
A Season in Review: The 2024-25 College Football Season, Week by Week
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The college football world changed forever in more ways than one coming into this season, with realignment altering the entire conference landscape and the 12-team playoff’s debut leaving a lasting impression on just about every aspect of college football as we knew it. Multiple losses isn’t a death sentence, no one really knows what conference championships mean anymore, and the college football playoff byes ended up hurting its recipients far more than it helped. With so much to unpack, let’s simplify it a bit here, with a week by week recap breaking down the biggest moments and top stories of this new era of college football.
Week 0/1
If there’s one thing that went untouched from all the drastic changes to the game we love, it’s non-conference play. This was as good a Week 1 slate as we’ve seen, with plenty of out of conference clashes between big name programs making for a great opening week where you would never know how different the sport was about to become. The college football season started off with a bang, and this one was actually an inter-conference meeting, with Georgia Tech knocking off the 11th ranked Florida State Seminoles on a game-winning field goal in Dublin, a year after FSU completed an undefeated regular season just to be controversially snubbed from the College Football Playoff. The ‘Noles’ hopes at a repeat perfect regular season were done before anyone else’s season even kicked off, and it’d get even uglier in the official Week 1 as they lost at home to another conference foe in Boston College, a disastrous start to a season with playoff expectations. The top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs ripped apart Clemson in the first marquee matchup of the season, a game that put into perspective just how far Dabo Swinney and his program had fallen from the new top dogs in the sport, a 34-3 loss and a statement performance from UGA to open their season. The best win of the day may have come that night, with Notre Dame marching into an electrifying atmosphere in College Station and escaping victorious, taking the lead late on a Jeremiah Love touchdown and holding on against a Texas A&M team that looked more offensively challenged than not. In a renewed rivalry between Miami and Florida it was Cam Ward who starred in the national spotlight in his first game with the ‘Canes, tearing the Gators up in Gainesville in a blowout win and a convincing start to 2024 for the ‘U’. The Sunday of Week 1 featured one of the games of the week between USC and LSU, and it was Lincoln Riley, Miller Moss and the Trojans that edged Brian Kelly and co. in a big-time victory in their first game as a member of the Big Ten. Most of the top teams facing far inferior opponents rolled, but it was worth noting Oregon’s struggles with FCS Idaho, only escaping Eugene with a 10-point victory in a somewhat alarming Big Ten debut. In the SEC debuts for Texas and Oklahoma, as expected, they had no issues. Most of the top teams handled their business to kick off their seasons, others (Florida State) saw it play out as disastrous as they could’ve imagined, while teams like Notre Dame, USC, and Miami leave their season openers with a ton of momentum with signature wins away from home.
Week 2
The biggest game of the young season came in Ann Arbor, Michigan, pitting the reigning champion Wolverines against Quinn Ewers and the 3rd ranked Texas Longhorns in a meeting between two of the four playoff teams from a season ago. Michigan's entourage of departures from their title-winning team was never going to elude them, but this felt excessive as Texas dominated them in every aspect of this game, with new QB Davis Warren looking like a deer in headlights in Michigan’s first home loss since 2020. This Texas team looked for real, while Sherrone Moore and Wolverines have plenty to address in a rude awakening to the post-Jim Harbaugh era. By the books, Texas was the favorite to win that game, but the same certainly could not be said about Northern Illinois, who marched into South Bend and stunned a Notre Dame team fresh off their big road win over A&M. The Redhawks took the lead with 31 seconds to go and held on after Notre Dame’s last-gasp 62-yard field goal missed terribly, completing one of the most shocking upsets in recent memory over an Irish team that leaped to 5th in the country entering the day. While that was going on, Iowa State stole a rivalry win over Iowa on a 54-yard field goal with 20 seconds to go, and later in the night Nebraska delivered a beating to Deion Sanders’ Colorado in an early reminder this team might once again not be ready to translate clicks to wins. A week after a lackluster showing against Idaho, Oregon had trouble again at home though this time against a more respectable foe, escaping Boise State with a hard-fought three-point win that’s not exactly moving the needle on the confidence of this team. Illinois took down #17 Kansas at home in a game they trailed entering the 4th, and the SEC made a statement of their own as Tennessee rolled past NC State in Charlotte in as convincing a win as you could’ve expected in one of the top two-25 matchups of the day. At the end of the day, losing all but four starters as well as most of your coaching staff will make it tough to replicate a perfect season, or anything close to that, and Texas took full advantage of that picking apart the Wolverines to the fullest on the road. But not much can top Thommas Hammock and his Northern Illinois Huskies, whose win in South Bend will live on forever in the biggest shakeup to the playoff picture we have seen quite yet.
Week 3
This week’s slate wasn’t eye-popping by any means, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t give us a number of memorable games and some interesting results we won’t soon forget. Kansas State opened the week with a dominant top 25 win over Arizona, and later that Friday night UNLV handed Kansas a surprising second straight loss on a late touchdown. In front of a raucous crowd in Columbia, South Carolina exploded out of the gates to a 17-0 lead against LSU. The Tigers eventually settled in and got back in it, but the moment of the game may have been a controversial nullification of a pick-six that would’ve put the Gamecocks in complete control with a double-digit lead, as LSU would get it back, score, and win the game after South Carolina’s missed game-tying field goal as time expired. We’ve already mentioned Florida State’s nightmarish start, and it got a whole lot worse today as they fell at home to Memphis, falling to 0-3 in what’s quickly become one of the most surprisingly bad starts the sport has ever seen. Their Week 0 loss was a hit to their playoff hopes, the Week 1 loss meant something more was going on, and today’s defeat means there’s no more beating around the bush - this team might be just flat-out awful. The ACC is no powerhouse this year, but even scraping to bowl eligibility is going to be an uphill battle for Mike Norvell’s bunch, a year the bar for disappointment was a missed College Football Playoff berth. Top-ranked Georgia had zero trouble with Clemson to kick off their season, but they had all sorts of issues in Lexington against Kentucky today, ultimately squeaking out a one-point win on the road against a UK team that didn’t even score a touchdown. UGA’s first and only touchdown came in the 4th quarter, putting the ‘Dawgs on top for the first time and giving them enough cushion to narrowly survive their SEC opener. They’ll have a week to figure things out with a bye ahead of their monumental clash with Alabama. Those Crimson Tide cruised past Wisconsin in Madison in what should be the only test of non-conference play, while Notre Dame had exactly the bounce-back they needed from last week’s catastrophe with a 66-7 obliteration of Purdue on the road. Washington State may have been the big winners of the day, taking down their archrival Washington and reclaiming the Apple Cup, sticking it to their in-state foes in their first meeting since the Cougars were left behind in the Pac-12 while UW and plenty others bolted for the bigger conferences.
