Game Thread: CFP Playoff NC Game - Ohio St vs Notre Dame (ESPN @ 730p EST)

[Tidewater]

Big, congrats. Enjoy.
Bucks got really hot after the game against That School Up North.

 

[BamaNation]

Congrats to @B1GTide and any other buckeyes out there. These things are very rare so enjoy it. That 3rd & 11 play was a dagger to the Irish hopes and dreams.

As an aside, some of you may not know that my daughter is a freshman at ND this year. She's also in the marching band, so has gotten to experience each and every home game + playoffs + the "Shamrock Series" game they played vs Army in Yankee Stadium. It's been quite the year of experiences for her. Never in my life did I ever think that I would pull for ND to win anything but her being there changed my perspective - especially as they begin making a playoff run and wanting her to experience what I did as a student at Bama in '92.

This season has been discombobulating for me with my love for Bama and our season vs my lifelong hate for ND and their season (and my becoming a begrudging "fan")

 

[AlistarWills]

I cut the game off when it became a 21 pt gap. What’s the point? It’s now solidified that you don’t have to recruit and develop a program to reach the pinnacle of College Football. You can just buy yourself a roster and W’s.

 

[B1GTide]

Congrats to @B1GTide and any other buckeyes out there. These things are very rare so enjoy it. That 3rd & 11 play was a dagger to the Irish hopes and dreams.

As an aside, some of you may not know that my daughter is a freshman at ND this year. She's also in the marching band, so has gotten to experience each and every home game + playoffs + the "Shamrock Series" game they played vs Army in Yankee Stadium. It's been quite the year of experiences for her. Never in my life did I ever think that I would pull for ND to win anything but her being there changed my perspective - especially as they begin making a playoff run and wanting her to experience what I did as a student at Bama in '92.

This season has been discombobulating for me with my love for Bama and our season vs my lifelong hate for ND and their season (and my becoming a begrudging "fan")

The things we do for our children.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

I cut the game off when it became a 21 pt gap. What’s the point? It’s now solidified that you don’t have to recruit and develop a program to reach the pinnacle of College Football. You can just buy yourself a roster and W’s.

My interest in the Playoffs as a whole was pretty low but I'll also say that both tOSU and ND looked to be doing something right with both player selection and coaching.

It's not just about who spends the most.... yet anyway.

tOSU added a Veteran QB and coached him to his best play of his career.

They took Seth from us and fixed him and turned him into the #1 Center in CFB.

They took Judkins from Ole Miss who was supposedly a 'team cancer' and he matched Henderson yard for yard and TD for TD.

They recruited Smith at WR and he became a Top 1-3 WR in CFB as a TF.

Day is doing something right because they did all of this vs the *checks notes again* #2 SOS in the Country.

Makes me wonder if tOSU did something crazy like playing their best players at every position as well.

 

[davefrat]

Congrats B1G Tide.

I watched less than 5 minutes of the game, but satisfied with the result.

Now, ND can join a conference...maybe the ACC will take them to round out their idiotic second place championship game plan.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Ohio State was probably the best and most talented team but it was more they just got hot in the playoffs. The regular season they were pretty average. They lost 2 games one vs an average Michigan team and only scored 10 points in that game along with the Oregon game. However they had a couple other close calls. Nebraska had them 17 14 pretty late in the 4th before Ohio State got a TD with 6 minutes left to win 21-17. They also had a pretty close 20-13 win vs Penn State. It is pretty amazing with that offense they had 3 games they scored 21 points or less.

There was no dominant team this year (like, for example, 2011 LSU/Alabama, 2012 Alabama, 2019 LSU, 2020 Alabama or 2021 Georgia even - with one obvious exception). And OSU deserves all the credit in the world and played great when it mattered.

