Conference Championship Saturday once again was one of the best Saturdays of the year. There was non stop action and excitement from the first kickoff to the last kneel down. There were so many great games on it was hard to watch them all. Maybe you missed a game or 2, or you don’t really care for college football but want to sound like you know what you’re talking about at work. Im here to help so here’s a little cheat sheet so you can keep up with all that happened and not make a fool out of yourself at the water cooler.
PAC-12 Championship
Stanford 28, USC 31
Sam Darnold. Thats all you ever have to talk about when it comes to USC. Darnold had another fantastic game throwing for 325 yards and 22 TDs. He controlled the ball and orchestrated a 99 yard drive in the 4th Quarter to lock up the game including a 65 yard pass out of his own end zone. Bryce Love still got his rushing for 125 yards and a TD on 22 carries but it wasn’t enough. USC won their conference championship with only 2 losses but does not seem to be receiving much love to make the Playoff. If the Trojans don’t make the playoffs it will be interesting to see what happens with Sam Darnold.
Conference USA Championship
North Texas: 17, Florida Atlantic: 41
Lane Kiffin led his team to a 24 point victory to claim the Conference USA Championship. Usually this wouldn’t be big news but anything with Lane Kiffin is worth talking about. FAU was the better team clearly even leaving a ton of points on the board with bad blunders, such as when John Franklin III started celebrating before scoring and dropped the ball short of the goal line. The FAU fans started chanting “We Want Bama” after the game, Lane Kiffin found this amusing. When asked what he thought about it in the post game presser he responded “I would love to play Bama, I’d feel sorry for our players, but I’d like it.”. Lane knows that the athletes Alabama has our far superior and the coaching is just as good if not better. Kiffin will have his shot at Alabama eventually… if he takes the Tennessee job.
AAC Championship
Memphis 55, UCF 62
Holy points! this game did not lack scoring. This might be one of the best conference championship games I’ve ever witnessed. The over in the game was set at 81 the highest ever for a championship game! and they demolished it scoring 117 combined points! the most ever in a conference championship. Besides just the points some of these players just had themselves a day. Ryan Ferguson of Memphis was 30-42 for 471 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INTs. That one pick came in Overtime and lost Memphis the game, besides that Ferguson played his ass off. Only to be outdone by his favorite target Anthony Miller, who went berserk hauling in 14 catches for 195 yards and 3 TDs! Too bad those heroic efforts came up short. Mekenzie Milton threw for 494 Yards 5 Tds and 3 INTs, while Tre’Quan Smith had 6 catches for 161 yards for 2 TDs. The real stand out for UCF was Shaquem Griffin, he had 6 Tackles including 2 sacks, did I mention that the dude has only 1 hand!? During the 4th quarter news broke the UCF Head Coach Scott Frost would be taking the Head Coaching position at his alma mater Nebraska. When Asked about it Frost deflected from it not wanting to take any attention away from what his team had just accomplished. UCF handled it the best way possible (Insert tweet)
BIG 12 Championship
TCU 17, Oklahoma 41
Baker and the boys took care of business. They quickly jumped out to a 10-0 lead following a scoop and score and they did not look back. Baker had 243 yards and 4 TDs on only 15 completions while also scampering for 65 yards on 6 carries including a 54 yard run. Everyone knew Oklahoma was going to win even TCU head coach Gary Patterson said “it’d be best for the conference of Oklahoma won” This was basically a live practice for a team who has its sights set on a much bigger prize.
SEC Championship
Georgia 28, Auburn 7
This game was close for the first 3 quarters. Auburn jumped out to a 7-0 lead right away and looked like they were about to make it 14-0 when Sonny Michel strip sacked Stidham which lead to a Georgia TD. Georgia never looked back taking a 10-7 lead into the half. entering the 4th it was 13-7 Georgia when Aubrun star RB Kerryon Johnson fumbled. to Kerryon’s credit he’s been battling a serious shoulder injury and was clearly playing hurt. That fumble lead to another Bulldog TD making it 21-7. On Georgia’s next drive D’Andre Swift took it 64 yards to the house on what is the longest run even in a SEC championship game. Georgia avenged their only loss of the season and will be rolling going into the college football playoff.
ACC Championship
Miami 3, Clemson 38
The U was finally back in the ACC Championship game and looking to try and claw their way into the playoff. But Kelly Bryant hard other ideas, The Tigers came out firing and seemed to catch Miami off guard. Clemson went into halftime up 21-0 and in clear control. They came out in the 2nd half the same way defeating Miami by 5 touchdowns! It was the Tigers rushing game that really stood out running for 4 TDs. Clemsons defense showed why its one o the best in the nation recording 4 sacks, forcing 3 fumbles and reeling in 2 picks. Clemson will take the #1 seed going into the College Football Playoff.
BIG 10 Championship
Ohio St. 27, Wisconsin 21
Despite having the worse record Ohio St came into this one a 4 point favorite. Wisconsin’s Offense looked completely overmatched failing to score its first offensive TD until the 4th Quarter. The Buckeye’s QB JT Barrett who had knee surgery 6 days prior to the game looked fairly healthy making plays with his arm and his legs, including a huge 4th down late in the 4th Quarter. He did make some bad throws including a pick 6 early in the 1st quarter. Ohio St were in control the whole game but the Badgers found ways to stick around. At the end of the day the speed and athleticism of Ohio St was just too much for them to handle.