Week 4
With conference play now in full swing for many, this week’s four top 25 matchups were the most we’ve seen to date, and three of them featured a team playing their first big game in their brand new conference. In the first of four, and the only one between traditional conference foes, Bret Bielema and Illinois spoiled the party in Lincoln as they took down unbeaten Nebraska in OT. Staying in the Big Ten, in an instant classic, Michigan took down USC in the Trojans’ Big Ten debut, stealing a wild win at the Big House after Kalel Mullings played hero ball on their final drive with 84 of their 89 yards on a game-winning drive he capped off with the game-winning touchdown on 4th and goal. The defending champs needed this one badly, and they got the big win in spite of just 32 passing yards in their first game since a switch-up at QB. Utah took down Oklahoma State on the road without Cam Rising, controlling the game the entire way before a bit of a garbage time rally from the Cowboys made the final score more respectable. It was Tennessee who made the statement of the day, completely suffocating Jackson Arnold and Oklahoma in the Sooners’ SEC debut, dominating the game in Norman and cruising to a big-time win. It was chalk the rest of the way in the top 25 outside of BYU’s blowout win over 13th ranked Kansas State in Provo, which sends the Cougars to a surprise 4-0 start and a likely spot in next week’s rankings. Stanford pulled off a bit of an upset over Kyle McCord and Syracuse on the road, while #7 Missouri barely survived a serious upset bid from Vanderbilt, holding on with a 30-27 win in OT. Kansas was a preseason top 25 team, but it’s now three losses in a row as West Virginia got them this time with two touchdowns in the final 3:27 to steal the victory. The Jayhawks’ start hasn’t been pretty, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Florida State’s 0-3 start to 2024, but they finally got in the win column today with a narrow 14-9 win in California’s ACC debut. It wasn’t convincing by any means, but they’re finally on the board after a truly nightmarish start. As if Notre Dame’s loss to Northern Illinois wasn’t crazy enough two weeks ago, that same NIU team lost a home game to Buffalo today. Colorado, who nobody really knows what to make of, seemed down and out tonight down 7 at home with Baylor Bears deep in Buffaloes territory late, but a missed field goal gave Colorado life, and miracle struck as Sheduer Sanders and LaJohntay Webster connected for a game-tying Hail Mary as time expired. And the magic wasn’t done yet, as after Colorado struck easily on the first drive of OT, Travis Hunter forced a fumble out of the end zone to win it for the Buffaloes in incredible fashion. No win felt more improbable than theirs, and Deion Sanders’ crew has already matched their win total from last season. Plenty of strong impressions were made today, and things really heat up next week in a slate highlighted by Saturday night’s collision of Alabama and Georgia.
Week 5
What a week this was in the college football world, easily the most chaotic to date and one that really got the ball rolling on what this new era of conference play could look like. Alabama and Georgia was the headliner of the week, and maybe the entire regular season, and while that game more than lived up to the billing, plenty more head-turning results and wild finishes made for a fantastic week of action. We got intense drama before we even got to Saturday, starting at Hard Rock as Virginia Tech looked to have (and was ruled to have) caught the game-winning Hail Mary as time expired against #7 Miami, but after a lengthy review it was determined the receiver did not have clear possession and it was ruled incomplete. It was as controversial a finish as you may see this season with both sides appearing to have a decent case, but the ‘Canes got the benefit of the doubt at home and remained undefeated by the skin of their teeth. Not long after, Rutgers picked up a big-time win, denying Washington’s comeback bid after the Huskies missed a game-tying field goal as time expired, a win that sent the Scarlet Knights to 4-0 while handing the reigning runner-up Huskies a second loss in three weeks. Moving onto Saturday, it was Kentucky, two weeks after playing Georgia shockingly close, that put on another defensive clinic and this time finished the job, taking down #6 Ole Miss on the road after the Rebels’ missed a game-tying field goal with 48 seconds to go. A week after their big win over USC, Michigan had a lot of trouble with Minnesota at home, never breaking free and only surviving after a controversial offsides call on the Golden Gophers negated their onside kick recovery and just about ended the game. Penn State took care of business as they shut down the red-hot Fighting Illini at home, while USC bounced back with a big second half to run away from Wisconsin. #23 Kansas State rolled past #20 Oklahoma State in a battle between two teams coming off defeats, and the loss of Cam Rising finally caught up to 10th-ranked Utah in a disappointing home loss to Arizona. Any momentum FSU thought they had from their first win didn’t last a full seven days, as they went down 42-16 on the road against SMU in probably their most humiliating performance yet. Notre Dame fell behind just a minute and a half into their top-20 clash with Louisville, but they found their footing and ultimately took care of business for their second ranked win of the first five weeks. We’re approaching the point where the Heisman race starts working itself out, and no one made a bigger statement than Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, who reached the pinnacle of his hot start running for 259 yards and 4 TDs as they handed Washington State their first loss. Right as the Irish were finishing up, Oklahoma stole a win at Jordan-Hare as a catastrophic Auburn pick-six deep in OU territory with a 21-16 lead would give the Sooners their first SEC win. But everything in this Week 5 centered around the showdown in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Georgia’s first regular season meeting since 2020 and a massive top-5 tilt between two bonafide championship contenders. Early on only one looked the part, as Alabama exploded to a 28-0 lead with touchdowns on their first four drives. Georgia started to chip away as the Tide’s offense came down to earth, but the ‘Dawgs still had a ways to go trailing 33-15 entering the 4th. Two immediate TDs really put the pressure on with Georgia suddenly within a possession, and after getting the ball back, a 67-yard Dillon Bell TD on the first play of the drive gave them the lead in stunning fashion with only 2:42 to go. Not to be outdone, Jalen Milroe hit freshman phenom Ryan Williams for a 75-yard TD on the very next play, the only snap of the game in which Alabama trailed, and after going up by seven they’d intercept Carson Beck in the end zone to seal the incredible victory. It was an unbelievable game, and the Tide’s first signature win of the post-Saban era. Alabama might have very well moved into the No. 1 ranking with this victory, a perfect nightcap to a fantastic week of college football.
