2024 College Football: CFP First Round Takeaways
We have finally arrived! Much has been made about the revamped College Football Playoff, and with an extra round of play, we got off to an earlier start this year. Amazingly, the committee aligned really well with my personal picks, only differing on seeding. The top 4 seeds got byes, while the other 8 participants played for the right to face them. For the first time, playoff games took place not at bowl sites but on the campuses of the higher-ranked teams in the four matchups. I’ll stop talking now and let you go straight to my CFP first round takeaways! Note: these are not bowl games; for those games’ takeaways, click here.
CFP First Round Game #1: (7) Notre Dame 27, (10) Indiana 17
For our first game of the new CFP era, we got an all-Indiana matchup and…it was honestly a bit of a dud. Indiana had an ignominious start, losing 3 yards in 3 plays before firing off a short punt. It seemed like they would rebound when they intercepted QB Riley Leonard, but Kurtis Rourke (20/33, 215 yards, 2 TDs, INT) returned the favor 4 plays later. That didn’t feel like the biggest deal, with ND pinned at their own 2. RB Jeremiyah Love (8/108/1) must have disputed that notion, as he took a carry on the very first play of the drive and galloped for a 98-yard TD. That was pretty much it for this game.
After his interception, Rourke looked almost as if he was skittish about making another mistake. He didn’t play with his trademark accuracy and poise until late in the 4th quarter. The Hoosiers managed just one field goal in the first half, while Notre Dame grew in confidence. Leonard (23/32, 201 yards, TD, INT) settled in, mostly looking to WR Jordan Faison (7/89). To give you a sense of what kind of night this was for Indiana, after they kicked their FG, ND reached the red zone, but Leonard was tackled for a loss on 3rd and 14. A senseless roughing penalty extended the drive and led to a field goal attempt. Even that went awry for IU.
The Irish attempted a fake and came up short. However, their exotic formation had caused Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti to call a timeout, nullifying the 4th-down stop. Notre Dame easily made the FG on their redo of the down. If you’re wondering why the score was relatively close, that’s because Indiana had an odd sequence with 4:50 left in the game. Rourke finally returned to form, and the Irish went with a prevent defense. Indiana scored a TD and a 2-point conversion, recovered a stellar onside kick, and scored another TD. They didn’t make the 2-pointer the second time, nor did they recover their second onside kick.
That little scare aside, Notre Dame dominated the contest. Maybe wearing jerseys with names on them helps! Seriously though, this defense was flying, and the Hoosiers were simply outclassed. Many will now say that they didn’t deserve to get into the CFP, but that’s nonsense. They won 11 games against a Big Ten schedule and are much better than their 3-win 2023 selves. Cignetti has this team on the right track. Notre Dame, however, looks like a true contender. (2) Georgia is up next, and their QB is a complete wild card. I don’t fully trust Leonard, but this is an extremely talented roster. That NIU loss seems like forever ago huh?
CFP First Round Game #2: (6) Penn State 38, (11) SMU 10
Oh dear; Alabama and Ole Miss fans are going to be complaining so much. They and a few other teams lobbied for SMU’s spot, and many will now say that they should’ve received it. I maintain that a team ranked in the top 12 should not have fallen out for losing an “extra” game, but this was the Mustangs’ poorest showing of the season. I recall the first half against Clemson in the ACC title game and the 6-turnover chaos against Duke. SMU’s CFP performance was worse by a mile, and it all starts with QB Kevin Jennings (20/36, 195 yards, TD, 3 INTs). His head was clearly spinning, as he made one poor decision after another.
On SMU’s first drive, they reached 4th and 1 at the Penn State 19. Jennings pulled the ball on an option play and had a clear path outside for the first down. Instead, he threw to the end zone, and the receiver dropped it. Had the ball been caught, that play wouldn’t look so bad, but it was unnecessarily greedy. Jennings only got worse from there, throwing an ugly pick six on the next drive and another one two drives later. He threw a 3rd INT and took a sack on 4th down on his final two drives before the half. The last pick came right after PSU got stuffed on 4th and 1 at their own 19!
Somehow, Preston Stone never entered the game. He’s in the portal but announced that he’d remain with the team through their CFP run, and he suited up. I suppose HC Rhett Lashlee didn’t want to turn to a guy who was leaving very soon. In fact, Stone is heading to Northwestern shortly. Between Jennings’ struggles and SMU’s 58 total rushing yards, the offense did nothing at all until garbage time (the score was 28-0 at the half). That’s a shame, as Penn State was pretty poor on offense for most of the game themselves. They also didn’t seem to trust their kicker in the cold, failing on 4th and 13 instead of kicking at the SMU 29.
