Trenton Thompson
In the regular season, Thompson only had two sacks. Against TCU he had three. Two of those sacks were probably the most important plays of the game. Both came late in long drives by TCU, both led to 40-plus-yard field goal attempts, and both field goals were missed.
Two sacks definitely kept 14 points off the board for TCU. But with the inconsistent kicking by TCU, Thompson’s sacks prevented any points from being scored at all. For that, he earned defensive and all-around MVP honors for the Liberty Bowl.