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Joe Rexrode: College Football Playoff complaints are plentiful and mostly laughable 

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We used to argue, and now we complain. Sure, we complained back in the day, too, but mostly we complained about the fact that we had to argue — about which teams were best in college football, because we didn’t have a way to actually decide that. Now we do. And maybe this is just the skewed perspective of a semi-mature but still very youthful (in non-obvious ways) observer who remembers waiting to see who the writers and coaches would “vote as national champion.”

But the whining is out of control, you whiners. Of course, there are valid complaints. The 12-team College Football Playoff isn’t perfect. It can improve. It should be scrutinized. No one is asking for mindless acceptance. The past week and change, though, culminating with a first-round weekend that should have been more of a celebration, felt like one torturous car ride with a 4-year-old who couldn’t stop screaming.

About an ice cream cone that melted all over his fingers. Because he didn’t finish fast enough. Because he had to eat two ice cream cones. Because he demanded two. Because he couldn’t decide on a flavor. Let’s review these complaints, in order from most ridiculous to most valid.

‘My Notre Dame Fighting Irish could beat both of these teams.’

Yes, Notre Dame Twitter was all over that low-scoring, college kicker-exposing affair between Miami and Texas A&M. And maybe it was an army of troll accounts, to be disregarded like those posing as newsbreakers and giving us, “Breaking: Rich Rod rises to top of Michigan’s list.” But if even a single Notre Dame fan was serious about this… your team lost to both of those teams.

‘Half of these games were blowouts! That’s not how tournaments are supposed to be!’

Right, except the most celebrated American sporting event of all, the Super Bowl, has been decided by double figures 35 of 59 times, with some real beauties thrown in there. How about Russell Wilson’s 2013 team playing Alabama to Peyton Manning’s FCS team trying to hang in a buy game? The four-team CFP was chock full of blowouts. All postseasons have tons of them.

But somehow that’s an affront to the very idea of competition when it happens in the College Football Playoff.

‘Let’s gather all these Group of 5 teams and let them have their own tournament.’

Sounds like the FCS playoffs. If they didn’t want to be FBS teams, I’m sure they’d happily be part of that. Variations of G5-related crying dominated the conversation for the past few days. It’s not the worst of all the complaints because it is less than ideal that we had two such teams in this field — blame the ACC — and unfortunately, they were not the best possible G5 hopefuls, and it showed.

I still think South Florida at its best this season could have won a game in this thing or made a real run at it, but the Bulls had some costly failures, and we’ll never know. I’m confident better G5 showings will happen in the future, even in the roster-raiding era. As colleague David Ubben wrote, raising the bar a bit on a G5 team’s inclusion may be a good idea. But as colleague Stewart Mandel wrote, the collective college football media uproar about this has been out of hand.

I expect this from fans of teams that were left out. Or from Nick Saban, who now owns part of a hockey team and thinks everyone but the top of the SEC should be relegated to Strat-O-Matic football as a postseason fate. But have any of the same media members complaining about this considered that removing G5 access would be — on top of an antitrust issue — the exact same kind of shortsighted move, disenfranchising large swaths of the country, that the suits have been pushing on the sport to its long-term detriment? And that the same media members have been complaining about these suits and that mindset for years?

I don’t know if we’ll ever get an upset, or even a serious run at one, in a game like Tulane at Ole Miss or James Madison at Oregon. But I’d like to find out, because I know those are some of the very best moments sports has to offer. This tournament and the NCAA Tournament don’t compare perfectly, because an overmatched football team has much less of a chance than an undersized No. 16 seed that can have a magical night from 3-point range.

But the inexplicable happens in football, too. Most of the 1-16, 2-15 and 3-14 games are blowouts, and no one complains about it. We wait for the one or two games a year that provide the unthinkable or a brush with the unthinkable, and it’s what we remember most from that tournament. This isn’t just about the access of Group of 5 teams to the hope and thrill that comes with a spot in the College Football Playoff; it’s about our access to them.

‘See, the committee did a bad job.’

Is that you again, Notre Dame fans? Actually, it was Notre Dame fans — and, to be fair, many, many others — warming up for Saturday, watching Friday as Alabama built a 17-point deficit at Oklahoma. Every Alabama incompletion and Oklahoma gain of 4 yards or more served as a referendum on the selection committee. Until the game completely flipped.

