2025-01-06 07:18

The attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas have shifted one quarterfinal, the one in New Orleans, from Wednesday to Thursday.

I cannot understand why such people as the drive and the bombers do such actions, but overall, I happen they are so dumb and so poor prepared, that the damage is limited. Every injured and dead person is tragic, but everyone has to ask themselves, what can be done and should be done to prevent such events, and how much freedom are you willing to give up to do so. Because the more you do tighten the net to get that 1 out of a million or more people willing to do such action, the more do the rest suffer under the restrictions.

Shortly before Christmas we had a similar attack like the New Orleans driver did, in Germany and the discussions which followed were, and still are, far from objective and neutral. None of the right now discussed and requested changes (we do elect a new parliament in February) would have helped to prevent the event which happened. None. The only action which would have helped, and which is already identified, was, that a police car was not stationed on the entry of a Christmas market as planned and because of the stationing at a different spot, the driver was able to enter the market. That’s all. No harder punishment on migrants, no enhanced rights to spy on people, nothing would have helped.

Well, let’s get back to football.


SIXTH SET OF BOWLs

Wednesday, January 1st
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (College Football Playoff Quarterfinal)
#3 Texas vs #12 Arizona State
At the start Texas did look strong and Arizona did look like they are a bit out of their league.
The offense of Texas did OK, not great, the offense of Arizona State did bad.
At the half did Texas lead 17:3.
Then came a period of mixed results, ASU did score a Safety, and on the ensuing drive a field goal to get a bit closer.
But Texas did answer with a TD to extend the lead to 24:8.
And then it became a thriller with Texas looking absolutely ridiculous.
The Sun Devils scored a TD + 2-pointer to make it a one-score game.
Two plays later did Texas throw an INT and Arizona got the ball back.
A few plays later did they then score another TD with a 2-pointer to tie the game.
Still 5 minutes left to play.
The Longhorns got the ball and took a longer drive, only stopped at the ASU 30-yard line, so they tried a field goal and missed it.
Sun Devils with the ball and they got nothing going and punted.
Less than a minute to play, Texas went over the field and were again stopped, this time on the ASU 19-yard line.
Another kick and the ball did hit the goal post for no-good.
Ridiculous.
The teams went to OT and here did the Sun Devils scored 1st a TD, did even play a 4th and 1 to get a new 1st down, to get Texas under pressure.
But Texas did answer and scored a TD also, on 4th and 13! The 1st great play since a long time for Texas.
Now, 2nd OT, Texas with the 1st drive, did score a TD.
Arizona State? On the 1st play, the pass and get intercepted.
Game over, Texas wins in 2 OT 39:31 and will play in the Semifinal.
Good game by the Sun Devils, but the Cinderella story is over.
Jacks BOWL Score: 18-15

College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the 2025 Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential (College Football Playoff Quarterfinal)
#6 Ohio State vs #1 Oregon
Rematch of the regular season game and boy, that was a disappointing outing of the Ducks.
Their offense was not on the field for most of the game.
How that did happen? I don’t know.
Sure, Ohio State has a good defense, but that high powered offense limited to 8 points in the 1st half did hit the Ducks so hard, they were unable to recover.
At that point did OSU lead 34:8!
And it was not on turnovers, just stop and punt, except one turnover on downs the Ducks did try at mid-field on 4th and 3.
The Ducks defense was helpless to stop Ohio States offense and since the Ducks offense was unable to stay in the game or better get on the field at any time, the team did look like a joke and not like the BIG10 Champ!
At the end did Ohio State win 41:21 and in those last 2 games they did look like the team which all did anticipate. Why they needed to wait until that time of the year is beyond me.
They will play Texas in the Cotton Bowl for the ticket to the National Championship game.
Jacks BOWL Score: 18-16

