College football winners and losers: Georgia, Clemson in playoffs

The College Football Playoff is coming into focus, but not without potential controversy.

No. 1 Oregon, No. 5 Georgia, No. 10 Boise State, No. 13 Arizona State and No. 17 Clemson won their respective conference championship games and secured tickets to the 12-team playoffs. Now the focus shifts to the selection committee’s controversial decision over which team gets the final overall entry into the field: No. 7 SMU or No. 11 Alabama.

In the SEC, the first overtime in the 33-year history of the championship game ended with a 22-19 victory for the Bulldogs over No. 2 Texas on Trevor Etienne’s 4-yard touchdown run at the end of the first extra frame.

Backup quarterback Gunner Stockton replaced the injured Carson Beck at halftime and led Georgia to four scores, including overtime. The second win this year against Texas will send the Bulldogs into the quarterfinals and push the Longhorns into the general playoffs.

In the Big Ten, Oregon beat Penn State 45-37 and finished the year as the only undefeated team in the Bowl Subdivision. The Ducks will be the top seed in the playoff round, while the Nittany Lions should finish at No. 5, setting up a matchup with Clemson in the first round.

Thanks to a 56-yard field goal as time expired, the Tigers’ 34-31 win over SMU will force the selection committee to choose between the Mustangs and Alabama. The Crimson Tide may have victories against Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri and LSU, but the Mustangs’ narrow loss in a Power Four Conference championship game will make it difficult to knock them out of the playoffs, especially if they are tied for three seeds Alabama took the lead in the race.

Including Friday night’s results, here are the winners and losers from conference championship weekend:

winner

Georgia

Georgia is far from perfect, but good enough to beat Texas for the second time. It doesn’t resemble the juggernaut of the program’s recent past. But there’s a formula based on a solid running game – defensive backs Etienne and Nate Frazier combined for 141 yards on 6.4 yards per carry – and a defense that has bounced back nicely from last week’s rivalry win over Georgia Tech. With the win, the Bulldogs move into the top two seeds in the league and are among the favorites to win their third national championship in four years.

MEANS LESS: Conference champions were devalued in the expanded playoff era

Clemson – and SMU

Clemson’s win makes them the No. 12 seed in the playoffs. The fact that this team is even in the playoffs is at once puzzling — the Tigers have never looked like one of the best in the country — and is also a great example of how conference championship games can remain highly valued in the 12-team era. Even though it’s no longer a playoff lockout, SMU should be able to hold off No. 11 Alabama and finish just ahead of the Tigers as the last team in the field. The Mustangs have two losses to ranked teams, six wins to bowl teams and just two Power Four wins by single digits. The Mustangs were also one of two Power Four teams, along with Oregon, to remain undefeated in conference play.

Oregon

No undisputed No. 1 team has ever been as ignored as the undefeated Ducks. As a first-time member of the Big Ten, Oregon scored at least 30 points in every league game but one and enters the playoffs as favorites to become the first national champions of the 12-team era. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel secured his place as a Heisman Trophy finalist with 283 passing yards and four scores, receiver Tez Johnson had 11 receptions for 181 yards and running back Jordan James finished the game with 87 yards and two touchdowns as Oregon broke through a defense, which began at the start of the weekend, he ranked fourth nationally in yards per game. The Ducks are what their record says: the best team in the country.

Shooter Stockton

Let’s get this out of the way: If Beck is healthy in the postseason, there will be zero, zero, zero quarterback controversy at Georgia. However, to Stockton’s credit, he came out of the cold to spark that offense and took a big hit at the end of a scramble in overtime to put the Bulldogs in position to score the game-winner . (Let’s take credit for a terrible interception with less than three minutes left in regulation that helped Texas force overtime.) The redshirt sophomore completed 12 of 16 attempts and had 79 total yards Offensive and led to a comeback in the second half. Under the circumstances you can’t ask for much more.

