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Championship Weekend Review

Championship Weekend Review

431Stanford vs USC– Trojan QB Sam Darnold proved to be too much for the Cardinal to beat. He threw for 325 yards, two touchdowns, and, in the fourth quarter, led a 99 yard drive for a touchdown that broke poor Stanford’s back. This gave the Trojans a 31-28 lead. The Cardinal had a chance earlier to take a substantial lead, but,…. with Southern Cal ahead, 24-21, the Tree worshippers had the ball on Troy’s 2 yard line. It was 3rd and goal. Bryce Love was on the sidelines due to his ankle injury and the ball was handed off to Cameron Scarlett. Scarlett gained one yard. Again, Scarlett had a chance to push the ball into the endzone, only to be stopped for no gain this time. USC took over on the one and the rest is history. This was Darnold’s 99 yard drive. Neither team had a chance for the playoffs, but with USC winning the championship, it sure does give the impression that the Men of Troy might be back in command of the league they’ve dominated for so long.

Georgia vs Auburn – What a difference three weeks can make. The Tigers, Alabama variety, “Beat the Dog crap out of Georgia.” Those are Gus Malzhan’s words, but that was on their 140homefield, with their home crowd cheering them on and no pressure. The Georgia Dome was a neutral field, and the crowd was split 50/50, or, at least, it was supposed to be. Atlanta is only 45 minutes away from Athens. The Plainsmen took their opening drive and went right down the field and scored. Great start. Then Georgia got the ball and they went 19 yards before punting. Not a good start. In the second quarter, the Dawgs recovered a fumble from QB Stidham and the game turned around. UGA scored, then they kicked a field goal to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. In the third quarter, the big uglies of the Georgia D-Line blocked a field goal. Georgia followed this up with another field goal of their own. After another dropped ball by Auburn, those pesky Dawgs took advantage of it and scored another touchdown, going for the two point conversation and making it! 21-7! Auburn, though, is a dangerous team and everyone knew they are capable of striking fast. Well, everyone knew that, but the guys in red helmets made sure the Tigers didn’t. In the fourth quarter, Georgia QB Fromm handed the ball off to number 3 running back Swift and he broke a big beautiful run for 64 yards, adding another 6 to the score board. An extra point later and the game had its final score, 28-7. Georgia had gotten their revenge when it counted the most, the SEC championship game. First time they’ve been champions since 2005.

265Miami vs Clemson – with all the uniform varieties that the Clemson Tigers wear, it is popular lore that when they wear their orange pants, they mean business, and they wore orange pants against the Canes. Decked out in their pumpkin imitiation, Clemson came storming onto the field, and, from the opening drives for each squad, it was obvious the Hurricanes were out-classed. First off, the Tigers, South Carolina variety, won the turnover battle. Miami lived and died according to turnovers this season, and their players loved wearing the Turnover chain, They did get one, but only one. They gave away the ball three times. Not a good turnover ratio. Clemson QB Bryant, MVP of the game, threw for 252 yards and ran for a score as well. After the game, Head Coach Swinney told New Orleans to look out, cause the Tigers are coming to town! No word yet on what color pants they will be wearing, since they’ll be playing Alabama….again. Hopefully, the team manager will forget to pack those pumpkin pants and they’ll be stuck wearing white, or purple, or blue, or yellow…wait, do they wear yellow? Pumpkin pants against the QB who Hurts his team by not passing.

Memphis vs Central Florida – Not sure how many people actually watched this game, but I told you not to miss it, so the blame is all on yourself if you did. To begin, it must be pointed out that playing defense was not a high priority for either team, not at all. Offense, however, is a focus, and, WoW!, do these two teams know how to play offense. The Las Vegas over/under for this game was 80 points. For those who bet over, good job. Both teams scored at will and passing was the name of the game. One team would score a touchdown and the other would answer, back and forth they went for the entire game! It wasn’t until the late in the second quarter that either one of the quarterbacks threw an incomplete pass. This game was played at a break neck speed. Memphis, however had the ball last, down 62-55, second overtime, they were within striking distance when the wheels came off. After a brilliant game of play calling, the UM coaching staff tried to outthink themselves and it cost ‘em dearly. Central Florida capped off their first ever undefeated season, 12-0, and are headed to the Peach Bowl! Of course, with every good news there is bad, in that they lost their Head Coach as Scott Frost is packing his bags for Nebraska to take over that program. We warned you that could/would happen also.

Ohio State vs Wisconsin-  the best way to sum up the Badger season is in the words of Maxwell Smart, “Missed it by that much.” All they had to do was win this game and they were in the playoffs. But the Buckeyes have something the Badgers don’t, and it’s called Speed. The corn fed boys of Wisconsin are big and strong, but they couldn’t catch the speedy ball carriers of Ohio. OSU thrived on big long plays. When they broke into the secondary, it was all over but the crying. The Badgers couldn’t keep up. It wasn’t a blow out, the scripted “W’s” refused to give up, but they had a problem finding the endzone. They scored two touchdowns, but the first one was on a pick six, and the second was in the fourth quarter when the game was no longer in doubt. Wisconsin ended up kicking field goals and that’s not a way to win a game when the other team is scoring touchdowns. Do not bring a knife to a gunfight. Maybe Wisconsin will stop making a living by beating up little schools and actually play against tough teams to see where they stand.

Oklahoma vs TCU- The Baker Mayfield show with his Merry Men showed little respect for TCU. The Sooners scored 17 points in the first quarter and all signs were pointing to a blow out. The Horn Frogs simply could not stop the OU offense. Then, in the second quarter, here came the Frogs as they ripped off 17 points of their own while surrendering only 7. It was 24-17 at halftime and there was a glimmer of hope in the players wearing purple. Mayfield and the boys saw that glimmer and decided to do something about it. 17 points later in the 3rd quarter, and the game was all but over. The Sooners won, 41-17, and will now be taking on Georgia in the playoffs. This ought to be the game of games for the CFP Committee.

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