Which doesn’t matter. One of the all-time dumbest things in sports is using game results to re-litigate a selection committee’s choices. Alabama deserved to be in the field, largely because of its win at Georgia, and nothing from this game would have changed that. But hey, considering how the Alabama and Miami games turned out, committee members had a right to smirk at the haters — for a fleeting moment, before looking in the mirror and remembering that it wasn’t the choices, it was the explanations, that were problematic.

‘At least the quarterfinals should be good.’

This isn’t really a complaint, and it isn’t wrong. But let’s also remember that, other than what should be an amazing scene with Indiana and Alabama playing at the Rose Bowl, everyone but the bowls is getting shortchanged with the current arrangement. Miami should be visiting the Horseshoe, not playing Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss should be taking a second crack at Georgia in Athens, not taking on the Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl.

Texas Tech should be hosting the biggest athletic event in the history of its campus — it sure as heck shouldn’t be playing Oregon in south Florida. And for as stirring as that scene in Pasadena is, imagine a stadium full of new-money Hoosiers fans howling at Alabama royalty. The pressure to make this right as soon as possible must continue. In the meantime, let’s wipe our tears with those sticky fingers and try to enjoy what’s left of the ice cream.

Stewart Mandel: Miami’s revival, underdog Alabama and G5 reality check, plus more College Football Playoff takeaways

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And now, 14 Final Thoughts from the College Football Playoff first round, in which ESPN got exactly what it paid for from its two games, while TNT might have been better off showing Christmas movies.

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1. You could almost hear the cathartic roar from South Florida when Miami freshman safety Bryce Fitzgerald picked off Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed in the end zone to seal a 10-3 first-round win. Fitzgerald was not yet born the last time Miami played a game with national championship stakes, back in 2002, when the reigning dynasty of that era won its 34th straight game to reach the BCS championship against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes ended that streak in a controversial double-overtime win at the Fiesta Bowl. Miami hasn’t played in a postseason game with national title implications since. So it’s a pretty big deal that Mario Cristobal’s 10th-seeded team is headed to the Cotton Bowl for a CFP quarterfinal date with… No. 2 Ohio State. 

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2. Saturday’s matinee at Kyle Field marked the first time in the brief history of the 12-team CFP that a first-round game was decided in the final seconds. It was a slog, but it was an exciting one, as two tough defenses kept two usually explosive offenses out of the end zone for 58 minutes. But there were also ghastly special teams galore. In particular, Canes kicker Carter Davis missed three manageable field goals. When Miami’s stud freshman receiver Malachi Toney fumbled at midfield with seven minutes left in a 3-3 game, I figured we were about to witness another gut-wrenching, mistake-filled Miami loss under Cristobal.

Instead, All-American defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. sacked Reed on a third-and-6 to get his team the ball back, running back Mark Fletcher Jr. broke a 56-yard run and Toney scored a redemptive 11-yard touchdown on a nifty third-and-5 sweep called by offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson. Reed nearly led the Aggies back down the field before throwing his fourth second-half interception in two games. No, I’m not going to declare “The U is back!” just yet.

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3. The 11-2 Canes, who didn’t enter the CFP field until eight days after their last game, will face a 12-1 foe that did not trail in the second half all season until its most recent game. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean Ohio State-Miami is a mismatch. I say that primarily because Bain and Miami’s defense are special. They had seven sacks Saturday, bottling up Reed both passing and running. They held A&M’s running backs to 2.8 yards per carry. They’re certainly capable of slowing down Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith and company, as Indiana did.

The problem is the other side of the ball. Carson Beck was just 14 of 20 for 103 yards against the Aggies. He’ll need to be a much bigger factor if the Canes hope to pull off the upset. If they do, then I’ll consider declaring, “The U is…” 

4. For Texas A&M, the high of its 11-0 start gave way to a buzzkill of an ending. First, the Aggies imploded in the second half and lost 27-17 to bitter rival Texas, missing the SEC Championship Game as a result. Then, in their first CFP appearance, they finished with a three-point showing in front of their home crowd. In hindsight, A&M’s deceivingly soft conference schedule (which included six of the bottom seven SEC teams) papered over several flaws. Like the fact that Fletcher’s long run was the 12th of 30 or more yards allowed by the Aggies’ defense. Only seven FBS teams have allowed more.

