CFP First Round - Sunday Storylines

Texas runs wild - Fifth-seed Texas used a behemoth rushing attack and bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort to outlast Clemson 38-24 and advance to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.

The Longhorns have endured offensive struggles in recent weeks, and to alleviate those woes, head coach and offensive play-caller Steve Sarkisian turned to his road grading offensive line and stable of running backs. Texas gouged Clemson on the ground for four quarters, finishing with 292 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Jaydon Blue anchored the efforts with 146 yards and two touchdowns, while fellow back Quintrevion Wisner chipped in 122 yards and two scores of his own.

Entering the game, the Longhorns’ defense looked special, but Clemson deserves a lot of credit for fighting back and making this a ballgame. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik made some big-time throws and finished with 336 yards and three touchdowns on the evening.

After trading blows on the opening offensive possessions of the game, Texas took charge in the first half with a trio of second-quarter touchdowns and took a 28-10 lead into the break.

Clemson did a nice job responding with 14 second-half points, but had a hard time getting within one score. One of the biggest moments of the game came when the Texas defense stuffed Clemson on the goaline midway through the final frame.

With the win, Texas advances to play feel-good story Arizona State. That game is going to feature some ground-and-pound ass kicking and should be a fun one.

Buckeye bully ball - A few weeks after an inexplicable loss to rival Michigan, Ohio State answered the bell in a big way against Tennessee, dismantling the Vols 42-17 to move to the next round of the College Football Playoff.

The Buckeyes dispelled any doubt about this game early with three first-quarter touchdowns to take a commanding 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Tennesee had a nice response, adding ten before the halftime break. Unfortunately for the Volunteers, that was as close as the game got.

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was masterful from the first kick to the final whistle, finishing with a 24/29 for 311 yards and two touchdowns stat line.

Tennessee’s offense had a hard time sustaining drives, and sophomore Nico Iamaleava looked overwhelmed at times. He finished with just 104 yards on 14 completions.

With the win, Ohio State moves on to face No. 1 Oregon, in what will be the most highly-anticipated matchup of the second round festivities.

Pony Distress - SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings giveth and taketh away.

A trio of first-half interceptions (two of which were returned for pick-sixes) made for a lop-sided Saturday afternoon in Happy Valley, with Penn State rolling to a dominant 38-10 victory to move to the next round of the College Football Playoff.

Penn State’s defense made plenty of hay against SMU, scoring 14 first-half points and holding the Mustangs’ offense to a paltry 57 rushing yards and 252 yards in total. Even when the defense wasn’t picking off Jennings, the defensive line was flustering him to the point where plays were breaking down and he was running for his life. SMU’s vaunted run game was also mostly non-existent–making it hard for the offense to keep the Nittany Lions off kilter. It was just a really brutal showing for a team that won 11 games.

Fortunately for Penn State, the defense came to play because, for much of the afternoon, the offense left something to be desired. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar was pretty average for much of the day and finished just 13/22 for 127 yards. He’ll need to play much better down the stretch if this team hopes to have a legitimate shot at a national title.

The Nittany Lions led 28-0 at halftime and this game was never really close after about midway through the second quarter. It was a real shame.

Questions will be asked about the legitimacy of SMU’s inclusion after a performance like this. It was a bleak look for the ACC, and will only fan the flames for Big 10 and SEC homers.

With the win, Penn State advances to take on Group of 5 darling Boise State. I can’t wait to watch that Nittany Lion rush defense up against superstar running back Ashton Jeanty.

Notre Dame dominates - Behind a sellout Fighting Irish home crowd in the first game of the 12-team College Football Playoff era, No. 5 Notre Dame dominated in-state opponent Indiana 27-17, in a game where the scoreline was never really that close.

Entering the game, I identified two critical tipping points at which the game would be decided:

Both of my predictions came true. Notre Dame thoroughly controlled the line of scrimmage and rushed for 193 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries–the highlight being running back Jeremiyah Love’s record-setting 98-yard scamper in the first quarter that opened the game’s scoring. The Fighting Irish defense also did a superb job of speeding up Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke, limiting the Hoosiers’ offense to just three points through three quarters.

Rourke is a good college quarterback, but he struggled mightily Friday night. Notre Dame did a great job of generating pressure and being physical in the secondary. The Hoosiers’ offense goes as Rourke goes, and it went absolutely nowhere for most of the night.

Give credit where credit is due, Notre Dame was phenomenal on defense and special teams. Head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive coordinator Al Golden deserve a ton of credit for building a fearsome defense. That group’s physicality up front and in the backend guarantees a difficult matchup for any opponent.

Perhaps the two most disappointing elements of the night were the amount of missed tackles by the Hoosier defense and Indiana head coach Kurt Cignetti’s scared-money-don’t-make-none approach to calling the game down the stretch. At one point late in the game, the Hoosiers punted the ball away down three scores. Soft move. “Google Me” is cool when you’re aggressive, not when you’re getting stuffed in a locker.

Predictably, much of the discussion at the end of the game was about whether Indiana deserved to be in the 12-team field. I think the Hoosiers earned their place, and a loss to a really good Notre Dame shouldn’t change that. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

Moving forward, I’m excited to watch this physical Notre Dame team face mighty Georgia next week. That’s going to be some 13-10 caveman football and I will love it!

+2 units on the season

SMU vs. -8.5 Penn State - +1 unit

Tennessee vs. Ohio State UNDER 47 - -1 unit

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