David KenyonFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 2, 2025Winners and Losers of the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals
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Jeremiah SmithKevork Djansezian/Getty Images
After an opening round filled with uneven video games, the College Football Playoff quarterfinals brought a various sort of drama.
The slate opened with Penn State conveniently removing Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. Then, Texas endured Arizona State in a wild Peach Bowl before Ohio State surprised the country with an eye-popping beatdown of top-seeded, unbeaten Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Each of those winners has actually advanced to the CFP semifinals, which will be dipped into the Orange and Cotton Bowls.
The last match– Notre Dame vs. Georgia in the Sugar Bowl– had actually been held off to Thursday in the consequences of the horror attack on Bourbon Street. While it was a more competitive video game, it ended with a Notre Dame triumph in another double-digit margin.
This piece was upgraded.
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2 things can be concurrently real.
James Franklin has an unsightly history of his groups losing to top-ranked competitors. Up Until the Nittany Lions beat an elite challenger– believe Ohio State or Oregon this season– there will be doubts. That is reasonable.
On the other side, Penn State has actually advanced to the CFP semifinals after falling SMU and Boise State. No matter the competitors along the method, just 4 programs can reach that phase. This is, rather actually, an exceptional chance for Penn State thanks to a 31-14 success over Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Simply put: The sound around Franklin isn't worsening.
Look, if the Nittany Lions play inadequately in the Orange Bowl, the story around his battles with Top Five challengers will continue. At this moment of his 11-year period at PSU, it's not an unreasonable subject, either.
This is Penn State's very first possibility to officially reach a nationwide champion video game considering that the development of the BCS in 1998. That matters. Even if the Nittany Lions lose, they've reached a phase of the postseason never ever before achieved under Franklin. That matters, too.
Franklin still has plenty to show in the hardest video games, however Penn State has actually completely made its chance to peaceful skeptics.
Loser: Boise State's Offense
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Ashton JeantyChristian Petersen/Getty Images
This match was constantly the issue: Would the Boise State offense have the ability to manage a great Penn State defense?
For Broncos, the response was no.
Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty handled 104 hard-earned backyards on 30 brings. Maddux Madsen tossed for 304 backyards– the greatest overall enabled by Penn State's all season– however tossed 3 interceptions in the 2nd half of the 31-14 loss to the Nittany Lions.
The offense simply made a lot of errors.
