The weekend of the conference championships is usually one of the more exciting ones of the year. This season's slate ended with a lot of chalk, though the underdog Nittany Lions rallied back from 21 points down to make the College Football Playoff Committee's life that much more chaotic.
No. 7 Penn State 38, No. 6 Wisconsin 31
Trace McSorley and the Penn State offense have been on fire lately, and a tough Wisconsin defense wasn't enough to slow them down. The sophomore threw for 384 yards and four scores to keep the Nittany Lions in the thick of the College Football Playoff discussion. McSorley's performance gave him the new school record for passing yards and touchdowns in a single season.
The Badgers found themselves up by three touchdowns late in the second quarter, but Penn State answered with a crucial touchdown before the half as McSorley connected with Saeed Blacknall with under a minute remaining. The second half was dominated by the Nits as James Franklin bested Paul Chryst by a score of 24-3.
A banged-up Saquon Barkley rushed for 83 yards and a score. Blacknall hauled in six passes for 155 yards and a pair of scores while DaeSean Hamilton added eight for 118. One-time Buckeye target Mike Gesicki added a ridiculous touchdown grab in the first quarter.
The ground game once again led the way for Wisconsin, totaling 241 yards and three scores. Corey Clement led all rushers with 164 yards and found the endzone on a 67-yard dash in the first quarter.
And now Penn State waits to find out if it will square off against Alabama or if a trip to Pasadena is in the works.
No. 1 Alabama 54, No. 15 Florida 16
The Crimson Tide football program is a well-oiled machine and I'm not sure if anyone can compete with them right now. A lot of people had similar thoughts at the end of the 2014 season and we all enjoyed that outcome, so who knows? Alabama was better than Florida in every single aspect of the game, and that's just about what we expected. The Gators are not a good team and the SEC as a whole really isn't that good of a conference right now, but this one was a massacre.
I watched Florida's opening drive and refused to get my hopes up even a little bit. The Gators converted a couple third and longs and then found the endzone to go up 7-0. Shortly thereafter, Bama was up by three scores and all of America knew this was going to get ugly.
Minkah Fitzpatrick is gonna make himself A LOT of money playing football pic.twitter.com/zx52E8EhDf
— Jack McGuire (@TailgateHeisman) December 3, 2016
In the first quarter alone, Minkah Fitzpatrick returned an interception for a touchdown and Joshua Jacobs took a blocked punt back 27 yards for another score. The Tide relied heavily on its ground game and Jalen Hurts wasn't asked to do a whole lot against a tough Gator defense. The true freshman completed 11 of 20 passes for 138 yards and a score and was limited on the ground as well, rushing for just one yard on eight carries. Bo Scarbrough and Damien Harris combined for 177 yards and a pair of scores.
The Gator offense put up 261 yards on the day. Purdue transfer Austin Appleby accounted for all of those yards while throwing two touchdowns and a trio of interceptions. The Florida ground game put up exactly zero yards.
Thirty carries. Zero yards.
No. 3 Clemson 42, No. 23 Virginia Tech 35
I think I have decided that Deshaun Watson should get the Heisman nod over Lamar Jackson. Despite the awful turnovers against Pittsburgh, Watson has now accounted for 11 touchdowns in his last two games and has led the Tigers to the ACC crown. Yesterday, he became the first player ever to capture back-to-back ACC Championship MVP awards.
Deshaun Watson is the best QB in college football. Don't come at me with Lamar Jackson
— Stuart Holden (@stuholden) December 4, 2016
Watson did it all against Bud Foster's defense. The junior threw for 288 yards and three scores while adding 85 yards rushing and two more touchdowns with his legs. Mike Williams hauled in five passes for 57 yards. Tight end Jordan Leggett is a player who could potentially give Ohio State some major fits. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound tight end caught four passes for 49 yards and two scores.
For the Hokies, quarterback Jerod Evans accounted for three scores but also threw a pair of interceptions. Sophomore tailback Travon McMillian ran for 37 yards and two touchdowns.
No. 4 Washingon 41, No. 8 Colorado 10
The Huskies led the Buffs by only a touchdown at the break before using a second-half explosion to all but ensure their playoff berth. Washington quarterback Jake Browning struggled on the day, completing just 9 of 24 passes for 118 yards and a pair of scores. Myles Gaskin erupted for 159 yards on the ground while John Ross chipped in with 51 yards receiving and a touchdown.
One of the coolest touchdowns you'll ever see courtesy of the Washington Huskies. pic.twitter.com/Aj73VlFueN
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) December 3, 2016
The Husky defense provided a spark in the third quarter as true freshman Taylor Rapp recorded interceptions on the first two Colorado drives. The true freshman returned the first 35 yards for a score while the second interception led to a Husky field goal.
Colorado quarterbacks did not have their finest outing on Friday. Sefo Liufau suffered an ankle injury way back in September whilst shredding the Wolverine defense for three scores. He's been battling the injury all season and re-aggravated it in the first half. Though he did return to the field, the senior completed just 3 of 13 passes for 21 yards to go along with three game-changing interceptions. Backup Steven Montez completed 5 of 12 passes for 60 yards.
For the Huskies, it's their first conference title since the Rick Neuheisel-led 2000 season.
No. 9 Oklahoma 38, No. 10 Oklahoma State 20
While it wasn't technically a conference championship game, the de facto version did help to bolster the Buckeyes' resume as the Sooners captured Bedlam.
Oklahoma is one of the hottest teams in the country as they've now notched nine-consecutive wins since falling at home to the Ohio State on Sept. 17. Baker Mayfield was impressive despite not having his biggest weapon for much of the game. Wideout Dede Westbrook caught four passes for 111 yards and a touchdown before being sidelined after a crushing hit in the second quarter.
Mayfield threw for 288 yards and three scores, but it was tailback Samaje Perine who carried the load for most of the day. Perine rushed for 239 yards and a score on 37 carries. Joe Mixon added 11 for 99 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown scamper to help put the game away in the fourth quarter.
Following the victory, Baker Mayfield announced that he will return for his senior season in Norman. He is expected to be one of the Heisman frontrunners heading into the 2017 campaign. Ohio State is set to host the Sooners on Sept. 9.
And now we all wait.
The final College Football Playoff rankings will be released today, and things will get underway at 12PM ET on ESPN. What could easily be accomplished in a matter of minutes will instead be dragged out into a four-hour show in the middle of an NFL Sunday.
The Browns won't be playing, so this won't help with averting the eyes of Cleveland fans. For my fellow Bengals supporters, it should provide something kind of pleasant to watch as opposed to the Eagles coming into town and destroying our hapless squad.
We've got Ohio State pegged as the No. 2 seed and squaring off against No. 3 Clemson in Glendale. Regardless of how things shake out, this season's events may likely push things a step closer to an eight-team playoff.
As a fan of watching high-caliber college football contests, I wouldn't complain one bit.
