Wow. I’m exhausted. Mentally, not physically, because I was just sitting on my butt watching three college football playoff games today, unlike the players who gave it their all in ESPN’s nationally televised games. And I watched another game yesterday. Tough job, but someone’s got to do it.
The most satisfying game for me naturally was the Orange Bowl contest between Oregon and Texas Tech. I was nervous about it, as an Oregon fan, because Texas Tech was seeded #4 with Oregon #5. Thus the teams seemed equally matched, both with stellar offenses and defenses. Pre-game, the ESPN announcers said this should be the best game to watch, given the expected close final score.
Wrong. Oregon won 23-0. And that was with quite a few penalties, botched plays, and curious coaching decisions — such as Lanning passing up makeable field goal attempts in order to go for it on fourth down, which could have been disastrous if the game hadn’t been a blowout by Oregon.
The win puts Oregon in a semifinal game on January 9 at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Their opponent will be #1 ranked Indiana, the only team to beat Oregon this season. Ducks quarterback Dante Moore didn’t play at his best in that game, which Oregon lost 30-20. Indiana looked great in their easy 38-3 win against Alabama in the Rose Bowl. Surely Indiana will be favored in the Peach Bowl, but I expect Oregon to put on a strong showing given how well they played against Texas Tech.
Yesterday I was hoping #10 Miami would beat #2 Ohio State, because I usually root for the underdog — unless Oregon is the overdog. My wish came true as Miami pulled off an upset, winning 24-14. This takes some of the sting out of Oregon’s soul-crushing loss to Ohio State last year in the playoffs. I love it when Ohio State loses.
I just finished watching my recording of the most exciting playoff game, the Sugar Bowl contest between #3 Georgia and #6 Ole Miss. It looked like the game was going to overtime in the closing minute with the score tied 34-34. However, Ole Miss completed a long pass play that allowed their talented field goal kicker to (seemingly) win the game for Ole Miss 37-34. But it ended up 39-34.
A New York Times story describes the bizarre ending to the game.
Ole Miss picked up arguably its biggest win in program history on Thursday night, when Pete Golding and the Rebels beat Georgia 39-34 in an instant classic that will be replayed and revisited in Oxford forever. But the ending of the Sugar Bowl wasn’t without its drama down the final stretch — and we’re not just talking about Ole Miss’ furious rally and the 30 points scored in the fourth quarter between the two teams.
More specifically: what the heck happened in those last six seconds?
After Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carneiro — who had the game of his life with 55 and 56-yard field goals in addition to the game-winning kick — booted a 47-yard field goal to put Ole Miss up 37-34, the Rebels then kicked off to Georgia with six seconds to play. Georgia receiver Landon Roldan fielded the kick at the back of the end zone, ran up just past the 5-yard line and tried to throw a backwards pass across the field. An Ole Miss defender was there to stop two Georgia players from catching the ball. The football sailed past them, landed near the hash and slowly bounced out of bounds. The ball hit the pylon with (what we learned was) one second left and officials ruled it an Ole Miss safety. The Rebels went up 39-34.
With the game seemingly over, Sugar Bowl officials began to roll both the trophy and the stage out onto the field while Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Golding met at midfield for the traditional coaches’ handshake. Celebratory confetti fell to the turf. But in the middle of the chaos, referees also began to blow their whistle.
They determined that there was still one second left on the clock. Both teams retreated back to their sidelines.
Because of the safety, Georgia had to line up and kick off from its own 20-yard line. Bulldogs kicker Peyton Woodring attempted a slow-rolling, onside free kick that running back Cash Jones eventually fell on. In another confusing turn of events, no time ran off the clock. ESPN rules analyst Matt Austin explained it this way:
“If the ball is recovered legally after it goes 10 yards by a grounded player, then the clock does not run.”
Ole Miss, again believing the game was over, showered Golding in two blue Gatorade baths as he headed to midfield again to meet Smart. The stage came back out. But officials then blew their whistles and determined there was still a second on the clock.
Georgia finally ran a failed lateral play that ended with Ole Miss (finally) officially winning.
Count it as one of the more bizarre endings in College Football Playoff history in one of the sport’s all-time great games.
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