Week 6
At the halfway point of the regular season for many, pretenders and contenders were separated more than ever today in a wildly exciting week with no shortage of College Football Playoff shake ups. Syracuse went on the road for a Friday Night in Vegas against UNLV and left victorious, edging the Rebels out in OT behind a huge night from Kyle McCord. It was a considerable blow to UNLV’s hopes of representing the Group of Five in the CFP, though they’ve shown no slowing down offensively since Matthew Sluka’s bizarre transfer saga left a void at QB. We finished with Alabama last week so let’s start with them here. An absolute stunner went down in Nashville tonight, as Vanderbilt, in the upset of all upsets in the SEC, shocked Alabama with a 40-35 win in the Tide’s first week at #1 a week after their monster win over Georgia. It was a groundbreaking win for the Commodores, and one you could find a million stats to demonstrate how improbable this was. Here’s a few of my favorites. It was Vanderbilt’s first win over Alabama since 1984, and their first top-5 win in program history. It was the first win for a 23+ point underdog in 16 years, and it came after ‘Bama had outscored Vanderbilt 158-3 in their last three meetings. What a moment. That wasn’t all the drama, or close to it, on this wild first Saturday in October, with Arkansas taking down #4 Tennessee and #25 Texas A&M obliterating #9 Missouri. It might be hard to come by to find remains from last year’s teams in this one, but 10th-ranked Michigan met Washington in Seattle tonight in a National Championship rematch, and the Huskies avenged January’s loss against a Wolverines team that still can’t get out of its own way at the quarterback position. A year after winning it all, it’s hard to imagine Michigan even reaching the expanded playoff now at 4-2. Another big shakeup in the Big Ten went down a little later in the night, as Minnesota edged #11 USC at home after their late 4th and goal that was initially ruled a Trojans stop ended up as a Golden Gophers touchdown in a big-time win for P.J. Fleck and co. No team in the Big Ten has been more of a surprise than Indiana, who is now 6-0 and halfway to a perfect season in Curt Cignetti’s first season at head coach, a year after finishing 3-9 in what is quietly looking like one of the best stories in the sport. And how about Miami, a week after controversially slipping by VA Tech looking to have finally had their true colors revealed, falling behind 35-10 on the road against Cal in what was shaping up to be an all-time day in Berkeley with College GameDay in the morning and a potential top-10 win in their ACC debut. Cam Ward and the ‘U’ had other plans, storming back and stunning the Golden Bears after scoring three 4th quarter touchdowns, taking the lead back once and for all after a 92-yard drive that lasted all of 1:16 ended in an Elijah Arroyo touchdown with 26 seconds left. We’re not really sure how, but the ‘Canes are still perfect. Three more preseason top 25 teams from the Big 12 went down again today, as disappointing starts continued for Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Arizona in their trio of losses to unranked opponents. After this drama-filled Week 6 that featured five of the top 11 going down, things are getting real as the weather gets colder and the football gets bigger.
Week 7
Topping last week was always going to be a tall task after nearly half the top-11 went down plus whatever went down in the depths of the night between Miami and Cal, but it’s fair to say that Week 7 gave it its best shot. Weekday clashes in the Group of Five officially made their return, and over in the Big 12 it was Arizona State pulling the upset over Utah, with Cam Rising returning only to suffer another injury, which he played through but probably shouldn’t have in a disastrous 3-INT performance. Six of the top 10 was involved in one-possession games but the new #1, Texas, was a pretty big exception in their rout of archrival Oklahoma. The first Red River Rivalry SEC edition was a dud as the ‘Horns rolled to a 34-3 win, but they cemented their spot atop the rankings ahead of a mega clash with Georgia next week. The next two teams up after Texas, Ohio State and Oregon, highlighted the slate with a massive collision in Eugene, and the game lived up to the hype and was never separated by more than one score. Oregon took a one-point lead on a field goal with 1:47 to go, but OSU worked their way into field goal range before a penalty knocked them back out, and right on the brink of that range in the final moments, Will Howard ran it up the middle and slid down with no timeouts remaining, running the clock out on Ohio State before a chance at a game-winning field goal. The Ducks make a statement in their inaugural Big Ten season and look very much on their way to the Big Ten Title game. Right around that time, a big one in the SEC went down between LSU and Ole Miss, with the Tigers rallying to force OT on a 4th down touchdown with 27 seconds left. After the Rebels knocked in a 57-yarder in OT, LSU won it on a Kyren Lacy touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive. Three more top tens had their hands full with inter-conference battles, the first being Alabama as a week after their stunning loss to Vandy, South Carolina gave them all they could handle as the Tide narrowly hung after the Gamecocks’ game-tying two-point conversion was no good. Penn State was in real trouble on the road against USC, trailing 20-6 at the half and needing a late touchdown just to get to OT, but the 3rd ranked Nittany Lions ultimately prevailed after the Trojans missed a field goal and Penn State hit theirs in the extra session. And lastly it was Tennessee, scraping by their rival Florida Gators in another overtime finish, as the Gators followed suit of USC with an overtime missed field goal that set the Vols up for the win. Purdue, who everyone’s had their way with in the midst of their 1-4 start, gave one-loss Illinois a valiant fight on the road, but their potential game-winning two-point attempt in OT was no good, and the Illini survived in their first game since falling to Penn State. Vanderbilt kept it going from their win over ‘Bama with a road win over Kentucky, while Kansas State cooled down Colorado with a close but impressive victory on the road. Oregon is arriving in the Big Ten in style while a number of top 10 teams just barely slip by, and LSU puts Ole Miss on thin ice as they’re dealt a second heartbreaking defeat.
Week 8
As the regular season crosses its halfway mark, the season continues to heat up with another exciting slate as we move deeper into conference play. If there’s one positive about realignment it’s this - there’s never a shortage of premier matchups. This week pitted a pair of huge SEC matchups, as Georgia faced top-ranked Texas in Austin while ‘Bama took Tennessee in Knoxville. Starting in the Big 12, in a matchup of two teams headed in totally different directions - a red-hot BYU team with minimal preseason expectations and a reeling Oklahoma State group that opened the year in the top-20 - this game told you all you needed to know as the Cougars won it on a 35-yard TD with just 10 seconds to go in the game. Now 7-0, it’s time to take BYU seriously in the Big 12, while the brakes have completely fallen off for the Cowboys as they fall under .500 with a fourth straight loss. Oregon followed up their breakthrough win over Ohio State with a shutout of Purdue, while LSU marched into Fayetteville and rolled past the Razorbacks a week after their big win over Ole Miss. It’s never pretty, but Miami just keeps on winning, this time outlasting Louisville in a 52-45 shootout on the road. Georgia, meanwhile, two weeks after being torn apart in Tuscaloosa, marched into Austin in their biggest underdog spot in four years and dominated. They had their way with Quinn Ewers so much early on that Steve Sarkisian briefly turned to Arch Manning at the end of the first half, and the ‘Dawgs went into the locker room with a 23-0 lead. The Longhorns briefly got back in it with a pair of 3rd quarter TDs, the latter coming after a highly controversial defensive PI call negated a huge interception, only to be reversed and ruled an INT after all following a fan-incited stoppage with the student section launching battles onto the field. Georgia quickly took back control, and they rolled on with one of the big statement wins of the college football season. Over in Knoxville more drama unfolded, with Tennessee handing the Tide their second loss of the season behind a strong defensive effort, intercepting Jalen Milroe to seal the deal and putting the Tide’s backs against the wall just two weeks after they held the No. 1 ranking. One more loss might do Alabama in here in Kalen DeBoer’s first season, though the schedule lightens up with LSU the only ranked team left on the schedule. Quietly undefeated Iowa State remained perfect in thrilling fashion, overcoming an 8-point 4th quarter deficit with a game-winning 80-yard drive in just 1:18, taking the lead with 30 seconds to go to barely escape UCF’s upset bid. Reigning champion Michigan might have hit rock bottom today, with a lifeless 21-7 loss to Illinois effectively ending their playoff hopes as their latest QB change ended in disaster yet again. Not only are the Wolverines likely out of the race, but things could get uglier with a particularly unrelenting schedule the rest of the way. And to the surprise of us all, Indiana is a big reason why, as they rolled to a convincing 56-7 win over Nebraska, remaining unbeaten and keeping the train moving even after Kurtis Rourke left with a thumb injury. It’s Indiana’s first 7-0 start since 1967, magical start to Curt Cignetti’s first year. USC and Oklahoma’s new conference disappointments continued with losses to Maryland and South Carolina respectively, while Missouri stayed in the mix with a come-from-behind win over Auburn late. Though they never really left, Georgia is officially back at the forefront of contention, while Alabama falling out of the race at least for the time being makes the two biggest headlines of another exciting week of college football.