But here's where I wonder if Bobby Bowden's musing isn't even more accurate than he intended. In 1991, Florida State began the season ranked #1 in the preseason for the second time in four seasons, and Bowden noted the tremendous PRESSURE his team was under from day one, when they finally slipped up and lost a close one (Wide Right I) to Miami. He mused that he thought the way to win a national championship was to LOSE EARLY and dip below the radar so you didn't get every other team's best game every week. He pointed to the fact that the previous year, both national champions (Colorado and Georgia Tech) were not in the line of fire; Colorado began 1990 at #5 and THREE GAMES into the season were 1-1-1 and below everyone's line of vision. They even dropped two spots when they WON the infamous Fifth Down game (to #14). They vaulted to #10 with two Big Eight blowout wins (combined with other teams losing) and then, bizarrely enough, came the unforgettable day of November 3, 1990:

1) Virginia (7-0)
2) Notre Dame (6-1) - loss to 2-6 Stanford
3) Nebraska (8-0)
4) Auburn (6-0-1) - tie with Tennessee (who also tied Colorado)
5) Illinois (6-1) - beat Colorado, lost to 6-2 Arizona in opener)
6) Houston (7-0) - on probation, was not going to be considered
7) Washington (7-1) - loss to Colorado
8) Miami (5-2) - losses to BYU and Notre Dame
9) Colorado (7-1-1) - tie with Vols, loss to Illinois
10) BYU (6-1) - yes, BYU with a win over Miami was BELOW them (loss to 6-2 Oregon)

So what happened on November 3?
#16 Ga Tech (6-0-1) knocked off UVA in the game of the year
Colorado beat Nebraska, 27-12, on the road
Auburn got blown off the field, 48-7, at Florida
Iowa killed Illinois, 54-28

Colorado pole vaulted to #4, largely because Nebraska was overrated (like always back then). The very next weekend, Washington and Houston lost and the bowl bids went out for #1 N Dame vs #2 Colorado. A week later, the Irish lost to Penn State and the Orange Bowl lost their 1-2 matchup. Plus, the win over UVA jump started Georgia Tech. On November 3, NOBODY in the country would have imagined we'd have wound up with these two national champions, but two months (to the day) later, we did.

Bowden's POINT was - and Bryant made this point as well - you get everyone's best game.


In this case, ALL OF THE PRESSURE on Ohio State vanished when they lost to Michigan. At that point, you had a talented team with a talented coach almost being given a "if you lose, you shouldn't have been here, but what if you win" scenario, and they ca$hed it in.

I surmise this is going to be more common in the future. Two-loss champions will become de rigeur.

 

[davefrat]

I cut the game off when it became a 21 pt gap. What’s the point? It’s now solidified that you don’t have to recruit and develop a program to reach the pinnacle of College Football. You can just buy yourself a roster and W’s.

Top teams (including our beloved Tide) have been paying for rosters since the days of leather helmets.

 

[davefrat]

There was no dominant team this year (like, for example, 2011 LSU/Alabama, 2012 Alabama, 2019 LSU, 2020 Alabama or 2021 Georgia even - with one obvious exception). And OSU deserves all the credit in the world and played great when it mattered.

But here's where I wonder if Bobby Bowden's musing isn't even more accurate than he intended. In 1991, Florida State began the season ranked #1 in the preseason for the second time in four seasons, and Bowden noted the tremendous PRESSURE his team was under from day one, when they finally slipped up and lost a close one (Wide Right I) to Miami. He mused that he thought the way to win a national championship was to LOSE EARLY and dip below the radar so you didn't get every other team's best game every week. He pointed to the fact that the previous year, both national champions (Colorado and Georgia Tech) were not in the line of fire; Colorado began 1990 at #5 and THREE GAMES into the season were 1-1-1 and below everyone's line of vision. They even dropped two spots when they WON the infamous Fifth Down game (to #14). They vaulted to #10 with two Big Eight blowout wins (combined with other teams losing) and then, bizarrely enough, came the unforgettable day of November 3, 1990:

1) Virginia (7-0)
2) Notre Dame (6-1) - loss to 2-6 Stanford
3) Nebraska (8-0)
4) Auburn (6-0-1) - tie with Tennessee (who also tied Colorado)
5) Illinois (6-1) - beat Colorado, lost to 6-2 Arizona in opener)
6) Houston (7-0) - on probation, was not going to be considered
7) Washington (7-1) - loss to Colorado
8) Miami (5-2) - losses to BYU and Notre Dame
9) Colorado (7-1-1) - tie with Vols, loss to Illinois
10) BYU (6-1) - yes, BYU with a win over Miami was BELOW them (loss to 6-2 Oregon)

