College Football
2015 Final Top 25
1. Alabama, 14-1, 2
2. Clemson, 14-1, 1
3. Stanford, 12-2, 5
4. Ohio State, 12-1, 7
5. Oklahoma, 11-2, 3
6. Texas Christian, 11-2, 11
7. Michigan State, 12-2, 4
8. Houston, 13-1, 16
9. Baylor, 10-3, 17
10. Ole Miss, 10-3, 14
11. Notre Dame, 10-3, 8
12. Michigan, 10-3, 19
13. Florida State, 10-3, 914. North Carolina, 11-3, 10
15. Louisiana State, 9-3, 20
16. Iowa, 12-2, 6
17. Wisconsin, 10-3, 21
18. Utah, 10-3, 23
19. Oklahoma State, 10-3, 12
20. Oregon, 9-4, 13
21. Navy, 11-2, 25
22. Florida, 10-4, 17
23. Tennessee, 9-4, NR
24. Georgia, 10-3 NR
25. Northwestern, 10-3, 15
OUT: Southern Cal (22) and Texas A&M (24)
VOTES: Mississippi State, Southern Cal, Washington State, Temple, Arkansas, Western Kentucky, Louisville, Texas A&M, San Diego State, Boise State, West Virginia, Duke, Brigham Young, Auburn, Memphis and Georgia Southern.
Bob Davie deserves credit for bringing New Mexico bowling, and the Lobos battled Rich Rod's Arizona Wildcats to the end, falling 45-37 in the Gildan New Mexico Bow to kick off the expanded bowl season....Many on the east coast may not know, but Utah and Brigham Young are heated rivals, but the stadium was rendered speechless after Utah, with the help of a host of turnovers, ran out to a 35-0 first quarter lead; however, BYU never gave up and made it respectable by games end, losing 35-28 in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl....Appalachian State came back to top Frank Solich and his Ohio Bobcats, kicking a field goal as time expired to win 31-29 in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.... In the AutoNation Cure Bowl, a new game in beautiful downtown Orlando, San Jose State defeated Georgia State 27-16....At the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Louisiana Tech defeated Arkansas State 47-28...The Miami Beach Bowl was very entertaining a year ago, and was once again as Western Kentucky, behind the strong arm of Brandon Doughty, beat South Florida 45-35....Terry Bowden got Akron their first bowl win in defeating Utah State 23-21 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl...Toledo, perhaps feeling something to prove, dismantled what most felt was a stout Temple defense in defeating the Owls 32-17 in the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl....In the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, Boise State bombed Northern Illinois 55-7, and it could have been worse...Georgia Southern, who almost beat both Florida and Georgia, losing to the Dawgs in OT, destroyed a decent Bowling Green squad 58-27 to get school's first bowl win in the GoDaddy Bowl. GSU quarterback Favian Upshaw made many thing of Tommie Frazier as the backup quarterback ran for 199 yards and four touchdowns in a mind boggling performance...Western Michigan upended Middle Tennessee 45-31 in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl....San Diego State pounded Tommy Tuberville's Cincinnati Bearcats 42-7 in surprising fashion in the Hawaii Bowl...Marshall got the best of defensive minded Connecticut in the St. Petersburg Bowl 16-10...In a snowstorm, Washington State capped a decent season in defeating the Miami Hurricanes 20-14 in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on CBS....Out in Dallas at the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl, Washington defeated Southern Miss 44-31....In a thriller in the Bronx at the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, Duke defeated Indiana 44-41 in OT...Virginia Tech sent Frank Beamer out a winner in stopping Tulsa, who was operating on all cylinders offensively, 55-52...Nebraska finally went to the ground game and won the lines of scrimmage in dumping UCLA 37-29 at the Foster Farms Bowl...At the Military Bowl presented by Northrup Grumman, Navy outscored Pittsburgh behind quarterback Keenan Reynolds.....In the Quick Land Bowl in Detroit, Minnesota got by Central Michigan 21-14...In the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, Air Force was unable to corral Jared Goff and the Cal Golden Bears, falling 55-36...Baylor, using a third team quarterback in wideout John Jefferson, and without All America wideout Casey Coleman and running back Shock Linwood, Baylor ran wild from the get go on North Carolina, roughing up the Heels 49-28 in the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando. Baylor broke the record for most total yards and most team rushing yards in a bowl game, previously held by Nebraska in rather stunning fashion....Nevada dumped Colorado State in teh NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl...After the debacle in almost firing coach Les Miles, LSU got after Texas Tech in the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl and beat Texas Tech 56-27 behind top flite running back Leonard Fournette....Auburn found a defense and throttled Paxton Lynch and the Memphis Tiger 31-10 in the Birmingham Bowl....Behind QB Dak Prescott, Mississippi State jumped all over NC State 51-38 in the Belk Bowl...Freshman QB Lamar Jackson, who was emerging throughout the year, came up big as Louisville upended Texas A&M in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl....Wisconsin held the talented USC Trojans in check en route to a rather surprising 23-21 in the National Funding Holiday Bowl.....Florida State was outplayed and outcoached by a Houston team that came to win in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on New Years Eve at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta.....Tennessee set the expectations high for 2016 in thumping Northwestern 45-6 in the Outback Bowl....Essentially playing a road game in front of a partisan Gator crowd, Michigan pummeled Florida 41-7 in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl in beautiful downtown Orlando....Ohio State got clicking and defeated Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl 44-28, with it appearing the Irish, who lost All America linebacker Jaylon Smith in the first quarter, finally had their back broken on the injury front. Even if healthy, Ohio State showcased what may have been and appear poised to lose a truckload of players to the NFL......Stanford, behind a brilliant performance by Christian McCaffrey, destroyed Iowa 45-16 in the picturesque Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual.....Ole Miss demonstrated their strengths in overwhelming Okie State 48-20 in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.....Georgia raced out front and then held on to dump Penn State 24-17 in the TaxSlayer Bowl on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville. Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove his #88 TaxSlayer Chevrolet out to midfield to participate in the coin toss....Arkansas, behind RB Alex Collins, ran by Kansas State 45-23 in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl....In a top notch bowl game, down 31-0 to Oregon behind the stellar quarterbacking play of Vernon Adams, Texas Christian mounted a comeback for the ages and got to overtime, then defeated Oregon 47-41 in 3OT's. Great game....In another wild contest few on the east coast saw, West Virginia outlasted Arizona State 43-42, making just one more big play the Sun Devils.
