College Football Playoffs in Game Discussion Thread

Frank Lee said:
These teams cannot figure out how to convert 3rd and 7s. This is where utilizing TE curls or delay routes can be your friend.
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Also helps to have TE's that can get down the field 10-15 yards the way Warren could and both Reynolds and Rappleyea seem to do pretty well.

They did get the ball to their TE's on short routes but the TE's didn't have the speed to make much YAC against all the DB's and LB's in coverage. Kind of says that the defenses must have been in man coverage on the outside and the QB's need to get the ball to the outside WR's. But neither of these QB's seem to have the accuracy to do that. As I write this Reed throws a terrible pass down the middle for a pick.....
 
Kotelnicki-level playcalling. 1st and ten at the TAMU 20: Failed fleaflicker, a run up the middle for a yard, a forced incompletion, and another missed FG. Again, the top four ranked teams contain the true national champion 97% of the time. Neither of these two teams are one of them.
 
To summarize...
PSU is not that far behind on offense based on what I've seen from these few playoff games. Grunk may be just as good of a QB but needs more experience. PSU's RBs may be a bit better, and PSU's TEs are definitely better and are utilized better. Where these teams are much better than PSU is at DT and LB. And a little better at DE. All fixable for 2026 with the portal, S&C, and instruction.
 
Frank Lee said:
To summarize...
PSU is not that far behind on offense based on what I've seen from these few playoff games. Grunk may be just as good of a QB but needs more experience. PSU's RBs may be a bit better, and PSU's TEs are definitely better and are utilized better. Where these teams are much better than PSU is at DT and LB. And a little better at DE. All fixable for 2026 with the portal, S&C, and instruction.
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I really don't believe the teams playing now are better than PSU at DE. PSU has had some of the best DE's in college football the last 6-8 years and we really don't know what PSU will have at DE in 2026. PSU under Franklin has put the highest priority on DE's that can get to the QB and it has been pretty effective. Other top teams seem to like DE's that have a little more strength and bulk that may not get to the QB with the same flare but hold up better against the run and make their DT's look better. In a couple of years we'll know where Campbell stands on that choice.

Yep neither of these QB's are special throwing the ball, although Reed is very effective running and has had his games where he does put on a show throwing as well. But I'm not totally sold on Grunk yet. He was the benefactor of a great running game when PSU beat up on those last 3 mediocre teams.

Not sure if you were looking back with your comments or looking ahead, but Franklin had his fair share of excellent LB play as well. I thought he had an excellent LB class committed for the 2026 class which could have turned the position from average to outstanding in a couple of years, but Campbell and Rojas should be better with another year of experience and S&C work, and there are some young LB's on the roster that could surprise us such as Tatsch, Arrington as well as Speca who didn't seem to progress this past year. Was he hurt, who knows.... Would be nice for those of us that follow the team closely if coach Campbell is a little looser with injury info vs Franklin that guarded it like it was A-Bomb instructions in 1946....

PSU has some young DT's that also surprise but it does sure look like a spot that Campbell will address with some of that $30 million.

The two teams don't seem to have WR's up to the talent level we have seen at Uh-high-ya, Bama and some others other than the Miami freshmen that TAM has bottled up pretty well so far, but WR surely needs a influx of a couple real playmakers in addition to the young talent on the roster. I'm surprised the top ISU WR hasn't followed Campbell. Maybe after bowl season is over. Hopefully Campbell is more so about putting the best talent on the field where as Franklin at time was a little to loyal too his upper classmen
 
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Well, got back home for the last 2 minutes of the game and apparently that is all that needed to be watched. Also, this Miami win confirms that the committee got it right with leaving Notre Dame out. Miami beat Notre Dame and now have beaten the other team that beat Notre Dame. Notre Dame didn't belong. That puts it to rest.
 
GregInPitt said:
I really don't believe the tams playing now are better than PSU at DE. PSU has had some of the best DE's in college football the last 6-8 years and we really don't know what PSU will have at DE in 2026. PSU under Franklin has put the highest priority on DE's that can get to the QB and it has been pretty effective. Other top teams seem to like DE's that have a little more strength and bulk that may not get to the QB with the same flare but hold up better against the run and make their DT's look better. In a couple of years we'll know where Campbell stands on that choice.