Arizona State

Arizona State came from nowhere to the top of the Big 12 by defeating No. 16 Iowa State 45-19 to clinch a playoff spot. Running back Cam Skattebo made another statement with 208 yards of offense and three scores and quarterback Sam Leavitt continued to play almost flawless football with 219 passing yards and three touchdowns without an interception. While the seeding has yet to be determined, the Sun Devils will likely be heading to the opening round. After winning three games last season, Arizona State storms into the postseason winning six straight games, three against ranked competition and eight of nine overall.

Boise State

The Broncos defeated No. 19 UNLV 21-7 on Friday night, winning the Mountain West and securing a Group of Five berth in the playoffs. Boise held the Rebels to just 3.9 yards per play when fending off an 86-yard touchdown run from UNLV senior Kylin James in the fourth quarter. In his final appearance before next week’s Heisman ceremony, Boise running back Ashton Jeanty rushed for 205 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries, giving him 2,497 yards on the year – the fourth-most in a single season in FBS history. All that remains to be decided is whether Boise State will be among the top four conference champions and earn a bye to the quarterfinals in the opening round. That’s a very safe assumption considering where the Broncos have been in the rankings over the last few weeks.

Rich Rodríguez

The former West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona coach led the Gamecocks’ seamless rise from the Championship Subdivision, culminating in Friday’s 52-14 victory over Western Kentucky to capture the Conference USA title in its third season. JSU ran for 386 yards on 56 carries, averaged 11.7 yards per pass attempt, dominated the clock and was plus-two in turnovers – a pretty clear blueprint for a blowout win. This came a week after the Gamecocks’ 19-17 loss to the Hilltoppers; In hindsight, it’s clear that Rodriguez and the offense intentionally messed things up. His success at Jacksonville State helped rebuild Rodriguez’s reputation and is one of the reasons he should be a legitimate contender to open with West Virginia.

Ohio

Ohio defeated Miami (Ohio) 38-3 in the MAC championship game to win the program’s first conference title since 1968. After averaging a season-low 3.8 yards per game in a 30-20 loss to the RedHawks during During the regular season, Ohio rushed for 467 yards at 6.4 yards per snap, with all five touchdown drives covering at least 75 yards. After winning three games in his debut season, fourth-year head coach and longtime assistant to Frank Solich, Tim Albin, has become the first in program history to win 10 games three years in a row.

Marshall

Marshall defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 31-3 to capture the Sun Belt and the program’s first conference title since winning Conference USA in 2014. After giving up a total of 68 points over the last two weeks, the Thundering Herd held on Ragin’ Cajuns to just 256 yards, 4.2 yards per play and just two third-down conversions. The Herd lost to Virginia Tech and Ohio State in September but lost just once the rest of the season, which was a breakout season for coach Charles Huff.

loser

Texas

Another loss to Georgia reignites the simmering debate about who Texas played and beat when it reached the playoffs. The Longhorns’ best win came last Saturday against Texas A&M with four losses, followed by Florida and Michigan. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Longhorns are in for a first-round playoff loss – this team has looked like a national champion given this less-than-stellar roster. But it’s only fair to be concerned about a few things, namely Ewers, the offensive line’s inability to move bodies forward and the winless record against other playoff teams. Texas will have a lot to prove later this month.

Iowa State

Iowa State’s inconsistent run defense failed again, costing the Cyclones the Big 12 championship and a playoff spot. Arizona State became the fifth team overall and third in the last five games to rush for at least 200 yards on Matt Campbell’s team. Meanwhile, the 26-point loss was the Cyclones’ first by more than 10 points since a 62-14 loss to TCU in the 2022 season finale.

Tulane

Behind a total of 284 rushing yards and five scores from running back Kanye Udoh and quarterback Bryson Daily, No. 23 Army pulled off a slight upset and secured the first conference championship in program history with Friday night’s 35-14 win over Tulane. With rival Navy completing the regular season followed by a bowl game, the Black Knights are poised to break the school’s single-season win record set in 2018. For Tulane, the crushing defeat comes a week after a debilitating loss to Memphis and erases much of the positivity that radiated from coach Jon Sumrall’s debut season.

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College football winners and losers: Georgia, Clemson in playoffs

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