The Finale

            To say the SEC has been dominant in college football is an understatement. Since 2006, they’ve captured 7 of the last 8 National Championships. This year is going to be different. When the season began, the people down south thought they could potentially get two teams into the new College Football Playoffs. That idea was looking good for most of the season with Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Alabama making a case to all make it into the final four. The Big 12 also had their own plan with Baylor and TCU. When the final rankings came out, only one of those teams made it in, Alabama. Many believed that the Tide would roll their way to Texas Stadium to play in the National Championship. They didn’t. In the second semifinal game of the College Football Playoffs, Urban Meyer and Ohio State knocked of the favorites in the Sugar Bowl. It seemed that the ‘SEC speed’ didn’t phase the Buckeyes. In fact, they used their own speed against the once vaunted Alabama defense. They gained momentum at the end of the first half and really never looked back. In a somewhat shocking final score, the Buckeyes from the BIG TEN beat the Crimson Tide from the SEC in a MEANINGFUL postseason game.

            In the first semifinal game on the day, Oregon dismantled the defending champions Florida State 59- 20 in the Rose Bowl. There’s not much I can really say about this game, it looked like it would be a good game at the half with the score 18-13 Oregon. Then the 3^rd quarter happened. The Ducks outscored the Seminoles 27-7 in the quarter. Turnovers and the pace of the Ducks offense were killer in Florida State’s chances of mounting a comeback. There was a point in the fourth quarter when ESPN commentator Kirk Herbstreit said something we all could see; “Florida State has quit”. You never like to say that about a team but the body language on the reigning champs sideline was lacking any enthusiasm. If it was indeed Jameis Winston’s last collegiate game, it was his only loss. 

            So the National Championship is here, Oregon and Ohio State. One team who we thought would make it; the other is on their third string quarterback and isn’t skipping a beat. Some might have expected Ohio State to make it this far, but not with Cardale Jones as the signal caller. They lost preseason Heisman candidate Braxton Miller to a shoulder injury then lost their backup and another Heisman candidate J.T. Barrett. Enter Cardale Jones against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game. The sophomore had 257 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 59-0 beat down of the Badgers. The quarterback on the other side has thrown just 3 interceptions all season and 13 in his career. Not to mention a Heisman Trophy. Marcus Mariota leads an Oregon offense that gets a play off before a replay of the previous play can be shown. Ohio State’s defense held Heisman candidates Melvin Gordon and Amari Cooper to below their season averages; they hope to do the same to Mariota.

            Needless to say this years National Championship should be a classic, they all are I guess but for some reason this one has a different feeling. Ohio State is trying to swing the momentum back to the Big Ten in the national picture. Should this be Marcus Mariota’s final game in his phenomenal career, one that prior to the Rose Bowl included a 1.1 interception percentage, the Ducks would love to send him off with a National Championship.

Prediction: Oregon 49, Ohio State 39