But big picture, Mike Elko’s team made considerable progress in Year 2, and has a chance to continue it in 2026. Reed, receiver Mario Craver and linebacker Taurean York are among those the program will attempt to retain. More daunting for Elko is he’s losing both OC Collin Klein (Kansas State head coach) and DC Jay Bateman (Kentucky DC).

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5. Nick Saban’s final game at Alabama came in a Rose Bowl appearance, where the fourth-seeded Tide lost to eventual national champion Michigan in a CFP semifinal. Imagine telling him as he walked off the field that Bama would return two years later as a touchdown underdog against Indiana. Kalen DeBoer’s ninth-seeded Tide, whose inclusion in the field drew considerable backlash, found some redemption Friday night with their 34-24 comeback win at No. 8 seed Oklahoma.

Give Bama credit for going on the road and erasing a 17-0 deficit (albeit with a couple of helpful gifts from the Sooners), while largely dominating the second half. QB Ty Simpson, when not getting sacked, had his most efficient passing night since the Tennessee game two months ago. But Alabama, now 11-3, still fails to inspire confidence that it can make a deep run.

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6. The Tide struggled to run the ball (again), save for one 30-yard Daniel Hill run. Their O-line struggled to handle blitzes (again), and their receivers dropped passes (again). A team prone to self-inflicted mistakes could be in for a long day against Curt Cignetti’s extremely disciplined Hoosiers. But that’s assuming we get the same versions of those teams come Jan. 1.

Last year’s quarterfinals saw the teams coming off a longer break (Indiana’s will be 26 days by then) go 0-4, and another 13-0 Big Ten champion, No. 1 Oregon, looked like a shell of its former self in the Rose Bowl. Perhaps Fernando Mendoza and the Hoosiers come out similarly rusty. There’s a big difference, though, between the veteran-led, dripping-with-talent Ohio State team that waxed the Ducks last year and an Alabama squad that’s relying heavily on youth and trying to duct-tape its running game. Never thought I’d write these words, but: Indiana is a bad matchup for Alabama.

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7. Oklahoma managed to win 10 games and make the Playoff despite its big-ticket quarterback, John Mateer, not being quite the same after his thumb injury in Week 4 that required surgery. He showed flashes of his former self in staking his team to that 17-0 lead against Alabama, but that mostly ended after his pick six late in the first half that tied the game. The junior will now have to decide whether to run it back, turn pro (not recommended!) or hop back in the portal.

The Sooners figure to keep turning out elite defenses for as long as Brent Venables is their coach, but they haven’t yet fully figured out the whole offense thing.

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8. On Friday, I rose to the defense of Tulane and James Madison after watching several prominent TV analysts take turns shoving the little guys into their lockers. On Saturday, the little guys failed to rise to their own defense. Ole Miss 41, Tulane 10 and Oregon 51, James Madison 34 were as lopsided as feared. (Though JMU deserves credit for rallying in the second half to cover the spread.)

G5 teams held their own over the first nine years of the CFP, going 4-5 in New Year’s Six/CFP bowls from 2014-22, but since then, it’s been four straight blowout losses. Three of the G5 teams involved were ranked in the 20s (2023 Liberty, 2025 Tulane and JMU). Probably not a coincidence the trend began right as several of the best G5 programs (Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and SMU) moved up to P4 leagues, and the end of transfer restrictions made it easier to raid those teams’ rosters.

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9. We saw zero evidence Saturday that Lane Kiffin’s departure had any negative impact on No. 6 Ole Miss’s players. Rebels QB and new AT&T customer Trinidad Chambliss was his usual efficient self. Kewan Lacy broke two long runs. And while Jake Retzlaff and Tulane moved the ball at times, newly promoted head coach Pete Golding’s defense stuffed all four of the Green Wave’s fourth-down attempts and forced three turnovers.

But 12-1 Ole Miss faces a stiffer challenge against No. 3 Georgia in the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl quarterfinal. In the Rebels’ only loss of the season, Chambliss led the offense to five straight touchdowns and a 35-26 lead against Georgia in Athens. But then Kirby Smart’s defense shut them out in the fourth quarter, while QB Gunner Stockton threw his third and fourth TDs to win 43-35.

Georgia’s defense only got stingier from there. While it’s hard to imagine the Dawgs manhandling Chambliss and Lacy like they did Alabama in the SEC championship, the onus will be on Ole Miss’s defense to keep them in it.

