Here is the result in plain text:
1. The camera operators for the mammoth video board at AT&T Stadium love their crowd shots. There were several between every play. Friday night’s Ohio State-Texas Cotton Bowl provided them with an endless supply of dudes in Buckeyes jerseys flashing the Block O and women in cowboy boots giving the Hook ‘Em sign.
2. I knew the first 12-team Playoff would be compelling. I underestimated the extent.
3. Generational freshman Jeremiah Smith had a combined 13 catches for 290 yards and four touchdowns through the Buckeyes’ first two Playoff games. The story of the Cotton Bowl figured to be whether Texas’ talented defense could slow him down. The Horns did, holding Smith to one first-quarter catch for 3 yards.
4. Fittingly, tho…desolate receiver room. Not one of Allar’s 12 completions Thursday went to a wide receiver. Star tight end Tyler Warren and running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen did their usual things, but receivers Harrison Wallace III and Omari Evans were MIA.
5. Ohio State will remain polarizing. According to my colleague Pete Sampson, Freeman was ticked at Franklin after their pregame news conference, when the Penn State coach joked about the 39-year-old’s youth. “All the anger went toward us and that anger went onto the field,” said Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts.
6. In the meantime, here’s one parting salute to Warren, who finished the 2024 season with 104 catches (tied for second nationally) for 1,233 yards (sixth) and eight TDs. Those are impressive numbers for any pass-catcher, much less a tight end. For perspective, Georgia’s Brock Bowers, himself an all-timer, topped out at 63 catches.
7. Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli played just one series after Leonard went out shortly before halftime, but it was a big one.
8. The school arguably has less incentive to join a conference than it did when it first struck its NBC deal 34 years ago.
9. Here’s another thing I was wrong about: Both the Orange and Cotton Bowls were packed. It did not matter that the Miami Gardens game was played on a Thursday in the first full work week of the year. Notre Dame and Penn State fans figured it out and filled Hard Rock Stadium. Even a snowstorm in the Dallas area that caused more than 1,000 canceled flights the day before the Cotton Bowl did not stop Ohio State fans from occupying roughly 45 percent of AT&T Stadium, and Texas fans the rest.
10. I should know better by this point: College football fans always find a way.
11. The CFP TV record for a national championship was 33.4 million for Ohio State-Oregon in 2014. That’s … a lot. By comparison, last year’s Michigan-Washington game drew 25 million. My guess is this one falls somewhere between the two.
Source link
