Horned Frogs Travel Miles to Celebrate College Football Playoff

Horned frogs thrive in the desert. Tens of thousands of people gathered at the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona to watch the TCU football team qualify for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on January 9.

Horned Frog alumni, students and faculty have traveled 1,043 miles.

Patty Ruiz ’01 traveled from Chicago with her husband.

“We met first graders. This was a Christmas present for each other,” she said. “We are not staying with a group of alumni, we are staying at a hotel in downtown Phoenix, which is great because there are still a lot of TCU people in the hotel. has come to support Horned Frogs, so it’s kind of like evangelism.”

Mike Kirkpatrick ‘87 traveled from Washington DC where he is an attorney.

“It’s good for my generation. We can’t miss it. We’ve had a lot of lean years,” he said. “We are the first Texas team to make it to the college football playoffs. .”

Kirkpatrick traveled with about 30 fellow band alumni, including Drew Ruiz ’85. They were in the thousands attending the official tailgate of the TCU Alumni Association.

“We traveled together to the other Fiesta Bowl, the Rose Bowl, but this one is more important than anyone else,” Lewis said. “I’m not nervous, but I’m really excited to see how this goes. Trust Sony.

Head coach Sonny Dykes led the team to an undefeated regular season, the No. 3 team in the country and the first playoff appearance in TCU history.

John Thomas had plans to meet Ryan, Son of the Horned Frog, in the game. Unfortunately, he ended up experiencing the game alone. Ryan was one of many who were plagued by flight cancellations and delays.

Industry partner Steve Slaughter, who teaches in TCU’s fashion design program, was lucky enough to succeed without incident. This is his one of many matches he has participated in this historic year.

“We’ve been to the home game, the Baylor game, and of course we’re going to Los Angeles next week,” he said confidently before kickoff.

Among the many TCU leaders, newly appointed Chancellor Daniel Pullin was there to cheer on the frogs.

“I can’t think of a better time or place to transition to this role alongside the leadership of Prime Minister Boschini,” Pullin said. “It’s really great to see TCU on the national stage and see the Horned Frog family come together.”

After TCU’s 51-45 win over No. 2 University of Michigan (in which TCU led the overall game), John Thomas spoke to Ryan on the phone in the concourse, put one hand to his ear, and listened in the crowd. I was having a hard time.

“It was crazy,” he told his son.

Hopefully they can watch the national championship game together.