10. We would love to get a peek inside the Nike factory that churns out Oregon’s endless supply of receivers. A cast of seven caught 11 of 12 targets by Dante Moore in the first half as he rained bombs on JMU’s overmatched defense. (Though he did throw two picks after halftime.) Dan Lanning’s team has so much darn speed across its offense.

Which makes the fifth-ranked Ducks’ Orange Bowl matchup against No. 4 Texas Tech incredibly intriguing. The Red Raiders’ loaded defense has mostly negated big plays thanks to dominant linemen David Bailey, Lee Hunter and Nagurski Trophy winner Jacob Rodriguez. But, of course, Tech didn’t see an offense as dynamic as Oregon’s in the Big 12.

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11. Saturday’s back-to-back yawners will surely lead to renewed calls to claw back G5 leagues’ access to the CFP, to which I’ll provide two reminders: 1. This was the first and likely last time two G5 teams will earn automatic berths. 2. The new CFP deal that begins next year is expected to specifically guarantee bids to the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, as opposed to an open-ended “five highest conference champions.” Albeit a year too late for Duke.

But more pertinently, the CFP’s precursor, the BCS, ultimately crumbled due to the relentless lobbying, Congressional hearings and threats of antitrust investigations every time a Utah or Boise State went 13-0 but couldn’t compete for the national championship. So even if the SEC’s Greg Sankey or Big Ten’s Tony Petitti might want to kick those teams to the curb, their lawyers will likely advise them against it.

 

Posted
1 hour ago, satyanash said:

TNT got absolutely fucked this year

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I don't have TNT (streaming and OTA only) so I couldn't watch even if I wanted to. Thought it was odd they had those games on TNT at all. I did watch the other two.

Posted
26 minutes ago, Okie State said:

I don't have TNT (streaming and OTA only) so I couldn't watch even if I wanted to. Thought it was odd they had those games on TNT at all. I did watch the other two.

Can you surf the web on your TV? If so, I highly recommend: https://thetvapp.to/. Of course, it also works on a laptop. Either way, you don't have to deal with pop-up ads on this site. It's got a shitload of cable channels, including TNT.

On the other hand, you can also stream TNT games on the HBO app -- just an FYI.

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Posted
23 hours ago, Iceman said:

I know Joey talks a lot of shit that hasn't been delivered upon, but he's right here.
 

 

Except it didn't work for BYU.

Oh, there is is also the small issue that becomes ND's AD actually represented them in the meetings and not a conference they have the sweet heart deal of an auto bid if they finish with a certain ranking sooooo,  maybe Joey isn't right after all.

Posted
On 12/22/2025 at 8:27 AM, 'stache said:

I think 24 makes some sense, it’s basically a 16 team playoff with the bottom 8 being decided by play in round. It also solves the G6 issue because they won’t be so out of place seeded in the 20s. Also solves opt outs since the games will mean something as opposed to bowl games. The bowl games would be cut in half though if they survive at all. The home atmospheres at ou and aggy seemed far better though than poorly attended bowls in Birmingham and Shreveport and the like.

24 teams in the playoff is absurd. 18% of all FBS teams - nearly 1 out of every 5 - do not deserve a shot at the NC after playing a full season and demonstrating that they are not championship material.

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Posted

Indiana vs Georgia is my prediction, and I hope Indiana wins it all. I'm pulling for an upset for a team that no one knew existed before last season. If you have the balls to take on that job, and THEN proceed to make them dominant, I'm all for the chaos.

Last guy I remember who played for them was Antwaan Randle-El, and I don't even remember how long ago that was.

Just looked and he played from 2002-2010 and won a SB with Pitt. 

Posted
10 hours ago, William Bludworth said:

Indiana vs Georgia is my prediction, and I hope Indiana wins it all. I'm pulling for an upset for a team that no one knew existed before last season. If you have the balls to take on that job, and THEN proceed to make them dominant, I'm all for the chaos.

Last guy I remember who played for them was Antwaan Randle-El, and I don't even remember how long ago that was.

Just looked and he played from 2002-2010 and won a SB with Pitt. 

Wait,  Randle -El played for Indiana for damn near a decade?

Pavia's attorney is going to have a field day with that as a precedent. 

