Nebraska, USC and Alabama have all successfully defended a national championship in the past 25 years and after Saturday night it appears Clemson will at least have a shot at adding their name to the list. The Tigers looked every bit the part of the No. 1 team in the country as they cruised to an easy 38-3 victory in the ACC Championship Game to spoil No. 7 Miami’s first trip to Charlotte in every way imaginable.
As you might expect in a game involving the Hurricanes’ famous ‘Turnover Chain,’ giveaways played a huge role in the outcome of this one — just not how Mark Richt and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz wanted. While Miami did recover a muffed punt on the second series of the game, the team wound up turning it over three times on offense and giving away 14 points off them. Two in the third quarter loomed particularly large as a fumble at midfield and an interception off a tipped pass wound up slamming the door on any potential comeback and turned a three-score lead into a full on rout.
Of course, it helps to have a team that looks to be peaking at the right time to take advantage of another monster performance from the Clemson defense. Quarterback Kelly Bryant started the game off with 15 straight completions in another masterful outing behind center, finishing the game with 252 yards and a touchdown pass through the air while adding another score on the ground. He was so good that backups Hunter Johnson and Zerrick Cooper played most of the fourth quarter in his place and made the somewhat lackluster ground game not matter as tailbacks Tavien Feaster, Travis Etienne and Adam Choice all were held under 25 yards rushing — but did manage to score a touchdown a piece.
The stellar effort by the defending ACC champs was not matched by Miami in their initial trip to the conference title game since joining the league. Quarterback Malik Rosier had another sub-par night throwing the ball and managed only 110 yards and tossed two interceptions. While the passing game was hampered by numerous injuries to the team’s best receivers, the defense on the other side also had a lot to do with things and kept the run game in check too (104 yards total).
The victory marked the third straight ACC title for Dabo Swinney and all but assuredly gave his team the No. 1 seed when the College Football Playoff rankings are announced on Sunday — which would result in a trip to the Sugar Bowl for just the second time in school history. Given that Saturday night’s game in Charlotte was a blowout almost from the opening kickoff, the debate has already begun in earnest to figure out who the Selection Committee will pick to face the Tigers.
Whether it’s a rematch with either Ohio State or Alabama (or a chance against undefeated Wisconsin) is a question for another day however, as Clemson won’t really care who lines up against them in a few weeks. The Tigers remain in the hunt to capture back-to-back national titles after another romp in Charlotte and look primed to do continue this remarkable run they’re on when they spend New Years in New Orleans next month.
No. 8 Ohio State’s offense is simultaneously blowing No. 4 Wisconsin off the field and keeping the Badgers in the game, as the Buckeyes hold a 21-10 lead at the break in the Big Ten Championship. Ohio State’s attack not only put up three scores of its own, but also directly contributed to both of the Badgers’ scores.
But it was a Wisconsin turnover that started the scoring. The Badgers moved into the Ohio State red zone with a great chance to open the scoring, but Alex Hornibrook‘s lob near the end zone was intercepted by Denzel Ward at the 4-yard line. The Buckeyes needed only four plays to traverse the 96 yards ahead of them, the last 84 coming on a Barrett pass to Terry McLaurin to open the scoring.
Barrett then gifted Wisconsin a touchdown with a 9-yard pick-six to Wisconsin’s Andrew Van Ginkel. He quickly erased that score, though, completing a 4-play, 75-yard drive with a 57-yard snatch-and-dash to Parris Campbell, giving Ohio State a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
After three straight three-and-outs, Ohio State again put together another blitzkrieg drive, this time moving 82 yards in three plays, 77 of which came on a J.K. Dobbins run. Barrett pushed the lead to 21-7 with a 1-yard plunge one play later.
Needing a score to stay in the game, Wisconsin drove to the Ohio State 37, but Paul Chryst elected to punt on a 4th-and-3 instead of going for it or kicking a 54-yard field goal. The decision immediately worked out, though, when Van Ginkel forced a Mike Weber fumble at the Ohio State 11, leading to a 28-yard Rafael Gaglianone with 3:42 left in the half.
Sean Nuernberger‘s field goal on the final play of the half was blocked.
Hornibrook closed the half hitting 8-of-16 passes for 103 yards with an interception and Jonathan Taylor, who entered the game averaging 150 yards a game and seven a carry, was limited to 25 yards on 10 attempts. Despite gaining seven first downs and averaging just 4.54 yards per play, Wisconsin possessed the ball inside Ohio State territory four times in the half — and came away with just three points.
Wisconsin owned a 2-to-1 time of possession edge in the half and ran 35 plays to Ohio State’s 33, but the Buckeyes did much more with the ball in their hands. Barrett hit 8-of-16 passes for 182 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and Dobbins racked up 90 yards on six carries. As a team, Ohio State rushed for 127 yards on 17 carries and averaged 9.36 yards per play on 309 total yards.
It’s at this point we should remind you Wisconsin’s No. 1 ranked total defense managed to limit opponents to 236.9 yards per game while playing half of its schedule against teams that ranked No. 101 or lower in total offense.
Ohio State will receive to open the second half.
If there are any doubts about who the No. 1 team in the country is, Dabo Swinney and company may have used the first half of the ACC Championship Game to erase them. No. 1 Clemson cruised to a fairly effortless 21-0 lead at halftime over No. 7 Miami and do not appear to be done tuning up for the College Football Playoff either.
