide receiver Marvin Harrison not left the game near the end of the third quarter because of concussion protocols, Georgia’s players and coaches may not have been sitting in a chilly L.A. Convention Center on Saturday answering questions about Duggan.
Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp said 14 of Ohio State’s 41 points came from scramble plays when Georgia didn’t do well enough rushing the quarterback or covering the receivers downfield.
“We have not done a great job with that,” he said.
Before defeating Ohio State, a pair of LSU quarterbacks threw for more than 500 yards four weeks earlier in the SEC Championship game.
So, containing Duggan, who is protected by a veteran line with 182 combined starts, will be a challenge.
If the Horned Frogs can form a serviceable pocket, Duggan doesn’t often miss. He completed 63.7% of his passes. The Horned Frogs lead FBS with 21 plays of at least 50 yards. Duggan is tied for the lead among quarterbacks in Power Five conferences with 17 touchdown passes of at least 20 yards.
“There’s a lot of stuff that I think I’ve tried to work on, whether it’s using legs, using my feet, things of that sort, that opposing teams can look for,” he said. “But I think kind of the vertical threat is something I wanted to work on a lot in the offseason.”
If the pocket breaks down, Duggan is fast enough to run away from a front seven. His longest rush was 67 yards.
“When that opportunity arises to use your feet, whether it’s zone read, whether it’s a scramble, whether it’s QB-designed runs, things of that sort, but I think it’s a tool that can be an advantage for us, but understanding when to use your legs, how to be smart, taking hits, things of that sort, when our team needs to play to use it,” he said.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes said Duggan is about more than his physical gifts. His composure is another quality that helps his team. Twice this season the Horned Frogs overcame deficits of at least 17 points to defeat Top 25 teams. The only other team to do that in consecutive games in a season since 1996 is Tennessee in 2016.
“There’s a lot of really great athletes in different sports, but there’s just very few people that raise the temperature of the room,” Dykes said. “And he does that. When he walks in the room, I think the temperature is raised.
“Like I said earlier in the year, I mean, truly when I drive to work in the morning, he makes me want to be better because he’s that invested in the program. He cares that much about it that when you drive in, you’re going, hey, look, I want to be at my best for him because I know he’s going to be at his best for us.”
About the Author