 

Posted

Manny Navarro: Miami’s first Playoff win was a long time coming — here’s all it took to get there

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Michael Irvin couldn’t contain his joy. So, when he found Mario Cristobal, the University of Miami’s most famous Hurricane and loudest cheerleader planted a kiss on the coach’s cheek mid-interview on national television. It was sloppy, wet and decades in the making. “I couldn’t find enough wipes to clean myself,” Cristobal joked afterward.

Miami won its biggest football game in more than two decades Saturday at Kyle Field, a stadium where 104,122 fans and the wind made it really hard for the Hurricanes’ offense to operate. In the end, all Miami needed to complete its 10-3 win over Texas A&M was a late Mark Fletcher Jr.-engineered scoring drive, one Malachi Toney catch-and-run touchdown and a game-sealing interception from freshman Bryce Fitzgerald.

What it took to get here — a first College Football Playoff win, 24 years after the Hurricanes last hoisted the national championship trophy at the Rose Bowl — is an entirely different story. Miami school president Joe Echevarria, a 1978 Miami graduate who helped lure Cristobal back home from Oregon four years ago with promises he’d have all the financial support and alignment needed to bring “The U” back, knows the full scope of that tale.

Echevarria was around for Miami’s glory years from 1983 to 2001, when it won five national championships, and he was around for the last two decades-plus of frustration and disappointment, serving as a member of the Board of Trustees. For years, Miami operated on the cheap, believing the oodles of high school talent in South Florida would come play for it regardless of the coach, facilities or record of the team on the field.

Miami’s administration learned the hard way. Saturday, Echevarria stood like a proud father, arms crossed, surveying the scene he helped build as Irvin kissed Cristobal and Miami’s players and fans celebrated its monumental moment together.

“We had to learn that the game has changed,” said Echevarria, who with the help of Miami’s name, image and likeness collective and lots of other donors and boosters helped Cristobal and the Hurricanes build the kind of roster needed to compete. “You have to invest. When you invest, like all business people, you expect a return. Here’s the return: Winning. It’s an incredible accomplishment. This is the biggest moment in 20-plus years for football. But like I said, we’re on schedule. Five wins. Seven wins. 10 wins, 10 wins and a Playoff win. It’s all gravy now.”

Miami, though, doesn’t want this ride to end yet. The Hurricanes (11-2) will be back in Texas for New Year’s Eve and a date with the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl. The 10th-seeded Hurricanes, who pulled off the road upset Saturday against the seventh-seeded Aggies (11-2), are going to need to play a lot better on offense to knock off OSU coach Ryan Day’s team.

Quarterback Carson Beck (14 of 20, 103 yards, 1 TD) couldn’t get in a rhythm throwing the football Saturday. Toney — arguably the country’s best freshman — couldn’t get going no matter how much offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson kept feeding him the football. Dawson finally decided late in the game to feed the one player who was effective all afternoon: Fletcher.

Fletcher lost his dad last year, and every time he has touched the ball over the past 14 months, Mark Sr. has been on his mind. When Miami took over at its own 14-yard line with 4:01 to play, score tied at 3, Fletcher, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior running back, asked his teammates to give him a chance to take the game over. He did, busting through the Aggies’ secondary for 56 yards. He carried it four more times after that for 2, 12, 3 and 2 yards, setting the stage for Toney’s touchdown on a shovel pass from Beck.

“Just grateful for the opportunity and happy we won,” Fletcher said. Fletcher came to Miami in 2023, after Cristobal went 5-7 in his first season with the Hurricanes. He was committed to Ohio State, but the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native decided at the last minute to stay home so his parents could watch him play.

His mom, Linda, drives to every game from the family home in South Florida. She even drove cross-country to Berkeley, Calif., last season, the night Cam Ward led Miami’s miraculous comeback against future Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza. Saturday, Mom was up in the stands with a sign that read: “Freight Train Fletcher.”

“She means everything to me. That’s my rock, my world,” said Fletcher, who ran for 172 yards on 17 carries. “Every day I wake up and breathe, I have another opportunity to do something like this and hopefully give other people who might be going through something belief that the story is not over yet. Keep fighting.”

This Hurricanes season embodies that belief. Miami looked finished after it lost at SMU on Nov. 1. The team was 6-2 and No. 18 in the initial Playoff rankings — eight spots back of the same Notre Dame team it beat in Week 1.

