HOUSTON – Eight teams remain in the 2024 College Football Playoff, all led by members of the American Heart Association Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards Coach of the Year Watch List.
Last week saw the higher seeds win all four opening-round games – fifth-seeded Texas downed 12th seed Clemson 38-24 to earn a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl date with fourth seed Arizona State, eighth seed Ohio State topped ninth seed Tennessee 42-17 to advance to the Rose Bowl for an all-Big Ten matchup against top seed Oregon, sixth seed Penn State topped 11th seed SMU 38-10 to advance to the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl against third seed Boise State, while seventh seed Notre Dame topped tenth seed Indiana 27-17 to earn a berth in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against second seed Georgia.
Penn State (12-2) vs. Boise State (12-1) – Vrbo Fiesta Bowl – Glendale, Ariz.
State Farm Stadium will be the setting as James Franklin and the Nittany Lions open the weekend against Spencer Danielson and Boise State. While this national quarterfinal will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs, Penn State is a perfect 5-0 against teams from the Mountain West. The last time Penn State faced off against a Mountain West team was ten years ago – a 37-21 win over San Diego State in 2015.
Last week’s win over SMU was the 100th win in State College for Franklin, who now has 124 career wins to his name.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the game and never looked back, as the tandem of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen combined for 160 yards on the ground and three scores. Penn State set the tone early in the game, opening scoring on a 23-yard pick-six by Dominic DeLuca. The Nittany Lions’ defense held SMU off the board until the 10:59 mark of the third quarter.
This week’s game features multiple future NFL running backs – but none have put up the video game-esque numbers of Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty has 2,497 rushing yards this season with 29 touchdowns – his 2,497 rushing yards are more than all but 25 teams’ entire rushing output this season, and his 29 scores on the ground would rank 19th in the NCAA team rankings this season.
The five teams in FBS who had the fewest rushing touchdowns – Florida State (8), Hawaii (7), Utah (7), UCLA (4), and Kent State (3) – combined to match Jeanty’s scoring output on the ground.
No strangers to the Fiesta Bowl, Boise State is making its fourth appearance in the game. The Broncos are 3-0 all-time in the Fiesta Bowl, including a win in what was unquestionably one of the greatest college football games of all time – a 43-42 overtime win over Oklahoma in 2007.
Perfect Fiesta Bowl records will collide, however – Penn State is 7-0 all-time in the game, and the team who escapes Tuesday’s matchup with a win will advance to the Capital One Orange Bowl for a matchup against the winner of the Georgia/Notre Dame quarterfinal.
Texas (12-2) vs. Arizona State (11-2) – Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl – Atlanta, Ga.
The 57th playing of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will be just the second all-time meeting between Texas and Arizona State. Texas won the first meeting 52-34 back in 2007, but this year Arizona enters the game as the higher seed and coming off an opening-round bye.
Coach Steve Sarkisian and his Longhorns are coming off a 38-24 win over Clemson last week, and will be playing in the Peach Bowl for the very first time. However, the Longhorns have the opportunity to add a huge historical accomplishment with a win – a win in the Peach Bowl would make Texas the first program to pick up a win in all New Years Six bowl games.
Last week, Jaydon Blue rushed for 146 yards and a pair of scores in the Longhorn’s opening-round win.
Standing across the field in this matchup of the last two Big 12 Conference champions will be Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State. ASU makes its first appearance in the Peach Bowl since 1970 – a 48-26 win over North Carolina – and with a win, the Sun Devils would lock in at least an 8.5 game improvement over last season – Tulane’s nine-game improvement in 2022 remains the record.
Texas and Arizona State were two of five FBS teams with four regular-season wins over teams ranked in the AP Top 25 at the time of the game – joining Georgia, South Carolina, and Notre Dame.
The Sun Devils may look to establish the tempo early in this game – ASU has outscored opponents 101-13 in the first half of their last four games.
The winner of this game advances to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic to face the winner of the Ohio State/Oregon quarterfinal.
Ohio State (11-2) vs. Oregon (13-0) – Rose Bowl Game – Pasadena, Calif.
