CFB Playoff Preview

It seems like it took forever to get here but the week everyone has been waiting for is finally here, the CFB Playoffs continue starting Tuesday night and boy are there some great matchups incoming. A lot has been said over the last week and a half about who should and shouldn't have made it into the playoff, as well as maybe it should have just been 8 teams instead of 12, but I think this week could be the most exciting week in college football history. Let's take a look at the matchups and get a closer look at what New Years eve and day could have in store for college football fans.

The Fiesta Bowl Sponsored by Vrbo

The first matchup of the quarterfinal starts at 7:30PM New Years eve and features two teams looking to make huge statements in the college football playoff. The craziest stat line going into this one is that both Boise State and Penn State are undefeated in the Fiesta Bowl. Penn State is 7-0 and Boise State is 3-0 so something has go to give in this one.

Boise State: Boise State and the runner up for the 2024 Heisman trophy Ashton Jeanty are looking to play spoiler to Penn State Tuesday night. Boise state comes into the playoffs 12-1 , 1-1 vs AP top 25 teams with their lone loss on the year coming to the #1 seed Oregon on the opening weekend off college football. Jeanty is what drives this Boise State program as he had a career season for the Broncos. Jeanty rushed for 2,497 yards on 344 carries for a ridiculous 7.3 yards per carry and 29 total touchdowns. Penn State will need to load the box and take the ball out of the talented RB's hands if they want to win this one. That being said Maddux Madsen is certainly no slouch when it comes to throwing the football and has thrown for 2,714 yards on 224 completions. His completion percentage is 62% and he has thrown 22 touchdowns to just 3 ints and has only been sacked 10 time on the year. If Penn State forces the Broncos to be one dimensional does Madsen have enough moxy to put the team on his back?

Penn State: Penn State is coming off a convincing win against SMU in the first round of the CFB playoff. Led by do it all TE Tyler Warren on offense and future first round draft pick Abdul Carter at defensive end, the Nittany Lions come into the quarter final with a 12-2 record with both losses coming in B1G play to OSU and Oregon in the B1G title game. They are 2-2 against the AP top 25 with their two wins coming against Illinois and SMU. Penn State will look to confuse Boise State's defense by lining up in unique formations and trying to get mismatches for Tyler Warren to exploit. When I say he is a do it all TE i mean it, he has thrown 6 passes total completed 3 of them one for a touchdown, he has rushed the ball 24 times for 197 yards and 4 touchdowns, and is Penn State's leading receiver on the season catching 92 balls for 1,095 yards and another 6 touchdowns. Abdul Carter may be the best pass rusher in CFB this season he is 4th on the team in tackles with 63 total and also has a team high 11 sacks on the season to go along with 2 forced fumbles. Slowing down Warren and Carter is a tall task for any team this season.

Keys to Victory:

• Bosie State will need to do a good job of identifying where Tyler Warren is at all times and make Aller throw the ball to someone else. Warren will get his touches regardless but limiting them in passing situations is key to stopping Penn State on offense. On the flip side Maddux is going to have to make some plays throwing the ball to open up some rushing lanes for Jeanty.

• Penn State will need to keep Jeanty bottled up in this one, which is easier said than done. He absolutely wears out a defense and will be fed the ball relentlessly whether they are eating up yards or not. Getting Boise State is obvious 3rd and long situations and letting Abdul Carter do what he does best will be another huge factor. FEED TYLER WARREN THE BALL IN SPACE.

The Peach Bowl Sponsored by Chick- fil-A

The first matchup on New Years Day will be at 1:00 and feature the 4th seeded Arizona State Sun Devils against the Texas Longhorns in the Peach Bowl. The Sun Devils were the Big 12 champions this year after coming over from the Pac-12 the year before, while the Longhorns were runner up in the SEC after coming over from the Big 12 last year. Crazy world college football, but lets get down to it.

Arizona State: Arizona State is riding a 6 game win streak coming off of their last loss to Cincinnati on October 19th. They are 4-0 against AP top 25 teams and 3 of those wins came in the last 4 weeks of their season so there may not be a hotter team in CFB right now than Arizona State. The Sun Devils are led by QB Sam Leavitt and RB Cam Skattebo. Skattebo is the back bone of the ASU offense and nearly rushed his way into a finalist for the Heisman Trophy award. Skattebo rushed for 1,568 yards on 263 carries for a 6.0 yard average and 19 touchdowns. His counterpart QB Sam Leavitt is no slouch either throwing the football for 2,663 yards with a compeltion percentage of 63% on the year and 24 touchdowns to just 5 ints. This Arizona State is more of a complete team than people think and can beat you through the air as well as on the ground the question will be can they block Texas' talented defensive line and open up running lanes for Skatebo and keep Leavitt upright.

