Saturday Sports 12/28 '24
The Anthem
The Anthem
- College Football Elite 8 Preview
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Good Charlotte’s The Anthem. The song was featured in the Madden ‘03 with Marshall Faulk on the cover. Growing up, I remember listening to this with family friends in the mid-2000s all the time. Sure, Good Charlotte was a bit out there, but for what it’s worth this hit record is better than whatever else song they use as the background song in those commercials for College Football today.
On to the sports….
Penn State and Boise State have never met on a football field. In the opening game of the Elite 8 on New Year’s Eve, the Nittany Lions are heavy favorites over the Broncos. Neither one of these schools has ever reached a College Football Playoff before this year. Penn State hasn’t won a National Championship since 1986 while Boise State is nearly 2 decades removed from their 2007 Fiesta Bowl victory, which really put their program on the College Football map.
Penn State made a mockery out of SMU in the 1st Round of the College Football Playoff. Known as Linebacker University, 2 Nittany Lion LBs scored Pick-6 Touchdowns to get the 1st Half started. Dominic DeLuca and Tony Rojas made house calls on SMU’s Kevin Jennings in their 38-10 victory. Both linebackers will now be responsible for chasing down Ashton Jeanty. While last weekend wasn’t the best performance out of QB Drew Allar, the cold weather conditions played a huge part in the passing game. Allar relied on his RBs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen to rush 25 times for 160 yards and 3 scores. Expect star TE Tyler Warren to have much more of an impact in both the passing and running game as the Nittany Lions will creatively use the John Mackey Award recipient.
The Boise State Broncos with their extra bye week haven’t played since December 6th. The star of the Boise State show is, of course, Ashton Jeanty. The 2nd-place Heisman finisher compiled 2,497 rushing yards and 29 rushing TDs while running for an insanely efficient 7.3 yards per carry. Not for nothing, Jeanty also caught 20 passes for 116 yards and 1 TD as well. The star running back had more carries that went 20+ yards (24) than rushes for loss (23). His 5 runs of 70+ yards were the most in College Football since LaDanian Tomlinson’s 5 70+ yard scores in 1999. While I still think the Nittany Lions ultimately win this matchup, I’m hedging by taking Boise State with the 11 points. Go Broncos.
Prediction: 31-21 Penn State (+11 Boise State & Under 52.5)
The Texas Longhorns and Arizona State Sun Devils have only met once in the 2007 Holiday Bowl Game. The Longhorns blew out the Sun Devils 52-34 in the affair as Clot McCoy and Brian Orakpo were the game MVPs. Neither of these football programs has ever played in the College Football Playoff before this year. Texas last won a National Championship in 2005 when Vince Young defeated Pete Carroll, Reggie Bush, and Matt Leinart USC Dynasty.
The Texas Longhorns were able to handle the Clemson Tigers in the 1st Round matchup thanks to their running game. RBs Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner combined for 29 carries, 256 rushing yards, and 4 TDs. QB Quinn Ewers found TE Gunnar Helm 6 times for 77 yards and a score, otherwise the Longhorn’s passing game was quiet. They may get a jolt as speedy wideout Isaiah Bond was back to practice after missing the Clemson game and suffering the ankle injury in the SEC Championship. While the Texas defense was able to come up with 3 sacks against the Tigers, they also allowed Cade Klubnick to put on a clinic as he threw for 336 passing yards with 3 TDs. It was one of the only times this season that the elite Texas secondary struggled in coverage.
Arizona State hasn’t played since winning the Big 12 Championship over Iowa State. The Sun Devils will rely on what got them here, the hard-nosed and tough running ability of Cam Skattebo. The senior star RB has rushed for 1,568 yards and 19 TDs as his 4.11 yards after contact per carry is good for 3rd in the nation. Aside from Skattebo, redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt has continuously developed into an excellent passer. In their last 6 games, Leavitt has thrown for 16 TDs with just 1 INT while averaging 250 passing yards on a 61% completion percentage. It will be vital for Sam Leavitt to continue his strong play against the Texas Longhorns’ great secondary of Jahdae Barron, Andrew Mukuba, and Michael Taaffe. I think Texas edges out but believe the Sun Devils can at least keep this within 2 scores.
Prediction: 28-23 Texas (+13 ASU & Under 51.5)
The Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks have played each other 11 times dating back to 1958. The Buckeyes have won 9 of those contests, however, the Ducks have won the last 2 meetings. This includes earlier this season when Oregon beat Ohio State in a thrilling Week 7 matchup on College Football Gameday. Ohio State has won a total of 8 National Championships with their most recent coming in the 2014 College Football Playoff. The Oregon Ducks have yet to win a National Title but are the #1 ranked team and the only undefeated team in College Football left.
The Buckeyes walloped the Tennessee Volunteers in the 1st Round to the tune of 42-17. Freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith caught 6 passes for 103 yards and 2 scores. The star WR told reporters this week, “Guys like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan they want to be pushed, and I’m trying to be like them in football.” Smith has asked co-offensive coordinator and WR coach, Brian Hartline, to keep feeding him the ball after he wasn’t targeted much in their 2 previous games against Michigan & Indiana. In the Week 7 matchup with Oregon, Smith caught 9 passes for 100 yards and a TD. Defensively, the Buckeyes have not allowed an opponent to score more than 17 points all season except for the Ducks in Week 7. The Buckeyes were 2nd in the Big Ten in sacks this season but failed to take down Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in their previous meeting.
With a win, the Oregon Ducks will go 14-0 for the first time in school history. It would also be the 1st time in Ohio State’s history that they lost to an opponent twice in 1 season since Wittenberg University beat the Buckeyes twice in 1894. The Ducks had to fend off Penn State for the Big Ten Championship but otherwise haven’t played in very many close games aside from their Week 7 meeting with the Buckeyes. Oregon’s offense features an efficient passing attack conducted by Dillon Gabriel and is complimented by a nice run game headed by Jordan James. Gabriel threw for a season-high 341 passing yards and James ran for a near season-high 115 yards against the Buckeyes (who allow the least amount of yards in CFB). The Ducks will need to replicate such a performance or have their defense play a bit better this go around. The Oregon defense is led by edge pass rusher Matayo Uiagalelei. The 19-year-old stud sophomore had 1 of his 10.5 sacks against the Buckeyes. Uiagalelei was snubbed by the Big Ten Coaches for not being named to their First-Team All-Big Ten Defense. He’ll get a shot to prove them wrong on the Elite 8 stage. When it’s this late to the season and you have an underdog undefeated team, I’ll go with them every time.
Prediction: 27-24 Oregon (+2.5 Oregon & Under 55.5)
The Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish and Georgia Bulldogs have met just 3 times in football history. The Bulldogs have won all 3 previous meetings and have twice won the National Championship in the College Football Playoff format. This season marks the 3rd time the Irish have made the CFB Playoffs and they haven’t won a National Championship since 1988.
Notre Dame took care of business against the Hoosiers in the 1st Round of the playoffs as soon as Jeremiyah Love went 98 yards for the Irish first score. The dynamic running back was battling the flu as he scampered the length of the field. The Notre Dame offense aside from Love’s explosive play was otherwise contained against Indiana. QB Riley Leonard was able to throw and rush for a TD but can’t afford to throw an early pick against the Bulldogs. Defensively the Irish allowed the Hoosiers to score just 17 points as senior safety Xavier Watts led the charge. Watts led the team in tackles with 10 and came up with an early momentum-shifting interception to give way to Love’s long touchdown.
