MOVING THE CHAINS: College football takeaways from semifinal week

Usually there aren’t many revelations and inferences to be made during the typical bowl season, other than the fact that teams with 6-6 regular season records that don’t win their bowl game end the season with losing records (Thanks for playing, Oklahoma. You too, Florida). However, before getting to the (only) two games that really matter, a few random observations from over the holidays:

♦ Florida State will be the team to beat in the ACC in 2023. Led by Mahomes-like quarterback Jordan Travis (he even has the same haircut), the Seminoles showed their mettle in an exciting 35-32 win over first-year head coach Brent Venables’ Oklahoma Sooners. Meanwhile, the once-mighty Clemson Tigers appear to be on their way out of the ACC’s top tier after their loss to a talented Tennessee team in the Orange Bowl, 31-14. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, at one time thought to be able to walk on water by Tiger fans, has demonstrated that without a first-rate quarterback (like Trevor Lawrence, now with the Jacksonville Jaguars) or defensive coordinator (the aforementioned Venables), he can barely swim.

♦ Tennessee may well be the next quarterback factory, a la Alabama (Tua, Hurts) and Oklahoma (Mayfield, Murray, also Hurts). Vol backup Joe Milton III, in relief of the injured Hendon Hooker (fifth in this year’s Heisman voting), threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns, completing 19 out of 28 passes and no interceptions against the Venables-less Clemson Tigers.

♦ One of the more exciting games was the Arkansas-Kansas matchup in the Liberty Bowl, a 55-52, triple-overtime win for the Razorbacks. The losing Jayhawks were another of those 6-6 regular season teams that wound up with a losing season. (Remember when Kansas was 5-0 and I hinted they could lose their last seven games? I wasn’t far off: they lost seven of their last eight).

♦ Speaking of predictions: I mentioned Kentucky would start the season hot (which they did, winning their first four games) and finish cold. A 21-0 loss to Iowa in the Music City Bowl capped off a disappointing 7-6 season. It’s worth noting that without starting quarterback Will Levis, the Wildcats were only able to muster 10 first downs and 185 yards of offense against the Hawkeyes. (Levis intentionally sat out the game. In my opinion, ample reason for him to forfeit his scholarship. Long story, so I won’t get into it here).

♦ In the Sugar Bowl, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young demonstrated why he deserved his second Heisman (he finished sixth in this year’s voting) by completing 15 of 21 passes for 321 yards and five touchdowns (and no interceptions) in a convincing 45-20 win over Big-12 champion Kansas State. Meanwhile, Will Anderson, the Crimson Tide’s defensive end who is considered a certain first-round NFL draft pick, didn’t register a single tackle in the game (although he was flagged for one offsides penalty). In his defense (as well as Young’s, although he doesn’t need any), Anderson did suit up for the game — which is more than can be said for Will Levis (and, to be fair, a large number of others who sat out the final game of their collegiate careers).

♦ One other comment about the Sugar Bowl. Adding insult to injury, Kansas State had an 18-play drive that consumed over 10 minutes of the clock that resulted in no points and giving Alabama the ball on their own two-yard line. Seven plays later and with less than a minute elapsed on the clock, Alabama scored a touchdown. Game, set, match. Turn out the lights, the party’s over. Alabama, I might add, showed that it was more than worthy of the fourth and final spot in the College Football Playoff (CFP) that went to Ohio State.

Now, about those semifinal games, both flavored with Big-12 action (lots of offense: 2,016 yards of offense, 179 points, and 90 first downs in the two games combined):

No. 2 Michigan shot itself in the foot — too many times to count — in its loss to No. 3 TCU, 51-45. It started with a lost fumble on first-and-goal on their opponent’s two-foot line, and included two pick-sixes by Wolverine quarterback JJ McCarthy, a number of missed tackles by their vaunted defense, and one final snap that bounced off the shins of McCarthy when he wasn’t expecting it.

No. 1 and defending champion Georgia edged No. 4 Ohio State, 42-41, indicating that maybe the Buckeyes weren’t such a bad choice for the fourth and final spot after all. Ohio State had a chance for a last-minute game-winning field goal, only it was clear by the time the ball reached the line of scrimmage that it didn’t have a prayer of splitting the uprights — or getting anywhere near them.

In both games, the strong suits of both Michigan and Georgia, DEFENSE, were put to the test, surrendering 51 and 41 points, respectively. As mentioned previously, both games were high-scoring affairs, a la Big-12.

I’m not one to make predictions — let alone bold ones — but I will end with two final thoughts:

1. Georgia was predicted at the beginning of the season to repeat as National Champions. In contrast, TCU was a 200-1 longshot to make the CFP, surpassing last year’s Cincinnati team as the longest shot with odds of 150-1.

2. TCU is from the Big-12. They’re used to high-scoring games — and coming from behind to win.

Two final thoughts. Remember the second one.

Colin Hubbard