Thoughts on College Football Playoff Championship

Not a great game to watch but it sure was a dominating performance by Ohio State on Monday night. 33 million people tuned it for it. It was the largest audience for a cable program ever. Not a shocker as #’s 2 and 3 on that list were the semi-final games 10 days ago. A few thoughts on the game:

• I think it’s safe to say the line for the best college coach now starts behind Urban Meyer. Saban is not far behind but he is now #2.

• I heard a good comment on a radio show the other day – can’t remember who it was or I’d give them credit – When Urb and Florida rolled Ohio State in the BCS championship back during Tebo-mania, Ohio State had tons of big strong guys and a great run game. The difference now at Ohio State is that Urb has those same big strong guys, but he also now has big, strong FAST guys. It’s not just 3 yards and a cloud of dust anymore with Ohio State – it’s 3 yards and a gust of wind as they break through into the secondary and take it to the house! Ohio State looked really good.

• How in the world did Ohio State ever lose a game this year, especially to a so-so Virginia Tech team? I guess give credit again to the coach for continually developing the team and getting better as the year went on. You can’t argue that.

• To close the deal, Ohio State beat Bama and thrashed Oregon (the two teams everyone thought were the best in the country). And then don’t forget their utter destruction of Wisconsin 59-0.

• You think Gary Anderson knew a month ago what we are just starting to realize – that is, no one in the Big-10 is going to compete with Ohio State – not on the field, not in recruiting, etc. At least not until Urb leaves or develops health problems again. (in fairness to Anderson – the speculation is that he left Wisconsin for Oregon State because he didn’t get along with AD, Barry Alvarez. Alvarez wanted to continue running the old-school Wisconsin big beefy run game and would not let Anderson branch out to something else. And Anderson is from the West)

• We are heaping all this praise on Urban Meyer. Let’s also call it like it is. He can sure coach but he may be an even better recruiter. How in the world do you have so many thoroughbreds at quarterback that the 3rd one out of the stable can roll in for the last 3 games (after not playing at all), destroy some incredible teams and potentially parlay that into a high NFL draft pick. Again, after starting a mere 3 games!! I don’t think any other team in the country has that depth. Perhaps Alabama. It’s like I always say in hoops – Coach K and coach Cal are great, but so would Po-dunk Valley State’s coach be if he had an All Star team every year.

• Not sure where the Ohio State 1st stringer, Braxton Miller will end up if he transfers. He’s rumored all over the place. Why not Utah? (Again, he was injured before the year started)

• It just goes to show how much recruiting and development matter in college football. Can you imagine if Kyle Whittingham or Bronco Mendenhall had even one of those 3 Ohio State guys for the last 2 or 3 years. (A healthy Taysom Hill is close but he does not have the same arm).

• Marcus Mariota did not play terrible. His numbers were decent. I think he had 2 TD’s, threw for 333 yards and had just 1 pick. The problem is he and the other offensive players never got into a normal Oregon rhythm – big play after big play and gashing people for 30 yards or more at time.

• The Oregon defense just simply could not stop Ohio State. And it really wasn’t anything flashy. It was like the Dallas Cowboys of the 90’s. You knew what they were gonna do but they lined up and did it better than everyone else and dominated.

• Consider also that Ohio State had 4 turnovers and they still hammered Oregon. That game could have been worse for Oregon.

• That said, I think it would be wrong to throw in the towel on Oregon. Many people will say that twice now their “gimmicky” offense has been exposed on the biggest stage (Auburn and Ohio State). That is true but I don’t think their offense is gimmicky. Everyone is running it. They just need to get a little better and not get pushed around at the line of scrimmage on defense. They are still very good. They have essentially owned the second best conference in America since USC’s run came to an end 5 or 6 years ago. Oregon is no slouch.

• Interesting side note – As awesome as Ohio State was, remember a terrible interception from the Alabama quarterback helped get them into the championship. Remember Bama was down by 6 late. They forced Ohio State into punting nearly from their own end zone. The subsequent punt took a terrible bounce backwards and Bama had the ball at the Ohio State 30 yard line or thereabout, and all the momentum. Blake Simms threw a terrible pick on the first play and changed the whole game. Had Bama been more patient, in theory they would have run and passed the 30 yards into the endzone, taken a 1 point lead and kept all the momentum. Instead, Ohio State took the ball and I believe went down and scored , and got the 2 point conversion to go up 14. It was literally a 14 point swing stemming from that one play. Sports are funny that way. You have to make the most of your opportunities.

• Final thought – TCU is probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the country right now. And perhaps the best??? Ohio State certainly belonged in the playoff but TCU should not have been booted out. Remember, TCU was ranked #3 and then fell all the way to #6 in the last week of rankings and got hosed. And this was after beating a team 52-0. Time to go to 8 teams already??