Week 9
Another week, another plethora of big-time games, and Week 9 was no exception. Syracuse was riding high at 5-1 heading into a big Thursday night clash with undefeated Pittsburgh, but you couldn’t have drawn up a more catastrophic night as Kyle McCord was intercepted five times, four in the first half and two taken to the house, and the Panthers made a statement with a good old fashioned beatdown of their former Big East rivals. In a testament to Indiana’s magical start, College GameDay made its first ever trip to Bloomington, with undefeated Indiana playing host to Washington but the Hoosiers without QB Kurtis Rourke after he left last week with a thumb injury. Indiana was unphased, continuing to blow past anyone that might stand in their way and making today their latest convincing win. Notre Dame made a statement of their own, tearing up unbeaten Navy at MetLife Stadium as they continue to quietly climb back up the polls ever since that calamity in Week 2. In a big Mountain West clash with legitimate CFP implications, Ashton Jeanty and Boise State edged out UNLV on the road to remain in the driver’s seat for the highest Group of Five ranking. Jeanty went for 128 YDS and a TD, a quiet night for his standards. Alabama shut out a clearly fraudulent Missouri, whose two losses are now by a combined 71-10, while Oregon rolled through Illinois in their first game as the #1 team in the country. Vandy gave Texas a real fight in Nashville, but the Longhorns survived coming off the loss to remain front and center of the SEC race. Their in-state rival, Texas A&M, took a huge step forward tonight inciting by backup QB Marcel Reed entering the game, as he completely turned the game around against #8 LSU and ignited a big second half comeback to keep the Aggies undefeated in conference play. It wasn’t rivalry week, but a ton of bad blood collided in this Week 9, with Miami cruising past a Florida State team that we’ve ran out of words to describe as they fall to 1-7, while the same can be said about a Kansas team now 1-6 with a narrow road loss to K-State. Michigan got back on track with a home win over Michigan State, while Ohio State, in their first game since the Oregon loss, had their hands full at home as they squeaked one out against a very resilient Nebraska. The Buckeyes will face Penn State next week, and they’ll need to sharpen things up to avoid a potentially detrimental second loss. A&M’s emergence has the SEC race a total mess at the top, and you sure can’t count out the Tide just yet after their dominant win today. The last weekend of October didn’t feature too much havoc at the top, but college football is college football and will never not be fun.
Week 10
As the calendar shifts to November, things are getting real fast in the college football season. The game of the week came in Happy Valley, a top 5 showdown between Ohio State and Penn State as the Nittany Lions attempt to avenge their big game woes while the Buckeyes look to get back on track after a shaky last two weeks. After Penn State kicked a field goal on their opening drive, a pick-six of Will Howard had Beaver Stadium turned upside down in OSU’s most vulnerable moment yet. They responded as a true contender would, finding their footing and responding with consecutive touchdown drives, and as Penn State’s offense melted down as the game went on, the Buckeyes would for an enormous road win. This one epitomized the problems Penn State always seems to have in moments like these, with the moment of the game when they got down to the goal line but came up short trailing by seven more than halfway through the 4th. Staying in the Big Ten, top-ranked Oregon rolled past Michigan in the Big House, while Indiana made it nine in a row to start the season with 47 unanswered points to blow out MSU in East Lansing. Not many expected the Pittsburgh and SMU clash to have the playoff implications it did, but in a battle of two undefeated ACC teams, the Mustangs made the statement at home with a dominant win they’d lead as much as 31. Miami stayed perfect as they ran away late against Duke, while 10, 11, and the other 11 in the rankings all went down as Texas A&M, Clemson, and Iowa State all fell victim to unranked upsets. A&M and South Carolina were tied at the half before the Gamecocks completely took over in the second half, handing the Aggies their first SEC loss. Louisville took it to Clemson in Death Valley to hand them their first ACC loss as well, while Iowa State suffered their first loss of any kind at the hands of Texas Tech at home. K-State went down as well to a 3-5 Houston team, and these sets of results have sent every power conference not named the Big Ten into a total frenzy at the top. Jaxson Dart may have been the player of the day as he went 25/31 for 515 YDS and 6 TDs as Ole Miss dropped 63 in a rout on the road of Arkansas, and as dominoes continue to fall above them, you can’t count the Rebels out just yet. The time is now for them to turn this around, and they’ll have a golden opportunity next week against Georgia. In their first win since the massive win at Texas, UGA ran into some real problems trailing by 10 at the half against Florida, but they’d settle in nicely and take it by two touchdowns. Minnesota upset #24 Illinois on the road, while Washington took down USC as the Trojans’ spiral lives on as they fall to 4-5. Plenty of possible contenders took major blows today, and these last few weeks will only bring more chaos as the 12-team playoff’s debut means implications lie in more places than ever each week.