So what happened on November 3?
#16 Ga Tech (6-0-1) knocked off UVA in the game of the year
Colorado beat Nebraska, 27-12, on the road
Auburn got blown off the field, 48-7, at Florida
Iowa killed Illinois, 54-28

Colorado pole vaulted to #4, largely because Nebraska was overrated (like always back then). The very next weekend, Washington and Houston lost and the bowl bids went out for #1 N Dame vs #2 Colorado. A week later, the Irish lost to Penn State and the Orange Bowl lost their 1-2 matchup. Plus, the win over UVA jump started Georgia Tech. On November 3, NOBODY in the country would have imagined we'd have wound up with these two national champions, but two months (to the day) later, we did.

Bowden's POINT was - and Bryant made this point as well - you get everyone's best game.


In this case, ALL OF THE PRESSURE on Ohio State vanished when they lost to Michigan. At that point, you had a talented team with a talented coach almost being given a "if you lose, you shouldn't have been here, but what if you win" scenario, and they ca$hed it in.

I surmise this is going to be more common in the future. Two-loss champions will become de rigeur.

OSU peaked at the right time this year.

I wonder how dumb the blockheads who were calling for Day to be fired feel right now.

 

[crimsonaudio]

I didn't watch the game, awoke to see that OSU won.

Congrats, @B1GTide!

 

[B1GTide]

My interest in the Playoffs as a whole was pretty low but I'll also say that both tOSU and ND looked to be doing something right with both player selection and coaching.

It's not just about who spends the most.... yet anyway.

tOSU added a Veteran QB and coached him to his best play of his career.

They took Seth from us and fixed him and turned him into the #1 Center in CFB.

They took Judkins from Ole Miss who was supposedly a 'team cancer' and he matched Henderson yard for yard and TD for TD.

They recruited Smith at WR and he became a Top 1-3 WR in CFB as a TF.

Day is doing something right because they did all of this vs the *checks notes again* #2 SOS in the Country.

Makes me wonder if tOSU did something crazy like playing their best players at every position as well.

Remember, we only brought in Howard because Day refused to be held hostage by McCord and his father. I am glad that it worked out. Sometimes doing the right thing produces positive results. Howard's growth this year has been cool to watch. I don't see him as an NFL QB but he was good enough, and that was all this team needed.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

Remember, we only brought in Howard because Day refused to be held hostage by McCord and his father. I am glad that it worked out. Sometimes doing the right thing produces positive results. Howard's growth this year has been cool to watch. I don't see him as an NFL QB but he was good enough, and that was all this team needed.

It may be an eye of the beholder type of thing but I was green with envy watching Howard play for you guys.

He played within himself and distributed the ball and did it with toughness and leadership and efficiency.

He reminded me a lot of Jake Coker.

 

[B1GTide]

It may be an eye of the beholder type of thing but I was green with envy watching Howard play for you guys.

He played within himself and distributed the ball and did it with toughness and leadership and efficiency.

He reminded me a lot of Jake Coker.

I think that is a great analogy. Tough players giving everything that they have, but winning it all because of the incredible teams that they led.

 

[mlh]

Congrats, B1GTide!

Gallant effort by the Irish but just too much talent on the other side.

 

[oskie]

I cut the game off when it became a 21 pt gap. What’s the point? It’s now solidified that you don’t have to recruit and develop a program to reach the pinnacle of College Football. You can just buy yourself a roster and W’s.

... you still gotta coach 'em up.

... and I would argue it is harder to coach bought players than un-bought players.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

OSU peaked at the right time this year.

I wonder how dumb the blockheads who were calling for Day to be fired feel right now.

Too much sound and fury signifying nothing are fans who have passwords and log on.