College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl (College Football Playoff Quarterfinal)
#5 Notre Dame vs #2 Georgia
This was shifted for a day after the terror attack in New Orleans.
I don’t know, whether that made any difference, if so, it was good for the Irish and bad for the Bulldogs.
Both teams started slow, no scoring on the 1st few drives.
First bad action by Georgia fumbling the ball close the Notre Dame endzone and losing the ball. No score and loss of the possession.
The Irish made nothing out of that, and Georgia got the ball back, but this time had to settle for a field goal.
Notre Dame answered with their 1st long drive and kicked a field goal, too.
Then a lot of nothing until the most crucial time period of the game came.
It started with a long drive by the Irish, which did end with another field goal kick. At that time there were 39 seconds left on the clock for the 1st half, Irish leading now 6:3.
Georgia got the ball back on a touchback after the kickoff, the QB got sacked and fumbled the ball away.
Notre Dame again with the ball and close the endzone, took advantage of the confusion and scored a TD with 27 seconds left.
Georgia with no big gain before the half did go into the locker room.
After the break, kickoff by Georgia, Notre Dame returned the ball 98 yards for a TD and the 20:3 lead, 15 seconds into the half.
All this in less than a minute.
Georgia was shocked but tried to turn the game.
Tried to get 1st downs on 4th down situations and failed, several times.
Notre Dame did eat down the clock, did kick a field goal at some point and won at the end, 23:10.
Georgia with the backup QB did not look like the SEC Champ, even their QB did play OK on stats, but what was missing was for sure their running game, which was miserable. Their start RB, with 38 yards. Pffff. In total, 62 yards.
Notre Dame had 150!
Most ridiculous on that game was not that Georgias offense was not in peak form, no, the Georgia Defense did play like a 2nd tier defense and not as a unit which won the SEC.
Good job, Irish, well deserved win.
They will play Penn State in the semifinal, so likely a big defense battle.
Jacks BOWL Score: 18-17

Thursday, January 2nd
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Duke vs Ole Miss
There is not much to tell here.
Ole Miss did score at least 10 points in every quarter, 14 in most.
Duke did score 13 as max in the last quarter in garbage time and much less in all others.
Ole Miss did out score Duke, 52:20 and won this big time.
Jacks BOWL Score: 19-17

Friday, January 3rd
Servpro First Responder Bowl
North Texas vs Texas State
Well, this went from one side to the other and it had it all.
North Texas did lead early and limited the Bobcats to field goals, which increased the lead of North Texas slowly, when they scored another TD.
Then, late in the 2nd quarter did Texas State finally score a TD and took the lead, but North Texas went over the (almost) whole field and on a 2nd goal on the 15-yard line did the QB throw and INT and the 16:16 lead of Texas State stayed alive for the break.
After the break did Texas State increase the lead to 23:14 and a lot of nothing did follow.
The 4th quarter started, and an absurd sequence of turnovers did start.
Texas State did throw an INT in the North Texas half.
North Texas did then have a short drive which brought them deep in Texas State territory and fumbled the ball away.
Texas State used the opportunity and went back into the half of North Texas and ... fumbled the ball away.
Now finally did North Texas use the chance and with some plays, including a big play, the Mean Green did score a TD to get closer, within 2 points.
Which did now ring the bell for the final scoring reigns.
Two plays after the North Texas TD, with a 73 yards run, did Texas State score a TD and North Texas did answer with 70 yards run a few plays later for another TD, still 2 points behind.
Texas State was stopped and had to punt and North Texas had only 35 seconds left to go over the whole field and score, which they were unable to do, they were intercepted deep in their own half.
Texas State did kneel down and won 30:28.
Jacks BOWL Score: 20-17

Duke's Mayo Bowl
Minnesota vs Virginia Tech
Minnesota had one real good quarter and Virginia Tech had none.
You can not blame turnovers, it was just bad offense and defense of VT, which led a 21:3 2nd quarter and a 24:10 win of Minnesota in this bowl.
I hope, Minnesota gets this drive transported to next season, because I loved the seasons, when they were really dangerous, while I hope that Virginia Tech gets their problems solved at some point.
Jacks BOWL Score: 21-17