Two Big Ten teams collide in the Rose Bowl Game, in a rematch of what may have been the best college football game of the 2024 season. Oregon and Ohio State met back on Oct. 12, with Oregon getting a 32-31 win in an instant classic in Eugene.
The two teams will meet on neutral ground on Wednesday, and this game marks the third time that Ohio State and Oregon have squared off in a Rose Bowl.
The Buckeyes are 2-0 in the games to date – Ohio State beat Oregon 26-17 in 2010, and 10-7 back in 1958 – cementing the first national championship of the Woody Hayes era. Ohio State also holds a 9-2 advantage in the all-time series, however, the Ducks have won the last two meetings in the series.
Ryan Day had his Buckeyes up to the task last week in a dominant 42-17 win over Tennessee. Will Howard passed for 311 yards and a pair of scores, while Treveyon Henderson added a pair of scores on the ground. Jeremiah Smith hauled in six passes for 103 yards and a pair of scores in the win.
While the Buckeyes were able to take out their frustrations from the previous week’s loss to Michigan, Ohio State will undoubtedly be just as motivated to avenge the early-season loss to the Ducks.
Meanwhile, the Dan Lanning-led Ducks remain the only perfect team in the land. Of Oregon’s 13 wins, four were one-possession games and three of those games were against teams still in the hunt for a title – Boise State, Ohio State, and Penn State. The Ducks are making their ninth Rose Bowl appearance and will be looking for their fifth consecutive win in the game.
The winning team advances to the Cotton Bowl Classic to face the Texas/Arizona State winner.
Notre Dame (12-1) vs. Georgia (11-2) – Allstate Sugar Bowl – New Orleans, La.
Two college football blue bloods will lock horns in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Wednesday, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, fresh off a win over Indiana in the CFP Opening Round – will square off against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Notre Dame and Georgia will meet for the fourth time, with UGA holding a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series. One of those meetings was the 1981 Sugar Bowl – a game in which then-true freshman Herschel Walker rushed for 150 yards and was named Sugar Bowl MVP as Georgia won 17-10.
Names and faces have changed, however, Georgia and Notre Dame remain two of the top programs in the country. Both teams have been ranked every time they have played one another – but this year’s No. 2 ranking for Georgia and No. 3 ranking for Notre Dame represents the collective highest ranking for both teams.
Notre Dame is coming off an opening-round win over Indiana, and Marcus Freeman has led his Fighting Irish to 11 consecutive wins. In its opening-round win over Indiana, Notre Dame controlled the pace of the game from the very beginning, leading 27-3 in the fourth quarter before the Hoosiers pulled to within ten with a pair of scores in the game’s final 90 seconds. Riley Leonard threw for 201 yards and a touchdown while rushing for another, while Jeremiyah Love picked up 108 yards on the ground with a 98-yard touchdown run of his own. Defensively, the tandem of Julian Walker and Aiden Fisher added ten stops apiece as Notre Dame held Indiana to 278 yards of total offense – 126 of those coming in the final 90 seconds of the game.
After an opening-round bye, Kirby Smart and Georgia will look to remain perfect in the all-time series against the Fighting Irish. The Bulldogs will do so bolstered by one of the most successful senior classes in college football history – this year’s Georgia seniors have won 53 games, tied for fourth all-time. One of the most successful programs in the short history of the CFP, Georgia is making its fourth appearance. Three times in those appearances, Georgia has advanced to the title game with a pair of wins. This year, the Bulldogs are 4-0 against the CFP field with a pair of wins over Texas and wins over Clemson and Tennessee.
The first quarter of this game may not be indicative of the outcome of the contest. Six times this year, Georgia has not scored in the opening quarter – and the Bulldogs are 5-1 in those games. With four second-half comebacks to their credit, the Bulldogs have rallied from as many as 17 down to win this year (against Georgia Tech).
Offensively, Georgia’s Carson Beck has been the catalyst for a great deal of success during his tenure in Athens. The fifth-year senior is 24-3 as a starter, and has thrown for 7,912 career yards.
Wednesday’s winner will advance to the Capital One Orange Bowl to face the winner of the Penn State/Boise State quarterfinal.
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