Week 11
If we weren’t already there, we’ve officially reached the stretch run of the college football season. Another great slate meant another set of chances for statements to be made or opportunities to be blown, and we had our fair share of each of those in another exciting week of action. Now the top two teams in the country, Oregon and Ohio State both had their way hosting inferior conference opponents while the next team up in the first CFP rankings, Georgia, didn’t nearly enjoy that same luxury. The ‘Dawgs went on the road to face Ole Miss in Oxford, and after taking a 7-0 lead off an immediate Jaxson Dart interception, everything went wrong for Carson Beck and co. offensively. The Rebels quickly took the lead back and never gave it up, and Georgia mustered just a field goal the rest of the way after that first drive as the ‘Dawgs committed three turnovers and didn’t stand much of a chance in the end. It’s a massive statement for Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss after they looked down and out not long ago, while Georgia is suddenly in real trouble with a second loss and a huge blow to their SEC Title Game hopes. It didn’t stop there, as 9-0 and 4th-ranked Miami wasn’t safe either, falling on the road to Georgia Tech as Haynes King returned to the field and set the tone while the defense held the ‘Canes to easily their lowest point total of the year. Miami still controls their own destiny across the board, but they can’t afford any more slip-ups after skating by all year and finally being humbled today. While Cam Ward’s Heisman hopes may have taken a hit with the loss, Ashton Jeanty’s certainly rose with his 209 yards and 3 touchdowns in another Boise State win. In what may have been the biggest home game in their program’s history, Indiana secured their first 10-win season in school history as they survived Michigan’s late comeback bid, holding on and making it 10-0 while sending the defending champs to .500 as their brutal year continues. It was far from a stress-free win for the Hoosiers, but it was nothing compared to what #9 BYU faced in the Holy War against Utah, a game they appeared to have lost before a controversial defensive holding call extended their last-minute drive while trailing by two. A no-call would’ve ended the game, but the unbeaten Cougars had new life injected and made the most of it, moving down the field and winning it as time expired on a 44-yard field goal, as this magical season remained perfect while Utah still can’t catch a break in the Big 12 as they fall to 4-5. In a playoff elimination game between Alabama and LSU, the Tide couldn’t have scripted it any better than this, as Jalen Milroe exploded for 185 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground as they sprinted past LSU 42-13 on the road, keeping their playoff hopes very much alive and ending those of LSU in abrupt fashion. Both #17 Iowa State and #18 Pitt may have seen any outside playoff hopes go out the door with losses to Kansas and Virginia respectively, a pair of unranked teams .500 or worse, while Colorado enjoyed a win on the road at Texas Tech in their first game this season in the top 25. Missouri hasn’t matched up well with the top of the SEC, but they keep sliding by the bottom and did it again today as two touchdowns in the final 1:03 including a go-ahead scoop-and-score won it against Oklahoma as the Sooners fell to 1-5 in SEC play. We’re at the point in the season where no one is safe, and we’ll see more and more skeletons as we get further down the stretch. #3 and #4 went down today, and there’s more where that came from with three weeks to go this regular season.
Week 12
The college football world may have cooled down a bit this week but with the bar so high, that doesn’t really say all that much. Undefeated and 6th ranked BYU as only a 2.5-point favorite against 3-6 Kansas may have seemed a little fishy, but a Cougars team that’s gotten by with some luck and most recently an officiating lift was finally overtaken today in a 17-13 loss at home. The Cougars are still very much alive for the CFP, but there’s very little room for error now with a huge meeting up next against an Arizona State team that’s quietly rising up the Big 12 and had their biggest win of the year today over #16 Kansas State on the road. Colorado, another legitimate Big 12 player, marched on with a dominant win over Utah, with Travis Hunter building up his Heisman candidacy in the national spotlight with a touchdown and interception as the Buffaloes stayed hot. #1 Oregon was trailing by a touchdown entering the 4th on the road against Wisconsin, but on a night they just didn’t seem to have it, they still got the job done and remained the only unbeaten in the four power conferences. Georgia needed a win at home over Tennessee to keep their playoff hopes alive and after falling behind 10-0 early, they got it figured out and ultimately rolled past the Vols to move right back into the SEC race. #18 Washington State, #19 Louisville, and #22 LSU all went down on the road to sub-.500 teams, with New Mexico, Stanford, and Florida pulling out the narrow wins respectively. #20 Clemson scraped out an impressive road win over Pitt to keep their ACC Title Game hopes very much alive, with a huge touchdown run by Cade Klubnik putting them in front for good. Miami was on bye this week, but they still hold the tiebreaker over Clemson in the ACC standings, so the Tigers will need a Hurricanes slip-up in the final two weeks to take their spot, assuming a red-hot SMU team that won again today wins one of their final two. #23 Mizzou and #21 South Carolina duked it out in perhaps the game of the day, with four 4th quarter lead changes culminating in the Gamecocks getting the last laugh as LaNorris Sellers hit Raheim Sanders for the game-winning TD with just 15 seconds to go. The true freshman Sellers’ great season continued, today throwing for 353 YDS and 5 TDs in the big win for the USC of the south. There’s still so much to be sorted out with two weeks to go in this regular season, but we got a little closer to finishing the puzzle today with another fun day of the best sport in the world.
Week 13
This week’s rivalry week tune-up gave us all sorts of unexpected chaos, with maybe the most mayhem we’ve seen in a single slate unraveling here in an incredibly entertaining Week 13 of ball. The big one came in Columbus, with Curt Cignetti and Indiana finally getting their litmus test of legitimacy against 2nd-ranked Ohio State. The Hoosiers couldn’t have asked for a start as they marched down the field and found the end zone and stood tall at the goal line on the ensuing drive, but the fun ended there as the Buckeyes jumped in control and never looked back. While it’s not fair to completely disregard Indiana after this one - this is still a 10-1 team playing a Big Ten schedule - it’s going to be a lot more of a challenge to justify them above a few of the SEC teams with one more in the loss column. But while the doors opened up for a few potential suitors in the SEC, several crumbled with their season’s on the line. Let’s start with Alabama, who inexplicably fell flat against 5-6 Oklahoma on the road, mustering just three points on the day in a nightmarish performance for Jalen Milroe, tossing 3 INTs and putting the Tide’s playoff hopes on life support with their third loss of the season. Ole Miss met the same fate, falling on the road to Florida after a disastrous final few minutes for Jaxson Dart in Gainesville. And that wasn’t it, as Texas A&M couldn't capitalize on the road against Auburn, with this one making for an instant classic as Auburn pulled it out in four OTs in the longest game of the college football season. A&M still reaches the SEC Championship with a win next week, though their only path to the playoff is now through a conference title after this loss. That’s more than Alabama and Ole Miss can say, as they’ll need a ton of help from the outside world to have any shot at the 12-team field. It was a similarly massive day in the Big 12, starting with Kansas taking it to Colorado at Arrowhead Stadium, a critical loss for Deion Sanders’ crew that loses the luxury of controlling their own destiny and will now need some outside help to reach the conference championship game. With so much on the line, Arizona State and BYU played maybe the game of the year in the Big 12, with BYU climbing back to make it a game early, but the Sun Devils appearing to have held on after running the clock out and seeing the students storm the field to celebrate a massive win for the program. The only problem was there was a second left, so the entire field had to be cleared back off, a tremendous pain as you’d expect, and BYU’s last-second Hail Mary came up just short and the Sun Devils survived. Iowa State barely hung on as Utah missed a game-tying field goal as time expired, and it’s now Arizona State and Iowa State that can clinch a Big 12 Championship berth with wins next week. BYU, Colorado, and five 5-3 teams are all technically still in the mix, but they’ll need some help and obviously wins of their own to have any chance of getting in. Penn State didn’t make it easy on themselves but slipped past Minnesota by a point on the road, while SMU locked up an ACC Championship berth with a win over Virginia that brought them to 9-0 in conference play in their first season in the league. Notre Dame just keeps on winning, this time dominating undefeated Army in a humbling moment for a Black Knights team that hadn’t seen anything like the Irish this season. The finish of the day may have come in Piscataway between #25 Illinois and Rutgers, as the Illini faced a 31-30 deficit and trotted the kicker out for a potential game-winning 58-yarder on 4th down with just 14 seconds to go, and his kick went nowhere close but was negated by a Greg Schiano timeout. Bret Bielema then thought better of a kick after seeing that first attempt, and he brought the offense back out and a miracle touchdown for Pat Bryant won it for Illinois on the final play from scrimmage. And lastly, in a fun battle between the Pac-2’s only representatives, Oregon State snapped a five-game skid with a last-second win over Washington State. This day had everything, from upsets, to ridiculous finishes, to massive conference shakeups, and it sets up next week to be a rivalry week for the ages.
