Sugar Bowl Playoff semifinal results: Ohio State shocks Alabama

Detroit Lions defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson drew some extra attention on Monday night when he was flagged for unnecessary roughness when he slammed Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott to the ground on a tackle. Robinson may have won that battle, but Elliott and the Cowboys won the war. Then after the game, Elliott put the exclamation point on the victory.

Yes, that is Elliott rubbing the win in by bringing up the time his college team beat Robinson’s college team in the College Football Playoff. Oh, and Elliott essentially clinched that Ohio State victory with an 85-yard TD run against Robinson’s defense.

Briles might be right, but it’s tough to know for sure just how close Baylor was to getting the fourth Playoff spot. He said he had a source who knew, but that would mean the person he talked to either A) was a voting member of the selection committee that violated the “secret ballot” voting process, or B) talked to someone else who was a selection committee member that violated the “secret ballot” voting process. Also, if it was an 8-4 vote, that means not a single person voted for TCU.

It’s not difficult to imagine the vote being very close, but at this point it’s academic. The Buckeyes got in, and they validated the selection committee’s choice.

College football fans spent decades telling the sport’s powers that a multiple-round championship would be good for the sport. Huh, it’s like the fans knew what they were talking about all along.

It certainly wasn’t the TV networks that held back progress, as ESPN had a solid idea all along of how huge the Playoff would be. The network gambled $7.3 billion for the first 12 years of Playoff broadcasts, and it’s clear to all that that wasn’t much of a gamble.

In the regular season, the SEC West was a perfect 28-0 in non-conference games. When the league was en route to its flawless out-of-conference performance, some numbskull was using the Simple Rating System to ask whether the division was the best since conferences started splitting in half.

Unfortunately for those people who staked out the position that the West was something special in 2014, bowl season was a disaster. It started well enough, with the two bottom finishers in the West -- Arkansas and Texas A&M -- winning their postseason games, the former in utterly dominating fashion. When LSU lost to Notre Dame on a last second field goal on December 30, it marked the first time in 31 games that an SEC West team had lost to a non-conference opponent.

The first two College Football Playoff semifinals have been a hit with television ratings, according to ESPN’s Josh Krulewitz. The Rose Bowl brought in 28.2 million viewers and the Sugar Bowl saw 28.3 million, reportedly becoming the two most-watched cable programs ever.

Last year’s Florida State-Auburn national title game brought in 25.57 million viewers. The 2006 Rose Bowl, broadcast on network channel ABC, was the most highly watched championship game, with 35.6 million tuned in.

Sometimes you don’t need an elaborate video or sound byte to issue some Grade-A trash talk. All you need is two words, one emoji and an image.

Jones found himself making his second career start on the brightest stage imaginable and came out triumphant over Alabama. Of course, he had that potential all along.

College football’s showcase day, now headlined by two College Football Playoff games, lived up to any and all expectations. Let’s look at the key numbers from January 1’s five bowls.

And by allowing just three points in Minnesota’s final five possessions following Williams’ touchdown, they sent defensive coordinator Dave Steckel, recently named Missouri State’s head coach, out a winner.

“Incomplete. Incomplete. Incomplete,” a staffer said.

Up 42-35 with 1:50 remaining in the game, Ohio State just needed one first down, or to just run the ball and punt, but throw a contested ball into the end zone? Not that. Not a play that could recreate 2007 vs. LSU or 2008 vs. Urban Meyer’s Florida. Not anything that could risk killing the albatross.

1. Florida State completely collapsed. You know what they say about pressure: it bursts pipes or creates diamonds. Or sometimes, when Oregon is running you to the limit of your football credit, it takes your diamonds, flushes them down the world’s biggest pipes, and then stuffs you into the great sucking drain of history.

3. They were going to steal a title, and you were going to haaaaaaate how they did it.

The game is in 11 days, but this is still an appropriate reaction.

Ezekiel Elliott dominated the Sugar Bowl with 230 yards and two touchdowns for Ohio State. He also dominated the trophy ceremony. There was trophy dancin’

There was awkward mic holdin’ and water bottle slappin’

The SEC won seven BCS championships in a row. Perhaps you heard about it. Florida State ended that run last year, beating Auburn to win the final BCS game.

That ended the conference’s run, but it continued the region’s. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and their neighboring states just pumped too much talent onto the field for everybody else to contend with. But things change.

Thomas’s spectacular catch on the trick play sent the Buckeyes to the locker room down one point and brimming with confidence, and a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the second half gave OSU its first lead since 3-0.

Despite excellent field position, Alabama struggled to capitalize. The second Crimson Tide stop, deep in Ohio State territory, gave Alabama a short field for a would-be go-ahead score, but Sims promptly threw an interception to safety Vonn Bell. The third series, starting from the Alabama 45, ended with another punt. Alabama would not get a fourth. Elliott broke through the Crimson Tide defense for an 85-yard touchdown run, the longest play allowed by Alabama all season. Elliott finished with a Sugar Bowl-record 230 yards on 20 carries and a pair of scores.

This will be Oregon’s second appearance in an officially ordained national championship game. The Ducks’ first came in the 2010 season’s BCS Championship, when they lost, 22-19, to Cam Newton’s Auburn in Arizona.

Ohio State made three BCS Championships, winning 2002’s against Miami and losing 2006’s and 2007’s to Florida and LSU, respectively.

Alabama executed a near-perfect onside kick after a touchdown to cut their deficit to one score, but Ohio State’s Evan Spencer made an incredibly athletic catch to secure possession:

That timing and the hands to hold on to the weird bounce are spectacular, and that may end up being the most important play of the game.

Derrick Henry had 7.3 yards per rushing attempt on 13 attempts in the Sugar Bowl. Blake Sims had 6.6 yards per passing attempt on 33 passes with three picks. Thus:

With Ohio State leading Alabama by six halfway through the fourth quarter and punting from its own endzone, the Crimson Tide ran into the Buckeye punter. A five-yard penalty for “running into the kicker” would not result in a first down for OSU, while a 15-yard penalty for “roughing the kicker” would. Guess what the call was, from Urban Meyer’s reaction.

(Via ESPN)

Both Ohio State and Alabama have weaponized punters. The Buckeyes have Australian import Cam Johnston, who as of now is averaging 58.5 yards per punt in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama has JK Scott, who was ranked the No. 1 punter in the nation in high school, and is averaging 60.6 yards per punt.

The Internet appreciates this very much:

As of this point in the third quarter, No. 4 Ohio State has tripled No. 1 Alabama’s yardage, 452 to 150. As of this writing, the underdog Buckeyes hold a 27-21 lead over the Tide and are threatening to extend that advantage.

It was clear at the time that more than four teams deserved to go to the Playoff. Bama deserved it, Oregon definitely deserved it, FSU was undefeated, and TCU and Baylor should’ve been in, too. Four was just a bad number this year.

Ohio State just scored a touchdown on a reverse, wide receiver pass to pull within one point of Alabama at the end of the first half of the Sugar Bowl. The catch from Michael Thomas was just as impressive.

He jussssssst got that foot in:

Alabama is beating Ohio State 21-6 midway through the second quarter of the Sugar Bowl, and the Crimson Tide are dominating pretty much every aspect of the game, including special teams. This big hit by Reuben Foster pretty much sums up the game.

Via ESPN:

Via ESPN

It’s 14-6, Tide, after touchdowns by Derrick Henry and Amari Cooper and an Ohio State fumble. Cheer up, Ohio State kid! You get to stay up super late tonight!