.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Frogs, Ducks had big dreams, but head to bowl not asking 'what if?'
Both No. 11 TCU and No. 15 Oregon had bigger dreams than facing off in the Alamo Bowl.
The Ducks entered this season without their Heisman quarterback, but still believed they were the kings of Pac-12. The Horned Frogs had their Heisman candidate quarterback coming back and a conference title to defend.
But injuries to both squads altered their best-laid plans. For Oregon (9-3), the realization that a return to the College Football Playoff would not happen came early in the season with two conference losses in three weeks in late September and early October. After dealing with the disappointment, Oregon has been tough as nails, reeling off six consecutive victories that includes Stanford and USC.
For TCU (10-2), the playoff pain came much later. A loss at Oklahoma State to open November and then the crusher at Oklahoma ended the playoff quest for a team that kept hopes alive for a long time despite a seemingly never-ending run of injuries in the season's first month.
"For us, this is a playoff game,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said on a bowl conference call Sunday night. “Oregon is a team that, if they didn’t have injuries, would have been a top-four team. We feel like without a couple, we would have been like that.”
Both teams can legitimately ask themselves, 'what if?' What if Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., who had the tall task of replacing Marcus Mariota, had never been injured early in the season? What if TCU's stellar QB Trevone Boykin had not missed the 30-29 loss against the Sooners?
It doesn't really matter now. Those circumstances can't change. But both teams enter the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, just a four-hour drive from the TCU campus in Forth Worth, with plenty of motivation.
For the Ducks, this season's impressive winning streak is on the line. For the Frogs, they're seeking a fourth bowl victory in the last five years.
"You always have a little bit of a bad taste in your mouth if you don't win the bowl game," Patterson said.