Saturday, the Hurricanes shut down the same Aggies offense that torched the Irish in South Bend in Week 2. Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed turned it over three times. His offensive line, which allowed 12 sacks in 12 games and talked trash about Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr., gave up seven to the Hurricanes. Bain had three and felt vindicated.

Texas A&M also ran for only 89 yards on 35 attempts and failed to score when it had a chance to at the very end. Fitzgerald, the freshman who was the last of the new faces to enroll at Miami this summer, clinched it with his sixth interception of the season. Defense? That was the thing holding Ward and the Hurricanes back last year. Not anymore. It’s catapulting them forward on one of the rare days Toney and Beck weren’t able to ignite the offense.

Irvin — the mouth of Miami — appreciates what defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, a finalist for the Broyles Award, has done. He couldn’t stop talking about Miami’s defense when the game was over. At one point amid the celebration, Irvin took off his belt, placed an Aggies jersey on top of a trash can and began whipping it. “Every stadium we go in I hear people saying — Miami go home,” an excited Irvin said. “We plan on going home. Because home is where the national championship will be played.”

Cristobal isn’t the type of coach to soak in wins very long. He likes to wipe them off quickly and focus on the next opponent. But Saturday, he took a moment to reflect on the journey to this point. “To see the pride returning to so many of our former players, our administration that’s worked so hard to put this together, our fans who traveled — they were felt,” Cristobal said.

“What does it mean for us? Forty-plus days ago, we were lower than low. We found a way to bring a different level of energy every single day and lift each other and the program up. Here we are with a chance to keep playing. That’s all that matters now. 1-0.”

Antonio Morales: The Pete Golding Ole Miss Rebels looked like the Lane Kiffin Rebels — and that’s a good thing

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OXFORD, Miss. — There were about 53 minutes left until Ole Miss kicked off the biggest home game in the program’s modern history, and the crowd inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium had erupted. For weeks, so much of the focus in Oxford and of those paying attention to the town from the outside had been on the man who left, Lane Kiffin — the man who unfathomably ditched the Rebels and their fans right before competing for the sport’s ultimate prize.

So, naturally, the fans roared as Ole Miss’ new head coach, Pete Golding, stepped onto the field and into the proverbial spotlight.

We don’t know whether Golding will succeed in the long run, but his first impression couldn’t have gone any better. The Rebels, who earned the No. 6 seed after going 11-1 in the regular season, beat 11th-seeded Tulane with ease, 41-10, in the first College Football Playoff game in school history. The win sets up a rematch with No. 3 Georgia, the only team to beat Ole Miss this season, in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.

Some of the Kiffin-era trademarks were gone. “We got rid of the basketball goal first,” Golding said about Ole Miss’ now-former turnover prop. But many of the characteristics remained. The defensive-minded head coach elected to take the ball first. The offense was explosive and dynamic. The defense, which still has some concerns, was opportunistic and made plays. While Tulane played better than the first time these two teams met on Sept. 20, a 45-10 Ole Miss victory, the result was pretty much the same.

Before the game, Golding signs were plastered all over tents across The Grove, the fan base doing its best to show support. Then, when the game was ending, fans started chanting his name. And after it was over, players gave him a Gatorade bath, not only for his first College Football Playoff win but his very first win as a head coach — another sign of how surreal this whole situation is. (And Golding’s win, by the way, earned Kiffin a $250,000 bonus, thanks to a clause in his contract with LSU that will pay him the equivalent of what he would have earned for postseason wins had he remained at Ole Miss.)

Golding was asked afterward for his thoughts on why the fans are seemingly so excited about their new coach. “Well, we just had a home Playoff game in Oxford — for the community,” he said. “And a decent signing day, (considering) how it was done, and we just won the game. I’m well aware of how the other side goes when you don’t win the game. So I’ve been on both sides of that.

“I think I’ve been able to invest a lot in this place over three years, made a lot of good relationships with a lot of people outside of this building, and they know where my heart is in this place and what these kids mean to me. It was awesome. But I’m well aware there’s a chance it goes the other way if you start losing football games, as it should be.”

Golding said it hit him at one point that he was now the “last voice” to make some decisions that he had only been a part of over the years. However, even though the change appears massive on the outside as Ole Miss begins a postseason run, Golding said, “By this point of the season, the thing is running the way it should. You’ve just got to keep it on the tracks.” This deep into the season, “(the players) don’t really care who runs them out of the tunnel,” he said.