Yep neither of these QB's are special throwing the ball, although Reed is very effective running and has had his games where he does put on a show throwing as well. But I'm not totally sold on Grunk yet. He was the benefactor of a great running game when PSU beat up on those last 3 mediocre teams.

Not sure if you were looking back with your comments or looking ahead, but Franklin had his fair share of excellent LB play as well. I thought he had an excellent LB class committed for the 2026 class which could have turned the position from average to outstanding in a couple of years, but Campbell and Rojas should be better with another year of experience and S&C work, and there are some young LB's on the roster that could surprise us such as Tatsch, Arrington as well as Speca who didn't seem to progress this past year. Was he hurt, who knows.... Would be nice for those of us that follow the team closely if coach Campbell is a little looser with injury info vs Franklin that guarded it like it was A-Bomb instructions in 1946....

PSU has some young DT's that also surprise but it does sure look like a spot that Campbell will address with some of that $30 million.

The two teams don't seem to have WR's up to the talent level we have seen at Uh-high-ya, Bama and some others other than the Miami freshmen that TAM has bottled up pretty well so far, but WR surely needs a influx of a couple real playmakers in addition to the young talent on the roster. I'm surprised the top ISU WR hasn't followed Campbell. Maybe after bowl season is over. Hopefully Campbell is more so about putting the best talent on the field where as Franklin at time was a little to loyal to his upper classmen
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PSUs problem was the defensive center and WRs Especially after Rojas went down. With Rojas, a good chance we’d be in the playoff.
 
Sheriff Coffee said:
PSUs problem was the defensive center and WRs Especially after Rojas went down. With Rojas, a good chance we’d be in the playoff.
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My Rojas takeaway (or bias) was from the 2024 season where he was slow to read, getting caught up, and not shedding blocks (exemplified by USC's and BSU's first TDs). Admittedly, I didn't look much at his play against Nevada, FIU, and Villanova so, as you say, he could have changed the trajectory of the 2025 season.
 
Home cooking for Ole Miss on the first Tulane drive as the Tulane QB was clearly out of bounds when he got nailed.

Not expecting much of a game but it would be interesting to see Tulane put a scare into the $EC....
 
GregInPitt said:
Home cooking for Ole Miss on the first Tulane drive as the Tulane QB was clearly out of bounds when he got nailed.

Not expecting much of a game but it would be interesting to see Tulane put a scare into the $EC....
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Should have been called but they also let one go a little bit ago where Tulane defender shoved an OL to the ground after the whistle. I don't expect a game. Why is Tulane even ranked? 2 losses and one to 6-6 UTSA. What a joke.
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
Should have been called but they also let one go a little bit ago where Tulane defender shoved an OL to the ground after the whistle. I don't expect a game. Why is Tulane even ranked? 2 losses and one to 6-6 UTSA. What a joke.
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I thought the push looked worse than it was because the olinemen fell down due to taking a step back and tripping over a player on the ground behind him. The officials usually do get the OOB's late hits correct, where as the minor chippy stuff is more so let go in big games.
 
Ole Miss destroyed Tulane on the scoreboard as expected. But the stats were closer than what was expected.
.......................................Ole Miss................Tulane
Rush yds........................151..........................115
Passing yds...................346..........................306
Total yds........................497...........................421

Turnovers seemed to be the biggest difference with Tulane committing 3 (2 fumbles 1 INT) and Ole Miss 1

I'm looking for UGA to smoke Ole Miss in the quarterfinals.
 
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Announcer just said the JMU tackler "saved a touchdown".

It might be more correct for him to have said "delayed a touchdown", as the Ducks may score TD's on every possession in this game....
 
GregInPitt said:
Announcer just said the JMU tackler "saved a touchdown".

It might be more correct for him to have said "delayed a touchdown", as the Ducks may score TD's on every possession in this game....
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It's time to have a power 4 conference ONLY playoff and all non-power 4 teams are in a separate lower division with their own playoff. It is 100% clear that those teams do not belong. This is not a playoff game. It is a scrimmage game.
 
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