Texas Longhorns: Texas is coming off a first round win against the ACC champion Clemson. They ran all over Clemson to the tune of nearly 300 yards and their defense did just enough to hold off a late rally and win 38-24. Texas is 4-2 against the AP top 25 this year with their two losses being to the same team Georgia once in the regular season and in the SEC championship game. At the beginning of the season you would have thought Quinn Ewers would have been the storyline for Texas, but since his mid season injury he just hasn't looked like the same quarterback he was at the beginning of the year, leading many to believe he may return to college one more year and transfer again. Instead Texas has leaned heavily on their RB duo of Quintrevion Wisner and Jaydon Blue. Wisner is the leading rusher on the team. He rushed for 973 yards on 191 carries for an average of 5.1 yards per carry and 5 touchdowns. His running mate Blue has added 710 yards on 126 carries adding another 8 touchdowns. If Ewers can find a rhythm in this game that could go a long way to sealing the victory for Texas and maybe allow them to go on a run, but they need to keep him upright he has been sacked 24 times on the season and has also thrown 10 ints.

Keys to Vicotry:

• Arizona State only has 21 sacks on the season, they will need to really ramp up the pressure and make Ewers uncomfortable in the pocket on Wednesday. But the biggest Key may be stopping the run and getting Texas in obvious passing situations to get those pressures. Conversely keeping Leavitt upright and allowing him to find Jordan Tyson downfield will be a huge key as well for the offense.

• Texas will need Ewers to be more like early season Quinn Ewers if they want to win this one. They have one of the best offensive lines in the country but they have certainly had their struggles this season getting that group to play their best football will go a long way to securing a game in the Cotton Bowl. Not allowing Skattebo to run rough shot and keep your offense on the sidelines for long stretches will be key for their defense.

The Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential

How fitting is it for the two teams that are representing the Rose Bowl one happens to be a former Pac 12 powerhouse now playing in the B1G vs one of the perennial B1G champion over the last several years. Oregon and Ohio State round 2. In one of the most exciting games in CFB this season Ohio state ran out of time in the first matchup allowing Oregon to come away with a one point victory along the way to an undefeated season and a B1G Championship. To say Ohio State fans want this one bad would be an understatement.

Oregon Ducks: Oregon has one of the best passing attacks in College football led by Dillon Gabriel and a quartet of receivers. Oregon has 4 receivers over the 500 yard mark on the year 2 more have over 600 yard receiving and Tez Johnson leads all receivers with 866 rec yard and 10 touchdowns. All of this production is spearheaded by heir quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Gabriel has thrown for 3,558 passing yards this season completing an absurd 73% of those passes to go a long with 28 touchdowns and 6 int. Oh and he can also run if he needs to rushing for 192 yards and another 7 touchdowns. This production has led Orgeon to a 12-0 record 4-0 against the AP top 25. Oregon also has two really good pash rushers in Matayo Uiagalelei who has 10.5 sacks and Jordan Burch who has 8.5. Oregon's defense doesn't play lights out but they do just enough to let their offense build a lead and then get after the quarterback. There might be a more complete team in the playoff but none of the other teams can score at the same rate Oregon can.

Ohio State Buckeyes: Coming off maybe the most impressive win in the college football playoff the Buckeyes are looking for redemption in this one. Ohio State cruised to a 42-17 beatdown of Tennessee improving their record to 3-1 against the AP top 25. The Buckeyes are led by Will Howard and may have the only receiving core that can statistically keep up with Oregon's. They have three receivers that have over 600 yards and accounted for 25 touchdowns on the year. Led by freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith who has 63 rec 1,037 yards a average of 16.5 yards per catch and 12 touchdowns. Will Howard is the distributor of the offense completeing 73% of his passes as well for 3,171 yards with 29 touchdowns and 9 ints. These two practically mirror each other offensively, but unlike Oregon Ohio state has an exceptional defense. They stop the run really well and get after you on 3rd down, Led by Caleb Downs voted the best defensive back in college football and linebacker Cody Simon. Where they have struggled this year is on the outside their corners are often left on islands and can give up the big play and are susceptible to pass interference penalties. Ohio State will have to be much better playing the deep ball this time around.

Keys to Victory:

• Oregon will need to put up big numbers offensively to beat Ohio State, like they have all year. I think they would be ok with this game turning into a track meet but even with that said they will need to get a couple stops by their defense to avoid losing this one. Bracketing Jeremiah Smith and shutting down Treyveon Henderson in the run game would be good places to start.