The Tigers marched right down on the opening drive of the game in what was quite the tone-setter, scoring off of a Travis Etienne four yard touchdown run to immediately put points on the board. Quarterback Kelly Bryant was really sharp through the first two quarters — 15 completions in a row to open the game — and threw for 164 yards, with another 15 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Tailback Adam Choice also added 21 yards and a rushing touchdown as well.
It didn’t take long for Miami’s vaunted turnover chain to make an appearance though, in what was Clemson’s lone mistake in the half after they went 7-of-10 on third down and scored on three of their five drives. Ray-Ray McCloud ended up muffing the first punt of the game and allowed Trent Harris to emerge from a scrum with the ball. That setup a long field goal attempt that missed to the left and otherwise spoiled the momentum from the big play, made even worse as the Tigers went right back down and scored another touchdown.
To add injury to the insult for the Hurricanes, wideoutDarrell Langham — a hero in earlier wins and starting in place of the injuredAhmmon Richards — suffered a minor foot injury, defensive back Trajan Bandy was hurt and star defensive end Chad Thomas also had to be helped off.
Those injuries were compounded by the fact that the UM offense couldn’t do much at all against that feisty front seven from Clemson. Malik Rosier had just 27 yards passing and tailback Travis Homer was limited to only 28 yards on the ground.
There’s still plenty of time for a second half rally for Mark Richt’s team in the Hurricanes’ first trip to Charlotte for the ACC title game but it might take a miracle at this point given how banged up the team is and how well the Tigers are looking as they appear well on their way to locking up another playoff bid.
Well, we think they are going bowling, probably
New Mexico State needed a Week 14 win over South Alabama to get to six wins and become bowl-eligible; after a little bit of a dicey fourth quarter, the Aggies did just that as they escaped with a 22-17 win over the Jaguars.
NMSU entered the fourth quarter with a 13-7 lead, then stretched it to 16-7 very early in the period. A Cole Garvin 17-yard touchdown pass brought USA to within two points at 16-14, then the Jaguars took their first lead since the first quarter on a 27-yard Gavin Patterson field goal.
However, a nine-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Rogers, who finished with 451 yards passing, with 32 seconds remaining proved to be the game-winning score.
NMSU, in its last season as a member of the Sun Belt, will now likely go to a bowl game for the first time since the 1960 season. While there was some concern last month that financial considerations could potentially make them turn down a postseason bid, it’s likely that they will receive an Arizona Bowl invitation Sunday afternoon and make that a moot point.
Ticket punched, revenge complete.
No. 6 Georgia more than made up for their lone loss on the season by upsetting Deep South rival and second-ranked Auburn on Saturday evening 28-7 in an old school SEC Championship Game to secure the conference title and book their trip to the College Football Playoff at the same time.
The relatively low-scoring affair was quite the contrast to the Tigers’ victory three weeks ago on the Plains when they throttled the Bulldogs 40-17. Though quarterback Jarrett Stidham led the Auburn offense down the field to a quick strike touchdown on the opening drive of the game, that easy ball movement didn’t seem to return for either side as both defenses showed why they are two of the best in the country across the board. That early bit of momentum for Gus Malzahn’s team looked like it was going to lead to another repeat of the first meeting but that proved not to be the case when the Bulldogs seized control of the game and never let go the rest of the way.
A Stidham fumble early in the second quarter might have been one of the biggest game-changers of the day in Atlanta as it led to points on the other end. Bulldogs quarterback Jake Fromm found tight end Isaac Nauta wide open in the middle of the end zone off a fake toss play and was symbolic of the kind of bounce-back the freshman signal-caller (183 yards passing, two touchdowns) and the rest of the team would have.
Nothing summed that reversal of fortune up more than a pair of key defensive plays down the stretch in the second half. DaQuan Hawkins-Muckle blocked a short field goal right into the waiting arms of Dominick Sanders, while a fumble recovery at the start of the fourth quarter led to a perfect back-shoulder throw by Fromm toTerry Godwin (who also caught a two-point conversion) from seven yards out extended the lead further.
That kind of lead meant it was time for the UGA ground game to get going to salt away the victory. With Sony Michel was banged up with a left knee injury he suffered in the third quarter, Nick Chubb grabbed most of the carries and finished with 77 yards rushing against that tough front seven of coordinator Kevin Steele. Yet it was youngster D'Andre Swift (88 yards) that truly opened things up in the upset by jetting 64 yards for a touchdown.
Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson did start despite banging his shoulder up against Alabama last week, rushing for a team-high 44 yards but coughed up that costly fumble in the second half. Stidham was far from the kind of quarterback he showed in recent upsets of the No. 1 team in the rankings the past month and threw for only 145 yards on just 16 completions. In the end, the team simply appeared to run out of gas after a hot start and never could make a play to get themselves right back into things.
Now comes the intrigue with the College Football Playoff thanks to that kind of performance. Georgia will assuredly find themselves in the top four come Sunday afternoon and are likely ticketed to the Rose Bowl semifinal as either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. Current No. 3 Oklahoma punched their ticket earlier in the day with a victory over No. 11 TCU and the winner of the ACC title game is a lock as well.
With No. 10 USC likely set for a Fiesta Bowl trip, that leaves the Big Ten championship game winner facing off for a spot against No. 5 and one-loss Alabama. The Crimson Tide probably would have preferred an Auburn blowout win in Atlanta but that wasn’t the case as the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry went the way of the Bulldogs in the biggest way possible.
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