Week 14
This was a rivalry week for the ages, and it would’ve been hard to draw up more chaos than what ensued. Let’s get right to it. 2019 was the last time Ohio State had beaten Michigan, but everything, and I mean everything pointing to the Buckeyes righting the ship in The Game this time around. Between at home, 19.5 point favorites, a Big Ten Championship berth with a win, and a Michigan team whose offense has been a total disaster en route to just a 6-5 campaign, there was simply no excuse for Ryan Day and OSU this time around. Yet somehow, some way, the mental aspect of this rivalry reigned supreme, as Michigan’s defense played out of their minds against a Buckeyes team that went largely conservative despite all their ridiculous offensive talent, and the Wolverines scraped out what was, given the circumstances, an upset for the ages with a 13-10 win on the road. Ohio State was shut out in the second half, and the Wolverines’ first and only points of the last two quarters came on a Dominic Zvada field goal with 45 seconds left. The Buckeyes went four and out on the ensuing drive, and madness ensued shortly after the clock hit zero as Michigan tried to plant on the field and incited a postgame brawl that was only settled down by police intervention. It’s now four in a row for Michigan, and just an inexplicable loss for Ryan Day and co. that knocks them out of the Big Ten Championship with a Penn State win. The Nittany Lions rolled Maryland, securing a date with Oregon in Indianapolis, with the Ducks rolling through Washington to cap off the only undefeated regular season of 2024. But the madness of this week started well before Saturday, and Friday night gave us an all-timer between Georgia Tech and a Georgia team that could just about lock down a CFB berth with a win. Georgia was in serious trouble early on as they fell behind 17-0 at home at the half, and the Yellow Jackets kept the pressure on and scored a TD to go up 27-13 with just 5:37 to go. Georgia quickly got the touchdown back and a GA Tech fumble gifted them great field possession right back, which they’d turn into another score that would ultimately send the game to OT tied at 27. Both teams traded touchdowns on the first two possessions of OT - and failed two-point conversions in the second - and the teams went back and forth converting and failing two-point tries concurrently all the way into an 8th OT, where Georgia got a stop and finally put it away as Nate Frazier ran it in. It marked the second-longest game in CFB history, but somehow the ‘Dawgs survive and are likely now playoff bound regardless of what happens in the SEC Title Game. The two Heisman favorites each made a pair of statements on that very Friday as well, with Travis Hunter doing it all with 10 RECs for 116 YDS and 3 TDs plus an interception, and Ashton Jeanty running for 226 YDS and a TD, both in blowout wins for their top 25 squads. Moving back to Saturday, right as Michigan was closing out its win at The Shoe, #17 South Carolina stormed back to stun #14 Clemson on the road, taking their very first lead on a LaNorris Sellers TD with 1:08 to go, and an awful Cade Klubnik INT in field goal range sealed it for the Gamecocks on the ensuing drive. Slim hope at slipping into the playoff remains for South Carolina, and it caps off what is nonetheless a fantastic regular season in a loaded SEC. All Miami had to do was beat Syracuse and they’d play for an ACC Title Game and perhaps have a playoff spot locked down regardless, and they looked well on their way with a 21-0 second quarter lead. But as they have time and time again this season, the defense ran out of answers, and the Orange stormed back and ultimately stole the win to hand the ‘Canes an absolutely catastrophic loss that now sees Clemson swoop in and steal their ACC Championship bid. Miami may not have the wins to overcome this second loss, meanwhile Clemson will now play for a spot in the CFP in a day that ends a net positive even with their loss earlier today. With a spot in the SEC Championship on the line, Texas’ defense was impenetrable in College Station, with Texas A&M not scoring a single offensive point as the Longhorns made a statement to set up next week’s rematch against Georgia in their first season in the conference. It wasn’t easy, but Notre Dame locked up their spot in the CFP with a 49-35 win over USC on the road, making it 10 wins in a row since they went down to Northern Illinois in early September. Tennessee is also headed to the playoff, overcoming an early 14-0 defense and ultimately handling Vanderbilt on the road, and the same likely goes for Indiana as they capped off Curt Cignetti’s first year with a bang in a 66-0 win over Purdue. Iowa State and Arizona State were both win and in for the Big 12 Title game, and the Cyclones got it done against a ranked Kansas State, while Arizona State obliterated Arizona to set up the two’s meeting in Arlington next week and effectively eliminating Colorado and BYU from playoff contention. Bad blood continued to flow across the nation, with NC State trying the same field-planting antics in their win over UNC, and the same could be said at Doak Campbell Stadium after Florida State wrapped up a 2-10 season with a fittingly lifeless performance against Florida. Between all the tension, all the significance, and all the stunning finishes, it was truly an all-timer as rivalry weeks go. With the regular season wrapping up, the first ever 12-team playoff is now just right around the corner.
Conference Championship Week
This week is a lot different now in the new 12-team era, as the conference title games’ value inevitably have inevitably taken a dip with far more leeway for a loss and the committee straying away from punishing teams for a conference championship defeat. That didn’t take away from the quality of what we saw, and the first big one came out west as Boise State met UNLV with the Group of Five’s spot in the playoff likely on the line. Ashton Jeanty and the Broncos took care of business, as Jeanty made his final Heisman impression while the defense really set the tone in a 21-7 Boise win that should send them to their first CFP. Arizona State vs. Iowa State boasted similar circumstances with the Big 12 on the line, and the Sun Devils took their breakthrough year to new heights with a dominant win in Arlington to secure their spot in the CFP in convincing fashion. Oregon and Penn State were both in regardless, but the Ducks sealed the #1 overall seed and a 13-0 start outlasting the Nittany Lions 45-37 in a fun one in Indy. Penn State should still get a home playoff game, but they’re still a ways away from beating the big game letdown allegations. Over in the SEC, both Georgia and Texas were also in no matter what went down in Atlanta, but the rematch of their Week 8 clash went all the way to OT. The ‘Dawgs survived on a game-winning Trevor Etienne TD, even while playing the entire second half without Carson Beck outside of the final play of the game, where he came back in to deliver the game-winning handoff after backup Gunnar Stockton had to leave the game. Beck’s injury status will be a big story to monitor leading up to the playoff, having hurt his throwing arm on a Hail Mary attempt on the last play of the first half, but Georgia ensures another week of rest having locked up a bye today. Clemson was lucky to even be here after Miami’s collapse, and they were playing for their lives in the ACC Championship against an SMU team that had rolled through conference play and was into the field regardless. The Tigers were in complete control with a 31-14 lead entering the 4th, but the Mustangs stormed back with 17 unanswered to tie the game with just 16 seconds remaining and snatch all the momentum ahead of what looked to be another overtime finish. A huge Clemson kick return gave their final drive some life, and one first down gave them the chance at a 56-yard game-winner, which Nolan Hauser drilled as time expired to send Clemson to the playoff in unbelievable fashion. The Tigers’ win knocks the ACC out of a bye and, rather remarkably, ensures both Boise State and Arizona State will receive byes in the CFP, while the big decision the committee will have to make will be 11-2 SMU with a conference title game loss vs. one of the three three-loss SEC teams that played their way out of this week - Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina. Penalizing SMU for what they did in an extra game they earned the right to play would set a standard I’m not sure the committee wants to do, and outside of that decision the playoff is just about set, with Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, Arizona State, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Indiana, Clemson, and likely either SMU or Alabama the expected field of 12 for the expanded playoff’s inauguration.