• Ohio State will need a good clean game from Will Howard. Him giving Oregon's offense more opportunities to score off turnovers is not a recipe for success. Getting Henderson going and sustaining long drives that end in touchdowns could be the key to keeping that high powered Oregon offense out of sync. Defensively bending but not breaking would be ideal for Ohio State, holding Oregon to a field goal is a win in this game.

Sugar Bowl Presented by Allstate

This might be the most interesting game on New Year's Day. There is a lot of uncertainty surround this game thanks to a few key injuries on both sides of the ball. This also isn't the first time Notre Dame and Georgia have me in the Sugar bowl either. Georgia beat Notre Dame 17-10 in the 1981 Sugar Bowl led by Herschel Walker running in the go ahead touchdown. Georgia is 3-0 all time against Notre Dame though each contest has been decided by 7 points or less.

Georgia Bulldogs: Georgia will be without their starting QB Carson Beck, in the SEC championship his arm was hit as he was throwing a hail mary before half causing a slingshot motion that probably tore a ligament or two in his throwing elbow. They turned to redshirt freshman Gunner Stockton to finish the game and he played well enough to win the SEC title game. On the year Stockton has thrown the ball for 206 yards and completed 78% of his passes for 0 touchdowns and 1 interception. That is not a knock on Stockton he was a former 5* recruit and is plenty capable of winning this game. It does show however he doesn't have a lot of experience and is going to need the guys around him to make some plays. Those guys would be Trevor Etienne, Nate Frazier, and Arian Smith. Etienne and Frazier lead an underwhelming RB room compared to Georgia's standards, they have combined for 1,321 yards and only 10 touchdowns on the year but Etienne is finally rounding into form and says more about their Oline not opening as many rushing lanes as in years passed. Smith is their leading receiver on the team corralling 4 rec for 750 yards and 4 TD's but Georgia has had a major issue with drops this year which is uncharacteristic as well. This team is led by their talented defense and that starts with linebacker Jalon Walker who doesn't fill the stat sheet with tackles but does with sacks and is a freak of an athlete. They have struggled to stop the run at times this year and really it boils down to which Georgia team shows up.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Notre Dame got off to a strange start this year with a lot of moving pieces coming in on offense via the transfer portal came out strong beat A&M and then laid an egg against Northern Illinois. Since that loss they have rattled off 11 straight wins on their way to a 12-1 record and have absolutely bullied some teams a long the way. They played Indiana in the first game of the 12 team playoff ever and the score was 27-3 with 5:00 to go in the 4th before IU made it closer than it appeared due to Notre Dame taking their foot off the gas. The Irish are led by a 3 headed monster running the ball between QB Riley Leonard and RB's Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Those three have combined for 2,491 rushing yards and 38 rushing yards on the season. Leonard has thrown for another 2,293 yards completing 66% of his passes and throwing 17 touchdowns to 6 interceptions. Leonard will be the best dual threat quarterback many teams will have seen on the year minus Georgia who faced Jalen Milroe once and lost. There is no one true number on receiver on this team Leonard likes to spread the ball around, but two guys that could make life difficult for the Georgia secondary are Jordan Faison and TE Mitchell Evans. If Notre Dame can get those guys going and run the ball watch out. Oh and Notre Dame's defense might be one of the best in CFB. They will be playing without star DT Riley Mills who hurt his knee against Indiana so we will see if the next man up mantra stays true for Notre Dame in this game or if that is something Geogria will be able to take advantage of.

Keys to Victory:

• Georgia is going to have to make life on Gunner Stockton easy in this one, play to his athletic ability move the pocket a bit and get some easy throws connected on early. They will also need to have more success running the ball than they have most of the year to keep the down and distance in 3rd and manageable. Putting a redshirt freshman in third and long repeatedly against an Al Golden led defense will not be ideal. Defensively Georgia will need to stop the run and make Riley Leonard beat them over the top of their defense something he has not had to do much this year.

• Notre Dame will need to see their DT rotation of Gabe Rubio and Donovan Hinish step up big time in this one to replace Riley Mills' production in getting after the passer and stopping the run. It is a tall task against a very good offensive line in Georgia. One has to wonder how many more injuries can Notre Dame's defense sustain before it gives having already lost 4 starters on that side of the ball this season. Offensively Riley Leonard is going to have to take some shots and back Georgia out of the box to open up more running room for Price and Love. Getting Faison and Evans involved early could be huge for them in this game.