Let’s start off by asking if you are really surprised by the first playoff being this crazy. The answer is no. With this change comes new experiences, and craziness is an understatement for this season. First of all, the two semi-final games made record ratings. On ESPN, the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl presented by Northwestern Mutual averaged over 28 million viewers each on January 1st. These ratings more than doubled from last year.
The semi-final games were nothing short of amazing. Let’s start with the Rose Bowl where two Heisman Trophy quarterbacks went head-to-head. This is only the third time that has happened in recent years.
Oregon proved themselves to be National Championship worthy throughout this entire bowl game against FSU. Marcus Mariota completed 26 passes for a total of 338 passing yards with only one interception. Additionally, the Ducks also rushed for 301 yards, almost double that of Florida State, in 45 attempts. With only a little of 27 minutes of possession, Oregon let everyone know they were there.
Moving on to the Sugar bowl, a heartache for the SEC, Ohio State fought for 60 minutes to defeat the top-ranked Crimson Tide. The Buckeyes and the Crimson Tide met in the same bowl game 37 years ago. Paul "Bear" Bryant and Woodrow "Woody" Hayes had their first and last meeting in the 1978 Sugar Bowl and were college football's most winningest active coaches at the time. For this year's meeting, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer combined have won six National Championships.
Ohio State rushed for 281 yards which was more than double the amount of average rush yards Alabama had given per game all year with 88.7 rushing yards. Ohio State’s not-so-third-string quarterback, Cardale Jones, threw for 256 yards and averaged 7.1 yards per pass. Totaling 537 yards, Ohio State won the Allstate Sugar Bowl to put them in the National Championship game.
So what has the season, which lead to this incredible playoff semi-finals, taught us? Anything can happen. During the season, three teams claimed the number one spot, and the season still isn’t completely over, as the National Championship does not have the previously top-ranked Alabama. Fourteen teams have hired new head coaches for next season. Just to add more surprise to this first ever playoff season, for the first time since 2006, an SEC program is not in the National Championship.
After this first season with the playoff system, the playoff proved to be an improvement. Two deserving teams made it through a tough season against incredible programs. So finally, the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks will play for the big trophy on January 12.
So until next season football fans. On a positive note, there are only about 240 days until the 2015 season starts, but who's counting? Oh yeah, ME.
Here’s to hoping the 2015 season makes me feel like this referee during Oregon’s dominance over FSU.
