MOVING THE CHAINS: Takeaways from College Football 2024 – Quarterfinal Playoff Games

By Scott Ludwig, [email protected]

Before moving on to the BGAC’s (bowl games at capacity), some observations from a few of the BGWLOES’s (bowl games with lots of empty seats):

Miami quarterback Cam Ward threw for three first-half touchdowns to send the Hurricanes into the locker room with a 31 – 28 halftime lead over Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. In the process, Ward surpassed Case Keenum’s career record of 155 scoring passes (Ward now has 158). However, Ward opted to sit out the second half – presumably to avoid injury to preserve his NFL stock – and watched from the sidelines as the Cyclones came back for an exciting 42 – 41 win.

So, after setting the record, Ward basically bailed out on his team (he had a chance to lead a last-minute scoring drive for the win, but opted not to) to save himself. Reflecting on his lackadaisical play against inferior teams throughout the season, I’m surprised he finished fourth in the Heisman voting. He shouldn’t have even been in the top ten. Look up ‘fall from grace’ in the dictionary: there’s a picture of Cam Ward.

In the ReliaQuest Bowl, Michigan defeated heavily-favored Alabama, 19 – 13, despite their best efforts not to. The Wolverine offense generated only 190 yards of offense and 13 first downs, and only put 13 points on the board despite three early three Alabama turnovers on their side of the field. Something tells me it’s going to be a long off-season for Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer (Alabama finished the season at 9 – 4; the last time his predecessor, Nick Saban, lost so much as three games was back in 2010).

It took South Florida and San Jose State five overtimes to determine a winner in the Hawaii Bowl, and two days later Pitt and Toledo did them one better – six overtimes – in the GameAbove Bowl. I only bring these up to point out Pitt and Toledo were a composite seven-for-eight in two-point conversions during the overtime periods, and that Georgia and Georgia Tech were paying attention after their three-for-twelve performance on two-point tries in their underwhelming eight-overtime season finale.

Now for the BGAC’s:

Fiesta Bowl: #6 Penn State – 31, #3 Boise State – 14. Don’t be misled; the game was closer than the score suggests – although it never felt like the outcome was in doubt. The Nittany Lions defense kept Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty at bay for most of the game (30 carries for 104 yards – 26 of them on his only ‘breakout’ run in the second half).

Though the 17-point margin of victory was two points closer than the average margin of victory in the four first round games, it still indicates that the seeding system adopted by the playoff committee needs ‘further review,’ as Boise State clearly is not now nor ever has been the third-best team in the country. In fact, they wouldn’t be the third-best team in the Big Ten, as Oregon, Ohio State, and Penn State are clearly better teams.

Peach Bowl: in two overtimes, #5 Texas – 39, Cam Skattebo – 31. My apologies, Texas – 39, #4 Arizona State – 31. It’s an honest mistake. Sun Devil’s running back Cam Skattebo, who finished fifth in the Heisman voting, did everything in his power to win the game for his team: he rushed for 143 yards on 30 carries (and two TD’s), threw a TD pass of 42 yards, and ran for a two-point conversion to tie the game in the fourth quarter. At one point in the second half, Skattebo had more yardage than the entire Longhorn team.

It took an incredible comeback in the second half by ASU to tie the game: a safety, a field goal, and two touchdowns – both followed by successful two-point conversions. It took an uncharacteristic performance by usually reliable Texas kicker Bret Auburn – two missed field goals in the fourth quarter, the second one a potential game-winner as the clock expired that clanked off the left upright – to send the game into overtime with the score tied at 24. In the second overtime, the game extended only because Texas converted a precarious 4th-and-13 into a spectacular 28-yard TD in the first overtime, the Longhorns had the ball first and scored a TD followed by a two-point conversion. Then, when the Sun Devils had the ball, their quarterback threw a game-ending interception, which was also the team’s only turnover of the game.

This game was an instant classic. In the first quarter, it appeared there was no way in the world that Texas could lose. In the fourth quarter, there seemed to be no way in the world that Texas could win. If you saw the game, you understand. If you missed it, then you missed out.

Rose Bowl: #8 Ohio State – 41, #1 Oregon – 21. Let’s be honest: this game was over six minutes into the second quarter, with the Buckeyes already out in front, 31 – 0. Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, a former head coach at Oregon, must have been beside himself as he watched his quarterback, Will Howard, carve up and dissect the Dilapidated Duck Defense by completing 17 of 26 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns, racking up most of the yardage and all three scoring passes before halftime.

For Oregon, it was their first loss of the season after 13 straight wins. For Ohio State, arguably the hottest team in the playoffs, it was a bit of redemption after their disappointing (if not embarrassing) loss to archrival Michigan in their regular season finale.

Sugar Bowl: #7 Notre Dame – 23, #2 Georgia – 10. Let’s be honest. If it weren’t for pass interference calls against the Fighting Irish, the game wouldn’t have been this close. The best thing about this game is that it’s over. The ineptitude of both teams was reflected in their combined 6 for 26 on third down conversions (and 0 for 4 on fourth), dropped passes you won’t find in Pop Warner, back-to-back penalties for roughing the punter by the same player (on consecutive plays, no less), a flag for a blindside block by a player on the sidelines – on a referee, no less, and an offsides penalty that essentially cost Georgia the game. Just ugly stuff.

So here’s where things stand at the moment. All four lower-seeded teams won their quarterfinal games, which is the exact opposite of what happened in the first round – and the exact opposite of how things should have played out. On paper, the four teams with a first-round bye shouldn’t lose. So much for the extra time off to prepare. Also, never underestimate the momentum a team gains by winning a first-round game in a single-elimination competition.

Taking it a step further, outside of the Texas-Arizona State game, the other seven playoff games have been decided by 10 points or more.

Methinks the members of the playoff committee will be heading back to the drawing board after the season is over to straighten this mess out.

If not, they should be.