Bowl Season
This bowl season was always going to be different with the College Football Playoff now far more inclusive and less top teams subsequently playing in these so-called meaningless bowls, but all things considered, we were still treated to a wildly entertaining bowl season that had all the crazy finishes you could ever have asked for. Memphis capped off a quietly impressive season with a Frisco Bowl win over West Virginia, and UNLV did the same after falling just short of the CFP, shutting down Cal in an LA Bowl victory. Billy Napier was announced to be coming back regardless, but Florida’s late-season push was a tremendous sign of things to come under D.J. Lagway as they finished off their fourth straight win with a domination of undermanned Tulane at the Gasparilla Bowl. Northern Illinois, who you might remember from handing Notre Dame their first and still their only loss of the season, didn’t go on to have the massive year some were expecting, but they finished on a high note winning the well-renowned Idaho Potato Bowl in OT over Fresno State. In a finish only a bowl game like this could provide, both teams missed field goals within 40 yards in the final minutes to send the game to OT, and Fresno State went backwards as NIU held on after their 8-point possession to open the second overtime. The Hawai’i Bowl gave us one of the finishes of the season, and it marked the longest game in bowl game history with San Jose State and South Florida dueling it out in five OTs. This game had it all, from questionable coaching to a big SJSU comeback, 4th down miracles, flags extending the game, and a doinked field goal that bounced in to force OT, but San Jose State ultimately pulled it out with a conversion and a stop in overtime number five. And not to be outdone, in the very next bowl game, Pitt and Toledo, broke a new bowl game overtime record with six, another game that had all the chaos you could ask for, and in a game both teams had at the palms of their hands on several occasions, Toledo would win it to make it six losses in a row to end Pitt’s season after a 7-0 start. Kansas State came back to beat Rutgers in the Rate Bowl, while Kyle McCord exploded to cap off his huge season in a Holiday Bowl win over undermanned Washington State. Navy finished off a big year of their own with somewhat of a statement win over Oklahoma, winning the Military Bowl after the Sooners scored late but couldn’t convert a two-point conversion that would’ve just about won them the game with just six seconds to go. Vanderbilt and Arkansas each end their seasons on a high note with comfortable wins over Georgia Tech and Texas Tech respectively, while USC staged a fourth quarter comeback to steal the Las Vegas Bowl from Texas A&M. The Pop-Tarts Bowl never seems to disappoint, and this was certainly no exception in a ridiculous game in which eight straight drives found the ned zone after Miami fumbled it away on the first play from scrimmage. The offenses settled down eventually, with Cam Ward spending the second half on the sideline, and Iowa State hung on for a 42-41 win after taking the lead with a 4th and goal TD with less than a minute to go and holding on with one final defensive stop. Sheduer Sanders and Travis Hunter opted against finishing their storied college careers on the sideline, but they might wish they took the night off after the beating BYU handed them in the Alamo Bowl. UConn swallowed up any UNC momentum entering the Bill Belichik era with a convincing Fenway Bowl win, while Army had their way with the Independence Bowl replacement LA Tech. Nebraska got over the .500 mark for the first time since 2016 with a Pinstripe Bowl win over Boston College, while East Carolina sent NC State below .500 to end the year as they scraped out a win in the Military Bowl. Missouri edged out Iowa in a competitive Music City Bowl, while Michigan pulled off one of the upsets of bowl season as they knocked off Alabama, the first team out of the CFP, with a 19-13 ReliaQuest Bowl to cap off one of the most bizarre 8-5 seasons you will ever see for the defending champs. Illinois slipped past South Carolina in an impressive finish to a big year for Bret Bielema’s guys, and Louisville held on against Washington in the Sun Bowl after a two-point conversion stand with the game on the line. LSU had their way with Baylor in a Texas Bowl victory, handing the Bears their first loss since October 5th, while Ole Miss cruised past Duke and Minnesota beat VA Tech in the Mayo Bowl to close out the bowl season in the power conference universe. The energy and excitement in bowl season is never lacking, and it was on full display again in 2024-25. After what we saw this year, something tells me that even in this expanded CFB world, bowl season is going to be just fine.
College Football Playoff First Round
In a weekend unlike any the college football world has ever seen, the 12-team playoff debuted with four first round games to get the party started. The hype was something to behold but the games? Not so much. In a standalone first game on Friday night, Notre Dame hosted Indiana in a highly intriguing in-state clash to officially open the expanded playoff. It was a statement performance from Notre Dame, as after throwing an interception on their first drive of the game, Jeremiah Love broke off a 98-yard TD run and the Irish were off and running. Notre Dame at one point led this game 27-13, and even after a few garbage time touchdowns made the final four look a little better, this one was never competitive. Many questioned the Hoosiers’ legitimacy as contenders, and the Irish did their best to push that agenda as they punched their ticket to the Sugar Bowl to face a Georgia team expected to be without QB Carson Beck. The action was back in swing the ensuing morning, with SMU, the last team in the field, going into Happy Valley and facing Penn State. It wasn’t pretty, and Anthony Jennings didn’t look up to the challenge as he threw interceptions on three consecutive drives in the first half including two taken back to the house. That was more than enough cushion, and Penn State would lead their playoff debut by as much as 35 points and lock down a spot in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State. Texas and Clemson followed that one up, the most competitive game of the first round but one the Longhorns never looked in serious danger of letting slip away. Clemson briefly cut their deficit in the 4th quarter, the closest they’d get past the middle of the 2nd quarter, but the Longhorns had an immediate response as Jaydon Blue rattled off a 77-yard TD run to put them right back in control. It’s Texas’ first ever CFP win, and Steve Sarkisian’s crew advances to face Arizona State in the Peach Bowl, where they’ll be considerable favorites to make their return to the semifinals. The nightcap, and the matchup with the most anticipation of the four, pitted Ohio State and Tennessee from Columbus in the Buckeyes’ first game since their latest catastrophic showing in The Game. You never would’ve known it though, as this was an Ohio State team on a mission, with a passing game that got nothing going against Michigan turning a new leaf and taking a 21-0 lead on the Vols before they could even blink. Tennessee briefly threatened to make it a game late in the first half, but the Buckeyes reasserted control and blew by an overmatched Tennessee to set up a colossal Rose Bowl showdown in a rematch against Oregon. The favorites had their way to open up this College Football Playoff, and we can only hope for better competition as the bracket tightens up with only eight teams remaining.
