CFP Quarterfinals Results/Thoughts
So this ends the quarterfinals of the college football playoffs and to everyone’s surprise the top 4 teams in the playoffs have been knocked out. Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, and Arizona State have all lost and now many have gone to social media to once again ask for the bracket qualifications to be redone. In my opinion it needs to be determined by the strength of schedule, worthy wins, and conference champions. Here are the quarterfinals results and my thoughts on the games and the next games:
- Fiesta Bowl: #6 Penn State Nittany Lions vs. #3 Boise State Broncos
- Final: PSU def. BSU 31-14
- Thoughts: As I predicted before the game started, Boise was going to have a tough time getting the offense going because of States defensive strategy. Interestingly though the Broncos lead the game in total yards and 1st downs but unfortunately they also lead the game in turnovers with 4 and you can’t expect to win a game with so much pressure against a tough team and expect to win. Penn State was very conservative in their play calling and was balanced in their run and passing plays.
- Peach Bowl: #5 Texas Longhorns vs. #4 Arizona State Sun Devils.
- Final: TEX def. ASU 39-31
- Thoughts: At the beginning I thought that this would be a one sided game leaning towards Texas but ASU put up a great fight especially in the 4th quarter where they scored 16 and pushed the Longhorns into 2 overtime’s. In the end UT took home the win and another close game that seems like they were going to lose it late.
- Rose Bowl: #8 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. #1 Oregon Ducks.
- Final: OSU def. ORE 41-21
- Thoughts: This was the shocker of the night especially when the first meeting between the 2 teams was a shootout that ended with the Ducks winning 32-31 in October but the quarterfinal was a very different story when the Buckeyes star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith had a career game with 187 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. The game changer I believe was the defensive scheme of the Buckeyes as they were a lot more aggressive and focused than they were in their first meeting.
- Sugar Bowl: #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. #2 Georgia Bulldogs.
- Final: ND def. UGA 20-10
- Thoughts: Georgia was down a game changer in starting quarterback Carson Beck as he was ruled out of the game by an elbow injury he sustained during the SEC Championship game against Texas so head coach Kirby Smart went to backup quarterback Gunner Stockton. Stockton had a solid game with 234 pass yards and 1 touchdown but had 2 fumbles and lost 1 of those. ND quarterback Riley Leonard didn’t have a stellar passing performance only having double digit yards but he did make use of his ability to run the ball.
Now that the quarterfinals are over it’s time for me to give my semifinal game picks:
- Cotton Bowl: #8 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. #5 Texas Longhorns
- Pick: OSU
- Orange Bowl: #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. #6 Penn State Nittany Lions
- Pick: Penn State