Quarterbacks coach Joe Judge, who is staying at Ole Miss, didn’t expect his new boss to act differently in his new role. “Pete’s Pete. I think that’s what makes him so special,” Judge said. “He’s not going to change, no matter what title or label you put on him. He’s always been the same guy. He saw the game from a big-picture standpoint when I first met him last year, same way he did tonight.”

Golding and his staff — and the players, of course — gave the crowd plenty to get excited about with a fast start, scoring 14 points and posting 135 yards of offense on their first seven plays. Tulane moved the ball but struggled to finish drives even though it consistently reached Ole Miss territory. The score was only 17-3 at the half, but the Rebels pulled away in the second half and celebrated the rest of the way.

Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss completed 23 of 29 attempts for 282 yards and a touchdown. Running back Kewan Lacy rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown despite suffering a bruised shoulder, which kept him out for a good portion of the game. The defense was too leaky in the first half. That didn’t come back to haunt Ole Miss, but it’ll be top of mind as it prepares for Georgia, which scored 43 points against this defense the last time these two teams met back in October.

“I did not think we executed very well at all on defense tonight,” Golding said. “I know the scoreboard says something different, but we’ve got to execute better on defense on a more consistent basis.” After all the clamoring and drama about Kiffin over the past month and change, Golding, ironically, has more Playoff wins in his head coaching career than his predecessor.

On Saturday, the focus finally shifted back to football and Ole Miss’ players. With Kiffin starting to fade to the background — as much as that’s possible — Golding was asked how he’d feel over the next week now that the attention will be (mostly) on only Ole Miss and Georgia. “We’ll see,” Golding joked. “Y’all control that.”

Chris Vannini: Kalen DeBoer and Alabama’s CFP win should make Tide faithful finally appreciate their coach

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NORMAN, Okla. — Kalen DeBoer had almost walked off the Oklahoma field Friday night when someone yelled, “KD!” Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, rose in one hand, game football in the other, was running toward his coach. Simpson stopped and handed the ball to DeBoer, telling him, “This is yours,” as the two embraced.

After weeks of being told from the outside that Alabama shouldn’t have made the College Football Playoff or that maybe DeBoer should go to Michigan, this was a moment for these two to appreciate each other and forget everyone else. This was a 34-24 victory at No. 8-seed Oklahoma that avenged an earlier defeat last month and sends No. 9 Alabama to the Rose Bowl to play top-seeded Indiana in the quarterfinals.

In a moment when DeBoer’s program had to prove itself, it did. When Alabama fell behind 17-0 in this game, pundits and social media declared the game over and done with. They wondered if Michigan should even be interested in DeBoer anymore. The Alabama head coach has made multiple statements that he had no interest in talking to other schools and responded “yes” earlier this week when asked if he’d be at Alabama.

But ESPN reported before Friday night’s game that Michigan still intends to make a run at DeBoer. Alabama’s advancement to play on Jan. 1 — one day before the transfer portal opens — makes that much tougher and unlikely now. It should also make everyone, but especially the Alabama faithful, realize they need to hang onto DeBoer. He’s still one of the best coaches in the sport. Are you sure someone else would do better? Are you really sure?

Nick Saban is not coming back. That era of Alabama football is not coming back. The sport has changed too much with NIL and the transfer portal to create such domination from anyone again, and Saban saw that was happening when he decided to step away. There is no more Saban discount when it comes to what players are paid. This is the world that brought Indiana to the Rose Bowl, nearly a touchdown favorite over Alabama on New Year’s Day. It also saw DeBoer take Washington to the national title game two years ago.

After beating Oklahoma in Norman, DeBoer is now 4-0 against top-10 teams in true road games, the most of anyone in the Playoff era. He’s 16-4 in ranked-vs.-ranked games, the best among all active coaches with at least 10 such games. He’s also 10-4 outright as an underdog.

Those numbers would be great anywhere. Michigan, two years removed from a national title, would love to have it. But it’s not viewed as being so great at Bama in part because it’s not Saban. But also in part because of the bad losses that have come along with that, such as last year’s 24-3 loss to Oklahoma here or this year’s opening loss to Florida State.

Still, in the biggest games, Alabama almost always shows up. “We’ve learned how to fight,” defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said after defeating Oklahoma. “Now we have a culture of fighters. That starts with our head coach, who’s a puncher, and it rubs off on the rest of our staff and players, and that’s how you win games like that.”

