Buckeyes are also down to their third-string QB. Amazing how that can affect a team.
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Yep. Devin Brown, heir apparent, hurt his ankle.
Somewhere in the dark recesses of HQ in Bristol, their guy over the bowl contracts is trying to figure out how he can run off to Barbados and avoid the Tuesday meeting non CFP bowl wrap up. Crappy attendance, crappy games with players TBD, and not a lot of eyeballs watching. It’s going to be hard to explain that next bowl season’s revenues are going to decline. Maybe the 12 team playoff creates enough of a boost to compensate for the post season “Exhibition’ slate, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
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Don’t tell people in Tallahassee.
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The bowl system has been problematic for a long time with 40 of them and bad matchups etc. but NIL/Portal has blown up the whole bowl season now. Half the teams being fielded at all levels don’t deserve the term team. A Loose group of second and third tier players joining for a few weeks under a logo.
This is the New Coke of College Football. Except that was slightly easier to swallow.
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The Ohio St. that played Michigan seemed like a top 4 team. They lost, didn’t go to CCG, so deservedly didn’t go CFP, but wow. A few opt outs (McCord, Harrison, not sure of others) and Devin Brown getting hurt and boom, Ryan Day has problems.
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Chaos!!! Yayyy!!!
Maybe they didn’t want to be there. 
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They brought the wrong cleats.
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Lane Cookin’ early vs Penn State on the play calling.
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Every time I watch Dart play, I remember that his dad was a Ute. He had a 97-yard INT for a TD against Oregon in 95.
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The other great teams falling apart when they lose a few key players now should put into perspective the issue we had/have.
Blaming Coach for not having recruited more for this seems silly when you realize there are now dozens of teams with more pull and money facing the same issue and getting to shop the market with more leverage than we can ever hope to have. Next man up makes sense when you can keep talent on the bench or afford to buy top talent when there is a hole. Neither of those apply to us and we still win 8 games.
All the arm chair quarterbacking and coaching changes in the world won’t fix this for us under this current mad money system.
How anyone can defend the portal and NIL as it stands now is utterly beyond me. The system went from okay to poor to bad to apocalyptic and no one seems able or willing to lead the sport back to some sense of sanity.
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There does seem to be a correlation between outcome vs expectation on the season and opt outs (transfers, NFL, …) and maybe even to bowl performance. For some, the bowl was a reward. For others, a chore. In some cases, that’s why we are getting lopsided and/or boring bowl games.
- Utah v NW: Utah expected to be competing for CCG but injuries derailed the season. 8-4 still good, but how we got there was uglier than hoped for with players not always happy with some decisions. Some transfers (Mikey, NJ notable), continued injuries, some NFL opt-outs. NW had their coach fired over the summer and were expected to be bottom of the Big 10 barrel but went 7-5. They had very few opt outs. NW 14, Utah 7
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L’ville v USC: L’ville made it to CCG but lost to an undermanned FSU. I’m not sure if they had key opt-outs or not. USC expected to be CFP (not even just CC). They went 7-5 (woohoo!). Lots of opt-outs. But, they did rally and win.
- TAMU v Ok St.: Well, TAMU definitely underperformed - Jimbo walks away with a fortune to not coach. Ok. St. did make the CCG and had a ‘nice’ season, just falling short but competing - probably met expectations. I know some TAMU players transferred. OSU won bowl game
- Arizona v OU: Arizona exceeded expectations, getting 3rd in the league and playing for 10 wins. They played to win. OU is always CCG/CFP or bust, so had opt-outs (Gabriel transferred, etc.). Arizona wins and ends the season with 7 Ws.
- Oregon St. v ND: Both teams underperformed to hopes/expectations. Ore St. is a different case with being left out of P4 and losing their coach. QB1, QB2 transfer, RB1 suspended for alleged DUI. ND has a few opt-outs, but kills OSU.
- Mizzou v Ohio St.: Ohio St. loses to Michigan close (3rd loss in a row), doesn’t make CCG, and doesn’t make CFP, so season is a bust. McCord leaves for Syracuse. Mizzou exceeds expectations. NO ONE opts out. They play to win, have to score 14 in the 4th, but win 14-3. Look on Ryan Day’s face … priceless.
Ole Miss, Penn St. similar - had hopes, but realistically knew they’d be 3rd/4th in their conference. Both 10 win seasons are absolutely solid, so this bowl game seems relatively ‘normal’
Not sure how UGA and FSU game will go this afternoon. Haven’t heard about too many opt-outs besides Rodemaker (took three weeks of snaps then bailed - loser). Edit: sounds like FSU has quite a few opt-outs for NFL, UGA not as much. Mix of both teams missing CFP but both wanting to prove they belonged. FSU could ‘claim’ Natty going 14-0 (ala UCF, but even more legit). Edit: Carson Beck (returning next year) sans Bowers (injured) vs a really good FSU defense (but QB3 on offense).
Surprised more haven’t opted out for Oregon. Nott much gain in playing Liberty. I think Jayden Daniels opted out of LSU ReliaQuest game. Defense let him down and he has the Heisman, so time to prep for pros.
My favorite losing team whine of all time.
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Someone is going to wish for a mercy rule at the Orange Bowl…DAMN!!!
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I decided to go see a movie about WWII because there was more suspense than this game. Even if they had everyone from the ACC Title game this would be a curb stomping.
For Movie buffs. I will review after in the other watching thread:
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Definitely a great place to go have a classic moviegoing experience.
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btw, at least we didnt get humiliated like FSU did against Georgia tonight YEOOOWWWCHHH
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I expect Oregon to throttle Liberty today. But Liberty did march down the field with ease and score a TD on the opening possession (and missed the PAT).
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