College Football Playoff Quarterfinals
The playoff field made its transition to the bowl sector as teams enjoying a first-round bye got set to debut, yet the lower seeds entered as favorites in all four of these quarterfinal matchups. Penn State didn’t cruise by Boise State nearly the way they did in their playoff opener against SMU, but they controlled most facets of the game and held Jeanty in check as best they could. The Nittany Lions never trailed, with Boise only briefly coming within one possession in the second half before a pair of PSU scores put it away for good. Penn State reached the four-team field for the first time in its existence, setting them up to play for a spot in the national title game. Texas came into the quarterfinals as the biggest favorite of them all, and they looked the part for much of the way holding a 24-8 lead well into the 4th quarter. The Sun Devils came storming back, rattling off two TDs plus two point conversions to make up 16 points and tie the game at 24, and the Longhorns got into field goal range but Bert Auburn’s game-winner missed as time expired. Arizona State found the end zone to open OT and had Texas down to a 4th and 13 with their season on the line, but the Longhorns delivered in the clutch to force a second OT, where they’d prevail with a touchdown and a stop to avert disaster and live to see the next round. Over in the Rose Bowl, easily the most anticipated game of the slate, the Buckeyes made their latest convincing statement with a total obliteration of the undefeated Ducks. Ohio State set the tone with an opening drive touchdown just one minute in, and they kept pouring it on, opening a 34-0 lead and never letting Oregon make any sort of game in it. No team has looked up to par with Ohio State so far this postseason, and I’m not sure anyone will with this team playing to their full potential. The top seed is eliminated, and goes down without much of a fight, and the Buckeyes march on for a Cotton Bowl date with Texas with a National Championship berth on the line. The Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame was pushed back a day after the terrorist attack in New Orleans, but no realistic delay was going to leave enough time for Carson Beck’s return. The ‘Dawgs’ offense predictably struggled without him, but their defense held up nicely for much of the way before a disastrous three minute stretch of game time, where the Irish kicked a field goal, forced an immediate fumble and scored just before the half, and then returned the opening kickoff of the second half to the house to turn a tie game into a 20-3 advantage in the blink of an eye. Georgia didn’t have the offense to overcome that stretch, and the Fighting Irish marched on with a rather convincing win that pits them up against Penn State in the Orange Bowl with a spot in the title game on the line. The bracket is trimmed to four, and after it took more than three months for all the playoff seeding to work itself out, it’s the 5, 6, 7, and 8 seeds in the bracket that are the final four still standing.
College Football Playoff Semifinals
And then there were four, and Penn State and Notre Dame opened up the semifinals going to war down in Miami, a game that felt as much a toss-up as any you’ll see on a stage like this. The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start with a quick 10-0 lead, but the Irish never felt out of it and just minutes into the second half had the game tied back up. The two sides went back and forth in the 4th quarter exchanging a pair of touchdowns each, but Penn State picked up a critical stop with Notre Dame just out of field goal range with just a minute to go. The Nittany Lions started at their own 15 and could’ve easily played for OT, but they were going for the win after Nick Singleton’s first down run on the first play of the drive. Instead disaster struck, as Drew Allar threw a cataclysmic interception on the very next play, with Christian Gray the hero as he set the Irish up on the edge of field goal range in a moment that will give Drew Allar, James Franklin, and the entire Penn State program nightmares they may never shake. Notre Dame got into Mitch Jeter’s range, and he hit the game-winning field goal with seven seconds left to send the Fighting Irish to their first National Championship since 2013. The very next night it was Texas going up against a scorching hot Ohio State, but the Longhorns held their own as the defense did its job and kept them very much in the game with things all even at 14 as the 4th quarter began. Quinshon Judkins quickly gave the Buckeyes the lead, but Texas moved it down the field and right to the goal line with a 1st and goal from the 1-yard line with just 3:54 to play. The Longhorns were stuffed on first down, lost seven yards on a disastrous trick play on second down, went incomplete on third, and on fourth down saw it all crash down as Jack Sawyer hit Quinn Ewers, forced the ball out, and returned it 83 yards to send Ohio State to the National Championship game. The Buckeyes will be heavily favored on January 20th, hoping to complete their mission against a hungry Notre Dame team that’s gutted out three impressive wins in their run to Atlanta.
National Championship Game
The first title game of the 12-team era was somewhat of an unlikely meeting between the 7th and 8th seeds in the bracket, and it was Ohio State and Notre Dame’s third meeting already in the 2020s with the Buckeyes taking the first two and entering as big favorites again. The Buckeyes had been on cruise control the entire playoff with three double digit wins, while the Irish have endured far more of a grind and used a last-minute interception and a last-second field goal to slip past Penn State to get to this spot. It was going to take near perfection out of the Irish on both sides of the ball to get this one down, but they started off as well as they could’ve as a commanding 18 play TD drive that lasted all of 9:45 got the night going with a Riley Leonard touchdown. From then on it was all Buckeyes for a long, long way, as Notre Dame looked completely overmatched as Will Howard and co. put up 31 consecutive points in a game that was, as many feared, not the slightest bit competitive. But Notre Dame wasn’t going down without a fight, and they came storming back with two touchdowns and two-point conversions and all of a sudden found themselves with all the momentum and back within a possession with 4:15 to go. They got Ohio State down to a 3rd and 11, needing one stop to get the ball back with a chance for the tie, but the Buckeyes went bold and dialed up a pass, where Will Howard hit Jeremiah Smith for a season-defining 56-yard gain that all but secured the victory for Ohio State in fitting fashion. Jayden Fielding sealed the deal with a 33-yard field goal with 26 seconds to go, putting them up two possessions and holding off the Irish’s furious comeback bid, and as the clock hit zero Ryan Day and the Buckeyes basked in the glory of this incredible College Football Playoff run. Ohio State is on top of the college football world for the first time since 2014, winning the inaugural 12-team playoff 11 years after winning college football's first ever four-team playoff. Ryan Day finally gets over the hump with the type of turnaround that felt improbable after their November 30th loss to Michigan, as Will Howard, Jeremiah Smith, and this star-studded offense went on to reach whole new heights from that moment on and never looked back. Congratulations to Ohio State, champions of college football for the seventh time in program history and the first to be crowned victorious in the 12-team era.