College Football: It's Bowl Season!!!!! (Part VIII)

And now, the College Football Playoff Semi-finals.....


Semi-Final #1: 

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual. 5:00 PM ET. Monday, Jan 1st.

[12-1] #3 Georgia (-1.5) vs. [12-1] #2 Oklahoma.  T: 60

The thinking in this game is that the Sooner's defense is way too porous to put a meaningful halt to Georgia's running game.  The numbers behind that are convincing. OU gives up an average of 144 yards rushing during the game and 4.0 yards per rush. They also give up almost 250 passing yards every game. To win this game the Sooner's undersized defensive line is going to HAVE to play sound gap defense and the LB's will need to keep Nick Chubb, Sony Michele and Company from running rough-shod over them.

Georgia on the other hand has not faced a quarterback as talented and multi-faceted as Baker Mayfield. They also will need to stop Rodney Anderson (assuming that he's playing) and a balanced offense that's as prolific running the ball as passing. On paper, UGA's defense should be up to the task allowing 158.3 yards passing per game but giving up 3.5 yards per attempt rushing (and 112.6 yards per game total).

I think this is going to be a game of big plays as OU and UGA slug it our with offensive stars shining and both defenses trying to rise up and make huge plays.  Georgia Freshman QB Jake Fromm is averaging better than 10 yards per pass completion which tells you that he's not afraid to take shots down the field.  And he had better because I think OU is vulnerable in this area.  Georgia's WR's are young, but at this point in the season no one starting can be said to be inexperienced.

In the end I think a close game is on hand so the line is about right.  I'm going to lean Sooners because of their experience at key positions over the baby Bulldogs, but I think the latter have a very, very bright future.

Pick:  Oklahoma to WIN on the ML and OVER 60.

Final Score:  OU 38  UGA 31





Semi-Final #2:

All-State Sugar Bowl.  8:45 PM ET. Monday, Jan 1st.

[11-1] #4 Alabama (-3) vs. [12-1] #1 Clemson  T: 47

Round 3 between Clemson and Alabama should be another great match-up in what has become College Football's best rivalry right now.  When Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban match up the results are usually instant classics.  That said, I'm not sure we're going to see one this time because we have witnessed a flawed Alabama team this year versus a solid all-around Clemson team who only struggled in a short-week game, on the road, where their starting QB was out with injury.

Alabama can still play defense however, and they have talent and speed at all positions. Where I think Alabama will really struggle on that side of the ball is in pass protection, especially when things break down and Clemson QB Kelly Bryant starts to get mobile.  On offense I think Alabama is in for a test.  Jalen Hurts is not an accurate passer which forces the Tide to become one-dimensional at times and that's when they struggle. That one dimension is pretty good however as they run the ball at a 6.0 yards per play clip.  Bama will need to play the field position game and get Clemson's offense on the bench for 4th down punts in order to have a chance.

I've said all season that Clemson's front seven on defense is NASTY. Clelin Ferrell, Austin Bryant, Dorian O'Daniel and Christian Wilkins are dominating at their positions and while Clemson doesn't have a tackler with gaudy numbers (O'Daniel leads the team with 48 solo) they have 18 players on their roster with solo tackle numbers in double digits. Treyvon Martin and Ryan Carter are solid corners to boot.  On offense Kelly Bryant has picked up where Deshawn Watson left off, and while the running back trio of Travis Etienne, Travis Feaster and Adam Choice don't have impressive yardage stats, they combined for 1,715 yards and 26 TD's among them. Add to that Bryant's 646 yards and 11 TD's rushing (plus 2,678 yds and 13 TDs passing) and Clemson is a force to be reckoned with on offense. In addition to that, Clemson runs 6 deep on WR's and has excellent special teams.

As I write this, the spread is toward Alabama after opening even. The public likes the Tide so I don't think that will change. But I think we're going to see an offensive tour de force by Clemson against an Alabama team that's going to be exposed as fairly flawed this year.

Pick: Clemson to WIN on the M/L and OVER.

Final Score: Clemson 41 Alabama 17