Saturday, January 4th
Bahamas Bowl
Buffalo vs Liberty
I hope the Bahamas Bowl is now toast.
Less than 5.000 people were in the stadium and the game itself was also more than boring.
Liberty had issues during the season and they had all that in the game
here.
A non-existing offense did at the end try one field goal in the 1st half (ok, that’s special teams, but still, the offense made one try possible) and that was missed from 49 yards out.
Buffalo on the other hand was a bid better and managed to kick 3 successful field goals to lead 9:0 at the half.
They scored after the break with the 1st possession of the half a TD and Liberty did fumble the ball on the next drive to give Buffalo finally the chance to miss a field goal try.
From here onwards all Buffalo, who kicked another field goal and scored an INT-TD on the next Liberty drive on top.
Liberty finally got points on the board on the next drive, but that was already in garbage time and Buffalo won 26:7.
I hope Liberty gets their issues solved, I liked it, when they were fearless and not that predictable.
With the lowest attendance every, it will be interesting to see, how important that is. Likely the TV ratings and incomes are more interesting, on which I don’t have data so far.
Jacks BOWL Score: 21-18

That ends the bowl flooding and the only games left to play are the College Football Playoffs Semifinals and the National Championship game.
Of course I can only preview the Semis right now, so here they come.

The SEVENTH SET OF BOWLs is from Thursday 9th of January to Friday 10th of January.

Thursday, January 9th
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl (College Football Playoff Semifinal)
#5 Notre Dame vs #4 Penn State
@Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
This season the Orange Bowl did get again a Semifinal, special this season is, it's the 1st semifinal in the 12-team-playoff-system.
In the past it was an ACC/SEC/BIG 10/Notre Dame bowl, but of course this link to conferences ended, when this (and the other major six bowls) became part of the playoff rotation.
The SEC has a 23-17 record here, including last years win brutal win and the SEC won also the last 6 games. The conference has the most wins in this bowl.
But the record-holder for games is the old Big Eight conference (out of which in the mid-90s the BIG-12 was founded) with 42 games.
A quite surprising matchup compared to the expectations prior the season.
Notre Dame did win against Georgia and Indiana to get here, Penn State against Boise State and SMU.
Penn State had likely the easiest path to this spot, but they are not to be taken lightly.
Their defense is good, their offense decent enough, so far.
Most surprising for me so far was, that the Georgia defense was unable to control the Notre Dame offense, so I don’t know, how good Penn State will play against them.
The Irish Defense did limit the opponents also very well, so Penn State offense will also have to find ways to get things done.
I expect a defense battle royal and a low scoring game.
So far is Notre Dame favored by 2.0 points.
Funny is, both teams remind me of defense driven teams, which did in the past win championships, so which team will be able to move the ball at the right time, will likely win.
I think Penn State has a case and can do it.
Nittany Lions win.

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the 89th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (College Football Playoff Semifinal)
#6 Ohio State vs #3 Texas
@AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
The last of the six major bowls this season. Got the 2nd semifinal of the new 12-team-playoff-system.
Played since 1937 this was a long time already and at-large-bowl, but of course now it has to take, what comes up in the playoffs.
It's played in the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
After all those seasons since the conference did die in 1996 the Southwest Conference, out of which a lot of teams went on to build the BIG 12, has still the record for most games, 57, but their win total is at 24, while the still active SEC got their 25th win last year in 42 games.
The team, which did fall apart in the last few games and missed a BIG10 title game spot, but resurrected in the playoffs, against the team, which lost the SEC title game by an inch and won the last playoff game by another inch.
With the last two games performances of Ohio State, they did get a big bonus on the betting line and are now a 6.0-point favorite to win.
Texas did their best by those close losses and wins to undermine the public opinion on strength and confidence in the team, so maybe that is OK.
If the Longhorns do play 100%, they can beat everyone and if Ohio State plays like in the last 2 games, that’s also true for them.
So, which team to pick?
I prefer Texas, but the peak on the Buckeyes performance can’t be ignored.
If the Texas defense shows up and can pressure the Ohio State QB, they have a good chance.
If not, they will fail, big time.
Coin toss ...
Buckeyes win.

That’s it for the 7th set of Bowl games. After the games I will preview the National Championship game next week.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

Tags: Block of Granite