The TCU Horned Frogs football team shocked the world, defeating the Michigan Wolverines in the College Football Playoff Fiesta Bowl to advance to the National Championship game vs. the Georgia Bulldogs. Unsurprisingly, Quentin Johnston and company were viewed as heavy underdogs against Michigan- and are already viewed as such against the SEC champion ‘Dawgs.

The Horned Frogs will need all hands on deck if they are going to secure a National Championship title. Max Duggan, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, will need to be at the top of his game as TCU football's most important player.

But who is the Horned Frogs' X-factor, or player who will have one of the biggest impacts on the outcome of the contest? Some might say it's Johnston, the big-bodied wideout who made play after play in the Fiesta Bowl win over the Wolverines.

Others might say it's Emari Demercado, the backup running back who came in for the injured Kendre Miller and ran for 150 yards and a score in the College Football Playoff semifinal victory.

While both Johnston and Demercado are undoubtedly going to need to have good games for the Horned Frogs to win, they're both not quite the team's X-factor.

TCU football's National Championship X-factor is a player who might surprise fans and pundits covering the team but would not surprise his own teammates in the slightest.

So, without further ado, let's get to the Horned Frogs' X-factor.

TCU Football National Championship X-Factor

TCU football's National Championship X-factor is defensive lineman Dylan Horton. Horton was everywhere during his team's Fiesta Bowl win over Michigan, as he tallied a whopping four sacks, four tackles for loss and a pass defended in the 51-45 win.

Before that, Horton had a pair of sacks in the Big 12 title game loss to the Kansas State Wildcats. That means that six of his 10 sacks have come in the last two games, which just so happen to be TCU football's most important contests of the season.

The thing is, no one would have expected this out of Horton, a solid rotational defensive end for the last three seasons with the Horned Frogs.

A transfer from the University of New Mexico, the 6-4, 275-pound Horton tallied 51 total tackles and four sacks last year.

Solid numbers, but not ones that would make anyone jump for joy. And yet, Horton has turned himself into perhaps the most important player on the TCU football defense- and a potential top-100 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Horton is a gifted athlete for a man his size, which makes sense given that he was a former safety.

Well, the former safety used that athleticism to his advantage against the nation's best offensive line, Michigan's.

Georgia will present an entirely different challenge for Horton and TCU football.

The Bulldogs have allowed just nine sacks, ranking inside the top-five teams in the nation.

Georgia essentially has a wall around quarterback Stetson Bennett every game- and no defense has been able to break through the fortress.

If anyone can do it, it's Horton, who is one of the most dominant players in the sport at the moment.

He is TCU football's X-factor. If Horton has another big game, it's likely that the Horned Frogs are walking away as national champions.

If Georgia keeps him in check, they're likely repeating as champs.