I am not near the Ohio State program, so I MIGHT be wrong on this, but that school does not have a history of over-reacting and throwing a good head coach overboard to appease the mob with the pseudo-guillotine. If anything, their approach has been TOO "we're gonna give the guy a chance to correct this." When Woody Hayes threw his career away with a punch at Charlie Baumann, there were tons of fans across the country who honestly thought Hayes was in the one place he could get away with that. (Without attempting to demean the man in any way, he came from a different time and some things that were acceptable in life and football practice before TV cameras weren't so forgiven - and shouldn't have been; his temper was well-known, and I even recall a number of articles at the time about "well, if that had been the Rose Bowl and Hayes hadn't lost 3 straight to Michigan, he would have survived, but Ohio State used the punch as an excuse to fire him"). They were damned if they did and damned if they didn't, which isn't right.

Earle Bruce was given 9 years, the last 8 of which he never came close to winning it all and never lost fewer than 3 games. And Bruce was a victim of bad timing because the scholarship limitation era really played havoc with his efforts to build a champion.

John Cooper was only at Ohio State 4 years less than Saban was at Alabama. In 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1998 (4 times in 6 years), he put teams on the field capable of winning it all and blew every damn big game he was ever in, except the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, which still wasn't enough.

Tressel won a championship in his second season and Meyer in his second ELIGIBLE season.

And Day had Ohio State in the title game in year two as well.


My point? I don't think Ryan Day was in ANY danger of being fired even after the Michigan loss.

 

[B1GTide]

Too much sound and fury signifying nothing are fans who have passwords and log on.

I am not near the Ohio State program, so I MIGHT be wrong on this, but that school does not have a history of over-reacting and throwing a good head coach overboard to appease the mob with the pseudo-guillotine. If anything, their approach has been TOO "we're gonna give the guy a chance to correct this." When Woody Hayes threw his career away with a punch at Charlie Baumann, there were tons of fans across the country who honestly thought Hayes was in the one place he could get away with that. (Without attempting to demean the man in any way, he came from a different time and some things that were acceptable in life and football practice before TV cameras weren't so forgiven - and shouldn't have been; his temper was well-known, and I even recall a number of articles at the time about "well, if that had been the Rose Bowl and Hayes hadn't lost 3 straight to Michigan, he would have survived, but Ohio State used the punch as an excuse to fire him"). They were damned if they did and damned if they didn't, which isn't right.

Earle Bruce was given 9 years, the last 8 of which he never came close to winning it all and never lost fewer than 3 games. And Bruce was a victim of bad timing because the scholarship limitation era really played havoc with his efforts to build a champion.

John Cooper was only at Ohio State 4 years less than Saban was at Alabama. In 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1998 (4 times in 6 years), he put teams on the field capable of winning it all and blew every damn big game he was ever in, except the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, which still wasn't enough.

Tressel won a championship in his second season and Meyer in his second ELIGIBLE season.

And Day had Ohio State in the title game in year two as well.


My point? I don't think Ryan Day was in ANY danger of being fired even after the Michigan loss.

The AD said as much right after the loss to UM, though fans would have been in his ear incessantly with a loss to TN in the first round.

Fans are irrational.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Congrats to B1GTide.

The expanded playoff saved Ryan Day a lot of headache. I agree, he probably was never in danger of getting fired, even in a world where the playoff was 4 teams and they had to go to some meaningless bowl game after that Michigan loss.

But getting in the field, catching fire, and winning the whole thing completely erases the Michigan problem for him. Sure, he needs to win that game again, but its no longer urgent and the loss this year is meaningless. And in some degree, that's satisfying because Michigan fans are insufferable.

 

[squib]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1881575472049590280

Just got a note from my daughter. One of her friends and the daughter of some of our friends is the one that was driving the golf cart. She is interning at the Peach Bowl in Sports Marketting.Can't wait to see her at the house this summer.

 

[day-day]

Anyone planting a flag?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1881575472049590280

Just got a note from my daughter. One of her friends and the daughter of some of our friends is the one that was driving the golf cart. She is interning at the Peach Bowl in Sports Marketting.Can't wait to see her at the house this summer.

LOL! She got out of there in a hurry. (Probably didn't run away but looked that way in the video.)