Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, and Notre Dame Advance in College Football Playoffs

We’re down to four teams in this first year of the 12 team College Football Playoffs, after the games of December 31st-January 2nd. One interesting note right off the bat: the four teams that received first round byes all lost. Will expansion to 16 teams be in the future to eliminate the bye?

While first round games were playoffs at campus locations, this round was played as bowl games, with of course, the games sponsors figuring prominently. First up was the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona featuring #3 seed Boise State up against #6 Penn State. The Nittany Lions’ defense had to control Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, the runner up for the Heisman Trophy. For for the most part, they succeeded. Jeanty did rush for 104 yards, but averaged just 3.5 yards per carry, or half his normal yards per carry. Penn State also kept him out of the end zone. Penn State scored a pair of first quarter touchdowns, but the Broncos closed to within 17-14 in the third quarter before Penn State pulled away for a 31-14 victory.

The most exciting game of these quarterfinals was between fifth seeded Texas and #4 Arizona State in the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Texas was in command for most of the game, taking a 24-8 lead with 10:17 left in the fourth quarter. But the Sun Devils woke up and scored two touchdowns each with a two point conversion in 1:31 to tie it at 24-24, which was the score at the end of regulation. Each team scored a touchdown in the first overtime; in the second overtime, Quin Ewers threw a 25 yard touchdown pass to Gunnar Helm and a pass to Matthew Golden for a two point conversion and a 39-31 lead. On the subsequent Arizona State possession, Texas defensive back Andrew Mukuba intercepted a Sun Devils’ pass to secure the victory for the Longhorns.

Two Big Ten teams met in the Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential in Pasadena. This game seemed like the old Pac-12 vs Big Ten matchups of the past, as former Pac-12 member Oregon is in its first year in the Big Ten. The Ducks were undefeated in this one, and had squeaked out a 32-31 win over the Buckeyes in Oregon earlier this season. That was then, this is now. The Buckeyes jumped off to a 34-0 lead in the second quarter on the way to a 41-21 win. The Buckeyes rolled up 500 total yards on the Ducks, including 319 and three touchdowns through the air on just 17 completions. Jeremiah Smith led Ohio State with 187 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. This is the third time the Buckeyes and Ducks have met in the Rose Bowl; OSU is now 3-0, winning in 10-7 1958 and 26-17 in 2010.

The final quarterfinal game was held at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on January 2nd, delayed one day due to the horrendous terrorist attack on the 1st. This one featured # 7 Notre Dame and #2 Georgia. Notre Dame took a 13-3 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Fighting Irish opened the second half with a 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Jayden Harrison. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown in the third quarter to make it 20-10, but could not score again. Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter kicked his third field goal of the day for the only scoring in the fourth quarter and the Fighting Irish advanced with a 23-10 win.

So the semifinals will feature two Big Ten teams (Ohio State and Penn State), one SEC team (Texas) and independent Notre Dame. Penn State and Notre Dame will meet in the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami on January 9th, and Texas and Ohio State will play in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on January 10th. It will be an interesting test for Ohio State in what is almost a home game for Texas. The championship game is January 20th in Atlanta.