CRA

My halftime thoughts… nearly impossible to run good O vs a tough Texas D without a functional RB to insert. You end up with no run game and the on the other end lose a body in pass protection because you can’t ask a random WR to pass pro. Given that handicap vs that D, Cade is playing okay. Clemson got screwed on that pick 6. 21-14 alters the momentum and feel of that game. Head in front and blew up his front shoulder. Whoever is the fav isn’t getting that called on them. all that said, Clemson lost the ability to tackle and play basic run D weeks ago. Really miss Venables in these games. They got the bodies to be way better on D than they are. It’s the D coach. Time for change at DC next year. The calls for that will be loud. A reminder to SC fans that use that Clemson game they barely won because Sellers broke 198 tackles…..as they boast about how good they would do in the playoffs….Clemson just sucks at tackling.

Yeah, I never really understood how they cherry picked these opening games to give them homefield advantage given that’s not what college football does anywhere else in title, bowl, playoff games.

I’ll be back later to take my lumps or gloat. We getting situated over here.

and those games were neutral sites too. The deck/format is intentionally slanted to reward and favor the higher seeds right now.

Disagree really. The #4 and #3 team routinely got their doors blown off in the 4 team bracket. In reality Penn St would have been in under the 4 team system….and yet they are playing a team that is only squeaked into the top 10 in one poll. Blowouts are going to happen. Hell one the biggest blowouts in CFP history was what everyone was appointing as the greatest team in college football history and were going to be appointed such when they won the title game….but they got smashed in it and everyone pretends that talk never happened. Sports. Bad and good days happen. Therefore bad games happen.

See there you go again, just getting whacky. I mean, outside of some anomaly season….we know that just isn’t true. non-SEC teams have 4 of the 10 nattys in the CFP era. we know the 6th best team in the SEC hasn’t been better than the top of other conferences during this era. Almost 50% of the time the top of the SEC didn’t finish on top. SEC is the best conference. But that’s why the SEC gets hate because they often get stupid with it….and you aren’t even a SEC guy. At least not today.

Bold take that 12 teams wouldn’t be worthy of competing for a natty when we could never find 4 worthy of such. I think every has always acknowledged that

1 doesn’t play 12. You do play in games with low seed vs low seed. And you give byes to the top 4 teams. You don’t award byes to conference champs. So Texas and Penn get byes.

I think they should just rank them 1-12. No byes for champs . And then you let the lower seeds basically have play in games. SMU and Indiana and the likes really should be playing Boise State, ASU, Clemson, etc.

Well also, none of these teams not showing up thus far were even conference champs. I’m also not sure the BIG and SEC should be talked about so comparably either though. There is the SEC and 4 weaker power 5s of different varieties

Well that’s true as well, most of that thrashing were by teams that played for the natty and often won it. Now maybe you could argue Notre Dame is going to handle teams but I don’t think this Penn St team is. SMU doesn’t have the OL to play in these games nor the QB.

I think people, not saying here, suddenly have forgotten how routinely teams got smashed in the 4 team format though

Well, SMU’s QB ain’t ready for this stage. Not sure Penn St actually looks that impressive either yet. They have done nothing this game but return 2 balls thrown directly to defenders thus far. Time to find something to do until 4

Turnover was brutal. SMU has done a good job vs the Penn State O. SMU should pick up the tempo. That’s what makes them tough. Think they could get Penn St downfield

that SMU O went real fast from threatening to…oof

SMU had them. That’s brutal.

if SMU’s OL can find a way to have a good day…they might make it an entertaining game and of course if they, like all the road teams, can survive the initial opening wave that is going to favor all the home teams

It doesn’t even rank in the top 3 of just BIG10 beatdowns in the college football playoff era. Mich St lost 38-0 Ohio State lost 31-0 Ohio St lost 52-24 and if you want to talk Notre Dame, they have been embarrassed way worse than IU was in the playoffs media went hard turn quick, now forced to go say maybe the ACC, BIG12 better than thought. Nah, it’s just random hot takes after every game.

Sure. But the talent gap meant less time to throw, needing a couple better offensive lineman, having small windows….vs a Notre Dame team that really wasn’t even playing great.

Summary of ND vs IU game IMO is found on the roster. 4/5 star athletes. ND: 58 of them IU: 10 Indiana just not ready. Well coached team that still ain’t got the roster to really compete

Well, not JUCO guys based on that ruling for the Vandy QB. He just got a 6th year granted.

there they go highlighting another 6th year player. How bout we quit highlighting how college football, during the playoffs, is now old paid players. I want the illusion of watching kids

Think you can almost claim every conference is some version of overrated at this point lol. I think IU probably plays better football than Bama and Miami. Those teams got better overall rosters/athletes.

Dang, I can out punt this kid

No doubt. Coaching only takes you so far. You need to those 5/4 star rosters at this stage of football. I’d like to see the breakdown of IU’s roster vs ND. I doubt it’s that close. The weaker talent is going to get exposed bad in the playoffs,