Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith catches a pass over Oregon defensive back Dontae Manning during Wednesday's College Football Playoff quarterfinal in Pasadena, Calif. Smith torched the Ducks for 161 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
The College Football Playoff’s 12-team bracket afforded Ohio State an opportunity at redemption.
The Buckeyes appear to be hell-bent on making the most of their second chance.
The expanded field created opportunities for underdogs. Arizona State came this close to seizing one.
College football put on quite a show Wednesday. The overdogs continued to play their part, blowing out to double-digit leads. That has happened in all seven CFP games to date.
On this day, Texas built a quick 14-3 advantage over Arizona State and extended that lead to 24-8 in the fourth quarter. Then the Sun Devils roared back behind indomitable running back Cam Skattebo and forced the game into a dramatic overtime.
The Longhorns ultimately advanced with a 39-31 victory, but the Sun Devils made quite a statement. Crazy things are possible in this new era of college football.
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Remember, just last season Arizona Stare finished 3-9. Programs like Missouri and Illinois should make note of that.
“There are no moral victories when the season ends,” Arizona State Coach Kenny Dillingham told reporters after the loss. “There’s no such thing. This should hurt and be painful. The locker room is dreadful right now, and it should be. If it wasn’t, something would be wrong. But at the same token, now that this is over, I really am going to challenge our guys to reflect on where it all started, because it really is remarkable.”
There was no drama in the Ohio State-Oregon game. The Buckeyes steamrolled to a 34-0 margin and left the Ducks scrambling to salvage some pride.
Ohio State boosters were calling for coach Ryan Day’s head after the Buckeyes’ stunning no-show against arch-rival Michigan in the regular season. At the time, it appeared only a national title would appease the OSU money men after still another maddening defeat against the hated Wolverines.
Now the Buckeyes look capable of meeting that goal. They are loaded with NFL-caliber talent and they have pulled together nicely.
“As much pain as that caused a lot of people, I don't know if we'd be here without that (Michigan loss),” Ohio State senior defensive tackle Tyleik Williams said. “I know it sounds simple, but it gets back to executing the way we can, the way our talent says we should. When we do that, I'm not sure anybody can beat us, and you've seen that these last two games.”
Here is what folks have been writing about the CFP:
Dennis Dodd, CBSSports.com: “All it took for Ohio State was complete and utter embarrassment 32 days ago. In the same afternoon at The Shoe on that brisk Nov. 30, Michigan first stuck it to the Buckeyes, then stuck its flag in the ground. Never has a pepper spray-filled postgame brawl been so . . . inspirational. At least for the team that finally fought back when it counted, this time with the clock actually ticking and the season on the line this month. Ohio State redeemed itself, its coach and its season, in that order with another College Football Playoff win on another sun-splashed Rose Bowl afternoon. This one -- to borrow a phrase -- just meant more after the teams played a one-point classic 2 ½ months ago . . . Something changed for the Buckeyes. Whatever it was, it is coming just at the right time. After clearing the mental hurdle of that Michigan loss on Nov. 30, Ohio State has outscored Tennessee and Oregon 83-38.”
Christopher Kamrani, The Athletic: “The Ducks should and will feel awful after this loss. And amid the rage cycle over Playoff seeding and fairness, the truth is Oregon was out-classed, out-schemed and out-managed for most of its Playoff quarterfinal in Pasadena. In this era of college football with the bracket expanding to 12 teams, it’s going to take an all-time team to finish a season 16-0. Oregon will not be that team after its defense was a sieve in the first half against an Ohio State offense that picked up where it left off against Tennessee. This is undoubtedly one of the best teams in Oregon football history. It won the Big Ten in its first year in the conference and entered this quarterfinal the last unblemished team in the country. But for all the wins they stacked up in the 2024 season, the Ducks rarely looked like the dominant force an unbeaten No. 1 team usually is. The Ducks eked by Ohio State at home. Same with Boise State. They survived scares from teams like Idaho in the opener and on the road at Wisconsin. And in the win vs. Penn State in the Big Ten title game, the Ducks defense was exposed on the ground, allowing 270 yards.”
Jerry Brewer, Washington Post: “Skattebo, as confident as he is compact, starred as the unrelenting savior. Against the nation’s best defense, he ran 30 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He threw for a touchdown. He caught eight passes for 99 yards. He ran for a two-point conversion. After rushing for just 45 yards in the first half, he summoned the kind of will that it seemed the Texas defense wouldn’t allow. And he did it with his trademark bravado. He got sick, and then he kept providing sick plays, transforming a game in which his team trailed 17-3 and later 24-8 into an edge-of-seat suspense-fest that Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian compared to March Madness. Even without knowing how this playoff will end, it’s still safe to assume that no losing player will create the commotion and engender the respect that Skattebo did in this game. At 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, he wrecked the Longhorns’ game plan. He didn’t do it with ease, either. Every yard was hard. Even the big plays — a go-route reception, a deep touchdown pass on a fourth-down trick play — came with a ridiculous degree of difficulty.”
Bill Connelly, ESPN.com: “ASU left it all out on the field -- literally, in Skattebo's case -- and represented the Big 12 in the best possible way. Eleven weeks into the season, the conference's surprise champions had less than a 3% chance of reaching the CFP, per the Allstate Playoff Predictor. Their November rally was incredible, and their rally in Atlanta was even better. They'll say goodbye to Skattebo and others, but with Leavitt returning and head coach Kenny Dillingham bold and aggressive in the transfer portal, they'll have as good a chance as anyone of making another charge next year.”
Pete Fiutak, College Football News: “Texas has the talent to win the national title. It has the speed, the skill, and the depth. It’s among the richest schools - at least with the athletic department - in the game, it’s bound by nothing, and it does absolutely everything possible to make things hard on itself. It starts with an explosion to go up 14-3. It held Arizona State out of the end zone until the crazy late run over the final 6:30 of regulation, and then it made things way too interesting. Missed field goals, a horrible play call leading to an interception, and fewer than 30 carries until overtime, the team has a weird way of not playing up to its potential for a full 60 minutes. The Longhorns got out alive, but that’s not going to work against Ohio State.”
MEGAPHONE
“We've got a chip on our shoulder, and that chip ain't going away. That's who we are.”
Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
