With the first ever 12-team college football playoffs beginning this Friday, December 20th, eight teams prepare for their matchup this weekend. The first round of games features explosive players such as Tyler Warren and Jeremiah Smith. The top four conference champions from the regular season are awaiting the four winners of this weekend’s first slate of playoff games.
Clemson Vs Texas
Coming off of a conference championship win over SMU, Clemson travels to Texas to play the Longhorns who suffered a loss against Georgia in their last time out. Clemson is playing their best football right now behind up and coming star quarterback Cade Klubnik. Klubnik has thrown for 33 touchdowns with just 5 interceptions so far this season. Unfortunately for him, he is going up against the best passing defense in the country. The Longhorns defense has allowed the least amount of passing yards all year.
Indiana Vs Notre Dame
This year was historic for the Indiana Hoosiers as they won 11 regular season games which is the most wins in Indiana football history. With only one loss to the Ohio St Buckeyes, head coach Curt Cignetti has turned around the Hoosier program. The Hoosiers were led by their defense which only allowed 244.8 yards per game which was the second best in the entire country. The Indiana defense will have their hands full this week with the high powered Notre Dame offense coming to town this friday. Notre Dame is averaging 39.8 points per game so far this season which is third in the nation behind the Miami Hurricanes and this Indiana Hoosiers team. The Fighting Irish will look to use their physical running game to wear down the Indiana defense. The winner of this one will play Georgia in round two.
Ohio State Vs Tennessee
The Ohio State Buckeyes have just wrapped up an underwhelming two loss season after losing their final game of the season against a five loss Michigan Wolverine team. The Buckeyes look to use this fuel against a young Tennessee Volunteer team. Tennessee is led by freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Iamaleava lacks the experience that many other playoff quarterbacks have and the much more experienced Buckeyes look to take advantage of this. Long time Buckeyes superfan and Hingham High School student Ben Brazis says, “Ohio State must use their experience to their advantage. They also must distribute the ball amongst all their skilled weapons”. Ohio State has two star running backs, Trevyeon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, who have combined for 14 touchdowns. The Buckeyes also have two star wide receivers in Jeremiah Smith and Emeke Egbuka who have combined for 19 touchdowns. The winner of this talented battle will play #1 seeded Oregon in the second round.
Penn St Vs SMU
The final game of the first round will be between the Penn St Nittany Lions and the SMU Mustangs. In the Mustangs first season as a part of the ACC they finished the year in the conference championship where they lost on a last second field goal to Clemson. College football fan and Hingham High School student JT Reale said, “The ending of The SMU Clemson game was one of the most exciting games I have watched all year. I can’t wait to see what they do in the playoffs”. SMU is squaring off against a very competitive Penn St team. Penn St is led offensively by tight end Tyler Warren who finished 6th in the Heisman race. The dominant SMU rush defense will look to force the Penn St quarterback Drew Allar to be pass heavy all game long. They hope to lock off Warren and to cause Allar to make more mistakes than Penn St can handle. The winner of this game will move on to play Boise St in the second round.