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb pointed to the 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC title game as one reason for Alabama’s comeback Friday. Grubb said there was an address made to the team after the loss to not let things get away from it next time.

“The mentality you have to have in a football game, games aren’t over when it’s 14-0, especially when you’re getting the ball in the second half,” Grubb said. “I didn’t feel the same resolve in Atlanta that I felt here tonight. When it was 17-0, talking to Ty on the headset, getting with the coaches, there was a belief that we were going to make a play, and nobody was giving up.”

For all the haranguing about DeBoer and the job he’s done, this is still an Alabama team that did well enough to finish 7-1 against a very difficult SEC schedule, including a win at Georgia. This is not to pity DeBoer and the pressure that comes with the Alabama job. He knew what he was getting into, choosing to be the guy who followed The Guy. And some of the losses, like to Florida State, are inexcusable.

Some of the previous waffling when asked about his future may be about getting any last bit of leverage he can. But even Saban, perhaps realizing the tenuous situation, stuck up for his successor on ESPN’s “College GameDay” before the game. “Let me say one thing: Kalen DeBoer has the total and complete support of the University of Alabama,” Saban said. “They want him to be the coach at Alabama. Maybe they (the fans) can get him to Michigan, I don’t know.”

On Friday night, Oklahoma staff, players and fans wore black shirts and sweatshirts that read “Hard To Kill.” It’s a slogan the Sooners adopted after beating Tennessee and heading into Tuscaloosa, where they beat Alabama on a rocky road that led to a home game in the Playoff.

But if there’s anyone who’s been hard to kill, it’s this Alabama team. Don’t forget fans were discussing DeBoer’s buyout on “The Paul Finebaum Show” after the Week 1 loss to Florida State. Analysts argued Alabama should be left out of the CFP again after the SEC title game blowout loss. And when down 17-0 on Friday night, a full-on crisis had begun. Until Alabama chipped its way back into the game, into the lead, and left Norman comfortably.

“I guess we can thank you guys,” Simpson said to reporters when asked about doubters. “Y’all kind of wrote us off. Appreciate that.”

Alabama over the past two years has undergone a resetting of expectations. This team’s October run, celebrating close wins against Vanderbilt and Missouri, was something that might not have been viewed the same under the previous regime. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. It means this is the new world. It means every win is appreciated a bit more, especially a first-round Playoff game. It’s a transition Oklahoma fans, too, have gone through in the past few years. The days of domination for anyone are over.

On the field, DeBoer’s family held roses as they waited for him to finish his ESPN interview. After a family hug, someone handed DeBoer a newspaper copy from AL.com. The headline: Better Late Than Sooner. He smiled and smacked the paper in joy as he carried it off the field. Alabama isn’t what it used to be, but it may finally know what it is. That could make the Tide even more dangerous heading out to Pasadena.

 

Posted (edited)

At 17-0 OU, Mama Llama was begging Corch DeBoer (on tv) to sit Ty Simpson to allow some of the yips to settle. I thought it would be a mistake because his QB brain would really implode. Don’t guess you can ever cure a bad case of yips. Fortunately, that thugass OU player drew the unsportsmanlike and started the momentum shift. We were headed for a worse ending than the SECCG. We may get crushed by the Hoosiers but after what I saw Friday, I wouldn’t bet against us.  We may end up playing IU in the Quarterfinal, Oregon in the Semi and Miami in the NCG . . . In fucking Miami.  Somewhere an ABC executive is abusing himself over the possibilities.

Edited by Bama Llama
Not UGA
Posted
5 hours ago, PGFrog said:

Wait,  Randle -El played for Indiana for damn near a decade?

Pavia's attorney is going to have a field day with that as a precedent. 

 

😂 I knew I forgot to separate the two. If Randle-El played for Indiana for a decade people would be like that's awesome because he's awesome. Pavia is a loud mouth dipshit who everyone hates. 

I watched a video yesterday and they were predicting Pavia will once again challenge the courts. Like God damn, dude. Move tf on, already. You aren't winning shit, and you aren't beating out Jared Curtis. I hope he got his degree from Vandy just so he can go bother people in an office and talk about all the 18 year old pussy he slayed at 25 while typing in his cubicle. Living the glory days. 

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