When Ohio State slid into the fourth spot of the inaugural College Football Playoff, TCU and Baylor fans were pissed at their apparent "snubbing" in favor of the Big Ten champs. Turns out they probably should've been pissed at Alabama, or Florida State, or maybe (after their own loss to Michigan State, earlier today) the Baylor people shouldn't have been complaining at all. Whatever route you choose, it's impossible to hate on the Buckeyes, who defeated No. 1 Alabama 42-35 in last night's Sugar Bowl to advance to the National Championship Game (January 12th, for those wondering) against Oregon. This, of course, was accomplished with their third-string quarterback, Cardale Jones at the helm.
For the game, Jones went 18-for-35 for 243 yards and a touchdown, ultimately doing a solid (if not spectacular) job as the Buckeyes signal caller. That being said, the real player of the game was running back Ezekiel Elliot, whose beautifully blocked 85-yard touchdown sprint (pictured above) turned out to be the deciding score of the contest. In total, Elliot racked up 230 yards on the ground on a mere 20 carries to shoulder the load against a vaunted Crimson Tide defense, had been ranked No. 1 in the country heading into last night's showdown.
As for 'Bama, Nick Saban and company had gotten off to a solid start jumping out to a 21-6 lead roughly halfway through the second quarter. But Urban Meyer (who frequently battled Saban when he was coaching Florida) counter-punched in a vein similar to Muhammad Ali, racking up 36 of the game's final 50 points, including four consecutive touchdowns in a span over the course of the game's second and third quarters.
With the Rose Bowl having been played earlier in the day, we're now setup for the climactic college football final (again, January 12th in case you already forgot) between a dominant offense who has never quite been to the top of the mountain. And a squad looking to redeem a (still somewhat) beleaguered conference.
The showing this bowl season has helped redeem the Big Ten's formerly great name. Now the question becomes: Can Ohio State finish it off next Monday?
Stay tuned.
