College football Bowl season is over for another year, and Ohio State are National Champions. Now that the dust has settled, here are some of the heroes from a memorable 3 weeks of football:
Cardale Jones: the Ohio State quarterback is one of the greatest stories we’ve seen in recent college football memory. Third string before the summer, second string after Braxton Miller went down pre-season, then starter after J.T. Barrett was injured in the Michigan game.
Everyone said the Buckeyes were done for. They wouldn’t get past Wisconsin, let alone a team in the playoff, and their inclusion, even after a smack down of the Badgers, was decried and derided. Yet, Jones made us all look pretty silly. After routing Wisconsin, all he did was, you know, casually beating Alabama and Oregon on the way to a National Championship. Jones belongs atop this list, because his three-game stretch at the controls of the Buckeyes offense was nothing short of astounding.
College Football Playoff: If this was the BCS era, we’d have seen a National Championship game between Florida State and Alabama, and Ohio State wouldn’t have gotten a shot. The playoff changed that, proving to be exactly what the college game has needed for so long, and now, like in the NFL, all you need now is to get hot, and a seat at the dance, and you’ve got a chance to do some damage. Good riddance to the days of the National Championship Game combatants being chosen by computer.
Ezekiel Elliott: Jones’ cohort in the Ohio State backfield, Elliott was just as good as his quarterback, ripping off three consecutive 200-yard games, including a Sugar Bowl-record 230 against Alabama’s vaunted defense. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a Nick Saban-coached squad as embarrassed as they were by Elliott’s performance. Against Oregon, the Buckeyes kept feeding the ball, and he kept grabbing big chunks of yardage. He could hardly be stopped.
Urban Meyer: In his third season at Columbus, the perennial winner has done it again, delivering a championship to Ohio State and going a long way to reviving the Big Ten as a conference. His Buckeyes defied the odds three games running, and are now deserved National Champions.
The lesson here is to never underestimate an Urban Meyer-coached team. The proof…well, we saw it clear as day at AT&T Stadium yesterday. For engineering the unlikeliest of National Championships, Meyer absolutely deserves to be spoken about in the same breath as Nick Saban now. The way things are going in Columbus, Meyer might well win another National Championship before Saban does.
Michigan State’s offense: The Spartans aren’t built for making big comebacks, and when they were down 20 to Baylor in the final quarter of the Cotton Bowl, it seemed like they were done and dusted. Not so. State came roaring back, led by QB Connor Cook, and stunned a lot of people, including, perhaps, themselves, in recording a narrow 42-41 victory.
Ohio State’s defense: Stupendous performance by the Buckeyes in slowing down Alabama and then, eleven days later, doing the same to an Oregon team that’s run up huge scores on almost all their opponents this year.
Sure, it looked worrisome for the Buckeyes when Oregon scored a touchdown on it’s opening possession of the National Championship Game, but after that, the Buckeyes stiffened, holding Oregon to just one more touchdown and two field goals. They stoned that Duck offense, and it all started with the offensive line. Full credit to All American Joey Bosa on the offensive line, and emerging linebacker Darron Lee.
I think it was the best defensive performance of the year, and maybe of the last few years. The way they put the brakes on that red-hot Oregon team was nothing short of astounding. Luke Fickell and his staff deserve tremendous credit. I bet Buckeye fans are happy Urban Meyer didn’t bow to the overwhelming public pressure and fire Fickell after a poor showing last year.
Boise State: The Fiesta Bowl has been good to the Broncos. Three visits and three memorable wins. A lighting start and a dominating first thirty minutes allowed the Broncos to coast home against Arizona, and reminded the world that, as well as being famous for some awesome trick plays, they’re a damn good football team without them. BSU keeps on keeping on, even with the departure of long-time head coach Chris Petersen. Bronco alum Bryan Harsin has stepped in, and nothing’s changed.
The Big Ten: Beleaguered conference no more! Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State all won against favoured teams – Auburn, Alabama and Baylor – on New Year’s Day and, of course, the Buckeyes went on to win the National Championship. Add to that the fact that Jim Harbaugh is the new head coach at Michigan, and there’s suddenly a lot of momentum for the Midwest-based conference that was written off by a lot of people halfway through the season.
Notre Dame: As much as it pains me to write anything vaguely praiseworthy of the Fighting Irish, their victory over Louisiana State in the Music City Bowl (which was one of the best games of the entire schedule) was pretty impressive. I mean, LSU are a good team, and the Irish – whose late-season slump, including their 49-14 loss at the hands of USC made me pretty happy – went toe-to-toe with them. The last drive, alternating between quarterbacks Malik Zaire and Everett Golson, ended in a Kyle Brindza field goal, was a thing of beauty.
USC’s freshmen: So much for this Trojan fan to be happy about following the narrow 45-42 victory over a surprisingly good Nebraska team in the Holiday Bowl. This year’s much-hyped freshman class showed up big-time – as they also did against Notre Dame – with Adoree Jackson scoring on a 100-yard kick-off return, as well as catching 3 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. Fellow receiver JuJu Smith also caught three balls for 66 yards. The future is bright at the Coliseum.
North Dakota State: The Bison have made history, winning their fourth consecutive FCS (Division II) championship, beating Illinois State with a touchdown inside the last thirty seconds of the fourth quarter to continue a remarkable dynasty in Fargo that hasn’t been slowed by the departure of both their head coach and starting quarterback in this past off-season. Wouldn’t it be great to see the Bison mixing it up in the Mountain West?
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