Due to the inability to fill all the bowl games with teams with winning records, three teams with losing records (5-7) were issued bowl invitations based upon academic success. The three teams were Nebraska, Minnesota and San Jose State. Each team, as you may imagine, won their bowl game.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
Later, in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Alabama trounced Michigan State, dominating the Spartans 38-0. Although Alabama looked in control, the game was still in question with Bama leading 17-0 when Cyrus Jones returned a punt to give the Tide a 24-0 lead. Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry took over from there, for which the Spartans had no answer. Alabama owned the line of scrimmage, and got a great performance from QB Jake Coker. It was a bloodbath, and Alabama is IN.
North Dakota State pummeled top seeded Jacksonville State to win their fifth straight FCS National Championship, which is remarkable and worth the admiration it deserves.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Congratulations to the Alabama Crimson Tide, the 2015 College Football National Champions! Alabama scored 24 fourth quarter points, and needed them all, to outlast Clemson 45-40 to win the National Title.
Most everyone is well aware of the storied football history of Alabama, but this is their fourth title in the last seven seasons. This feat is unmatched in the modern era, and has eclipsed Nebraska, who went 60-4 in winning three titles in four seasons in the mid 1990's.
Nick Saban has squarely placed himself among the very best in the annuals of college football coaching, as he now has five national championships, having won one at LSU before coming to Alabama after two mediocre seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Saban perhaps coached his best game on this evening, with an uncharacteristic trick play in an onside kick that appeared to turn the fortunes toward the Crimson Tide. OC Lane Kiffin should also be recognized, for he is well on the way of atoning for failures as the head man at top jobs in both the NFL and college and will find himself with another opportunity sooner than later.
Alabama made the big plays, repeatedly, to win the ball game, on a night full of big plays.
Bama got out early, with Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry bolting 50 yards for the first score. However, Henry would not be story for Alabama on this night. It would others, most notably tight end O. J. Howard. Gridiron watchers in south, along with the NFL scouts, have known about Howard for years, but he has never been asked to play a significant role and never accumulated statistics that would place him contention for honors. Hell, he had not caught a touchdown pass since 2013. Howard hauled in five catches for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns, finding himself wide open time after time. QB Jake Coker, who played a very smart game, found Howard and that connection seemed too much for Clemson. Coker also, while avoiding a sack, found ArDarius Stewart for a big sideline grab.
But the big play that finally did Clemson in was a fourth quarter 95 yard kickoff return by Kenyon Drake.
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| Alabama's Kenyon Drake find paydirt with 95 YRD KO RET TD Photo/USAToday |
Alabama played well on defense, not withstanding the score, but had trouble matching up with Clemson quarterback DeShaun Watson and his big play making ability.
Top ranked Clemson, 6.5 point underdogs, came to win and has can hold their head high. The Tigers came very close to winning, making a bunch of big plays themselves. Quarterback Deshaun Watson, The Color & Pageantry 2015 All American quarterback, played a brilliant game and served notice on the nation he is among the nations best.
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| Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson Photo/SI.com |
Watson was 30/47 for 405 yards with four touchdowns, and ran 20 times for 73 yards as well. Watson did throw an interception, where Watson fired an attempt to hit a receiver on a wheel route but Bama safety Eddie Jackson fell back to pick it off. Had Jackson not made the play, Clemson would likely have been up 21-7.
Watson and Clemson got performances by Wayne Gallman and a host of receivers to keep the pressure on Alabama. In addition, defensively, most of the evening, Clemson played very well.
Defensively, the Tiger held up strong in the trenches, with DE Kevin Dodd and DE Shaq Lawson, making several sacks and tackles for loss. CB Marquise Alexander made some plays early, but was lost to injury by the end of the first periord, and his loss withour question hurt the Tigers.
Clemson got screwed by poor officiating at the end of the first half, losing the opportunity for a play and a time out. After the officials failed to get it right, Clemson had a field goal partially blocked and lost momentum going to the break.
It was a very enjoyable game, exploding with drama in the fourth quarter. Instead of this Monday Night tilt, the game should have been played the preceding Friday Night, as it was an early morning on the east coast for those of us fortunate enough to be employed.
Bama made the most big plays, and Clemson had failures on two special team plays, the onside kick and kick return touchdown, that told the tale of this game.
Congratulations to Dabo Swinney and Clemson on a big year and congratulations,once again, to the 2015 National Champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide! RTR!
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