2014 Final Top 25
1. Ohio State, 14-1, 4
2. Oregon, 13-2, 3
3. Texas Christian, 12-1, 5
4. Alabama, 12-2, 2
5. Florida State, 13-1, 1
6. Michigan State, 11-2, 7
7. Baylor, 11-2, 6
8. Georgia Tech, 11-3, 10
9. Georgia, 11-3, 10
10. UCLA, 10-3, 13
11. Mississippi State, 10-3, 8
12. Clemson, 10-3, 19
13. Wisconsin, 11-3, 20
14. Arizona State, 10-3, 15
15. Missouri, 11-3, 14
16. Ole Miss, 9-4, 11
17. Boise State, 12-2, NR
18. Arizona, 10-4, 9
19. Louisville, 9-4, 17
20. Kansas State, 9-4, 16
21. Southern Cal, 9-4, 24
22. Notre Dame, 8-5, NR
23. Minnesota, 8-5, 21
24. Auburn, 8-5, 18
25. Nebraska, 9-4, 22
OUT: Louisiana State (23) and Duke (25)
VOTES: Arkansas, Louisiana State, Duke, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Texas A&M, Washington, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Stanford, NC State and Memphis.
BOWL ANALYSIS
Louisiana Lafayette started fast then hung on to win the R&L Carriers Bowl over Nevada to kick off the bowl season....Utah State used a stellar defensive effort to hold UTEP to a pair of field goals in winning the New Mexico Bowl......Colorado State no doubt felt the loss of Coach Jim McElwain to Florida, but ran into a much superior squad in Utah and got throttled 45-10 in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl.....Air Force controlled the entire way in defeating Western Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl....South Alabama rallied late to tie Bowling Green and potentially force overtime, but after taking the kick at the 20 with about a minute to go, BGSU bombed the Jaguars on a 78 yard TD bomb to win the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.....The inaugural Miami Beach Bowl was an excellent contest with saw Memphis outlast BYU in double OT was marred by a massive brawl at the end of the game, the highlights (or low lights) of which went viral for days....Marshall throttled Northern Illinois in the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl....San Diego State got out early on Navy, but surrendered a late TD drive and fell 17-16 in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl..... The inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl was a snoozer for most of the game with Western Kentucky leading 42-14 at the half, but Central Michigan mounted a comeback for the ages to tie the game at 48 pending the PAT, but the Chippewas went for two and failed, taking the shine off their 34 point fourth quarter scoring barrage.....Rice, which is a much better team than you know, smothered Fresno State....La. Tech controlled Illinois.....We knew North Carolina had no defense, but thought they could outscore Rutgers, but Rutgers hammered the Heels in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit....At the BitCoin Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Pete, NC State jumped all over UCF and the heavy home crowd.....Va. Tech took over the game versus Cincinnati in the Military Bowl at Annapolis......At the Hyundai Sun Bowl, Duke stormed back but fell late against Arizona State.....Miami continued to underachieve and lost to South Carolina in the Duck Commander Independence Bowl......Boston College failed to put Penn State away, and in overtime, the Nittany Lions got the win.....Nebraska scored the last 15 points of the game at the Holiday Bowl, but fell to USC 45-42.....Texas A&M disposed of West Virginia, who fought hard. The Aggies had an assistant coach strike a Mountaineer player on two occasions, and Coach Kevin Sumlin sent him packing at halftime.... Clemson absolutely mauled Oklahoma in the newly furbished Russell Athletic Bowl in beautiful downtown Orlando.....In a throwback rivalry game, Arkansas smothered Texas in the Texas Bowl 31-7......In a thriller, Notre Dame beat LSU late 31-28, in a game which features two top teams for 2015....Georgia was too strong for Louisville in the Belk Bowl....Stanford routed Maryland, which shocked nobody.....Texas Christian, smarting from being left out of the CFB, beat Ole Miss up one side and down the other in the Peach Bowl blasting the Rebels 42-3, sending a strong message across the nation....Boise State made Fiesta magic once again, dumping Arizona...In the final contest of the calendar year 2014, Georgia Tech ran all over Mississippi State int he Orange Bowl, who had been AP #1 just a few weeks back....Wisconsin, coached by AD and former coach Barry Alvarez, nipped Auburn in the Outback Bowl.....Missouri played well and pulled away from a strong Minnesota team to win the Buffalo Wild Wings Florida Citrus Bowl.....Houston, down 31-6, came back to stun the Pitt Panthers in the Armed Forces Bowl....Tennessee, setting the stage for 2-15, bombed Iowa in the Gator Bowl....UCLA held off a strong Kansas State team in the Alamo Bowl.....Oklahoma State, decimated by injuries in 2014, flashed what might have been in beating a very good Washington squad in the Ticket City Cactus Bowl.....Florida almost snatched defeat from victory, but got an interception in the end zone to preserve a victory over East Carolina.... Toledo ran all over Arkansas State, literally, winning the GoDaddy Bowl 63-44.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
.jpg)
In the Rose Bowl, although Florida State moved the ball at will, the Seminoles had series of miscues which left in an 18-13 deficit at the half. In the second half, the Seminoles, gaining chunks of yardage, were unable to hold on to the football. These turnovers, forced and unforced, led to a barrage of Oregon points allowing the Ducks and Heisman quarterback Marcus Mariota to route the 'Noles 59-20 to earn spot.
Later, in the SEC infested Sugar Bowl, after falling behind 21-6, Ohio State unleashed some physicality and punched Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide in the face winning going away 42-35. The Buckeyes improbable run, with their third string QB, surprised many and got them a spot in the CFB.
 |
| Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones Photo/IndyStar |
After giving up an early score, the Buckeyes unleashed a powerful running attack on the Oregon Ducks, owning the line of scrimmage, setting up a timely and lethal passing attack which led Ohio State to an easy victory over the high flying Ducks. Ezekiel Elliott ran wild, netting 246 yards. Elliott utilized a rare combination of speed and power, and the Ducks had no answer. Put the sophomore Elliott atop your 2015 Heisman watch list.
Defensively, Oregon was hurt by not having their top two receivers available, but they lost the battle up front and could not run effectively enough to open the offense up. Oregon is no longer a soft team, but the physicality the Buckeyes hit them with was eye opening.
Had Ohio State not suffered four turnovers, this thing wold have gotten ugly. All with the Buckeyes playing with their third team quarterback Cardale Jones, who looks like Paul Bunyan with wheels. En route to their sixth national title, Ohio State defeated each of the 2014 Heisman finalists in consecutive games. I wish I were kidding you.
This was some kind of coaching job job done by the hater Urban Meyer. And the B1G, who was counted out of the party early, went home with all the women.
What a season, and what a playoff! The highest ratings ever on cable television. No doubt about it. It is all about The Color & Pageantry of the greatest game, college football.
2015 will be here before you know it. Are you in?
No comments:
Post a Comment