Patrick Diamond
Last year, the NCAA and College Football had its last BCS Championship game featuring an undefeated Florida State and an Auburn team coming off a miracle win against Alabama and an SEC Championship against Missouri. This year, however, College Football decided to have a four team playoff selected by a committee consisting of college football experts built to pick the top four teams in the nation to play for the title.
It was a successful year with the first rankings coming out following week 9 of the season, different teams filtering in and out all until the last week of the season. Alabama, Oregon, and Florida State had clinched their spots in the top four, but the last spot was still up for grabs between the one loss teams Ohio State, TCU, and Baylor. Although TCU had an impressive 55-3 win over Iowa State, their one and only loss was to Baylor, who also was coming off a 38-27 win over Kansas State. Neither of these performances could top Ohio State’s 59-0 win over Wisconsin, despite losing both of their star quarterbacks, Braxton Miller and JT Barrett, and having to rely on third string, Cardale Jones. With this huge win, Ohio State nabbed that final spot in the playoff, setting up a number one Alabama and number four Ohio State Sugar Bowl, and a number two Oregon and number three Florida State Rose Bowl.
To start the year football filled New Year’s day, 11-1 Oregon and undefeated Florida State squared off in what would soon change from a highly anticipated game, to a crushing blowout win for Oregon, the final score being 59-20.
The Sugar Bowl resulted in a much closer game than the earlier game. Ohio State, the underdog in the matchup, started shaky in the first, quickly getting down 21-6, but turned it around and gained back some ground, only trailing 21-20 at halftime. The second half, just as eventful as the first, came down to the wire, but when time ran out, Ohio State led 42-35, winning the Sugar Bowl, and moving on to what is my first, game of the week.
The former third string Ohio State quarterback, Cardale Jones, and the highly anticipated NFL Draft prospect, Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota will be squaring off in the first ever Dr. Pepper College Football Playoff National Championship. If you’re not already rooting for the third string QB, just look at this tweet prior to his first career start against Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game:
And surprisingly, so far his actions have spoken louder than his words. He’s thrown for 618 yards and 6 TD in just 2 starts. On the other hand, you have the much more proven heisman winning quarterback, Marcus Mariota, who threw for 4,121 yards, 40 passing touchdowns, and 15 rushing touchdowns. With a little help from Mariota and the fast paced Oregon offense, the Ducks should be able to put up a good performance. Ohio State also has a star running back in Ezekiel Elliott, and a speedy receiver in Devin Smith. On the defensive side, Oregon is missing a key cornerback, the NFL Draft prospect Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. Ohio State’s defense has been impressive all season, led by their defensive tackle, Michael Bennett.
This matchup should be exciting, as it’s the first year of the playoff era. With all the ups and downs Ohio State has had this year, they still have put themselves in the position to have a chance at winning a championship. If their defense is able to make stops and keep up with the high paced Oregon offense, they should keep this game close, and set up and amazing finish at the first College Football Playoff National Championship.