While RBs Nick Singleton (14/90/1) and Kaytron Allen (11/70/2; 2/28 receiving) were great, QB Drew Allar (13/22, 127 yards) was predictably lackluster. PSU has the best draw, but Boise State will not even be as much of a pushover. Remember; the Broncos played Oregon TOUGH. This Nittany Lions defense can travel though, especially if players like projected top pick Abdul Carter (2 TFLs, sack) keep producing. SMU laid an egg here; there’s no way around that. I do think they’re better than they played, but it was an awful time to have your worst showing. Jennings will hopefully learn from this and come back stronger next year.
CFP First Round Game #3: (5) Texas 38, (12) Clemson 24
This was the most competitive first-round game, but that turned out to be a really low bar. One neat subplot was that this was a rematch of a previous Texas state championship game, where Cade Klubnik got the best of Quinn Ewers in a battle between two future 5-star QBs. This time though, Ewers had the superior team around him. As they did against SMU in the ACC championship game, Clemson struck first, marching right down the field on an impressive TD drive. In fact, Clemson’s weapons, including WRs TJ Moore (9/116/1) and Antonio Williams (4/66/1) and TE Jake Briningstool (4/69) were fantastic.
Even Klubnik himself (26/43, 336 yards, 3 TDs, INT) was mostly good. The Clemson defense, however, struggled badly. Texas blitzed Clemson with 3 straight touchdown drives in the 2nd quarter. Texas’ passing game wasn’t great, as the team lacked injured WR Isaiah Bond; they were aided by CB Avieon Terrell’s 3 PI flags. However, the Longhorns welcomed LT Kelvin Banks back from injury, and he made a massive difference in the run game. Two RBs, Jaydon Blue (14/146/2; 2/31 receiving) and Quintrevion Wisner (15/110/2), carried the offense. Freshman Jerrick Gibson (9/35) even looked good for this deep backfield.
Ewers (17/24, 202 yards, TD, INT) had a modest day, and he got lucky when a blindside block wiped out his pick six (the INT stood though). He also threw a ball behind WR Matthew Golden (2/49) on 4th and 2, leading to a turnover on downs. Up 28-10, the Longhorns let Clemson back into the game with two straight TDs. On the second, Clemson converted a 4th and 6 for the score. However, Blue responded with a 77-yard lightning strike TD two plays later, putting Texas back up by 14. The passing game will need to do more to beat Arizona State in a matchup that will feature former and current Big XII teams.
Clemson lost this game based on their poor rushing attack and defense. Tackling was an issue, with Texas RBs consistently gaining yards after contact. Still, as the only 3-loss team in the CFP and one that everyone left for dead months ago, I’d say they did pretty well for themselves. Texas has bigger aspirations though. Watching this game, you wonder whether Ewers can lead his team to a title. Arch Manning probably can’t save them in an emergency, as he only gets snaps for run plays (and he fumbled on one against the Tigers). This squad is loaded though, and Ewers has talent. It’ll take a complete effort though to lift the trophy.
CFP First Round Game #4: (8) Ohio State 42, (9) Tennessee 17
The schedulers supposedly saved the best for last, but this supposed toss-up of a game ended up being a total blowout. An estimated 40,000 Tennessee fans made the trip to frigid Columbus only to see their team embarrassed in prime time. It was a bad omen when the Volunteers seemed to get an early stop with a sack, only to cede a first down via a facemask penalty. Buckeyes QB Will Howard (24/29, 311 yards, 2 TDs, INT; 5/37 rushing) took full advantage of the second chance, firing a perfect 37-yard TD strike to freshman phenom WR Jeremiah Smith (6/103/2), who continues to impress.
Ohio State scored on their first 3 drives, and everything was clicking. Howard fired darts to Smith and potential 1st-round WR Emeka Egbuka (5/81), while the two-headed backfield of TreVeyon Henderson (10/80/2; 4/54 receiving) and Quinshon Judkins (10/34/2) wore down the Tennessee defense. The Volunteers could not respond, as the Buckeyes defense made life miserable for QB Nico Iamaleava (14/31, 106 yards; 20/47/2 rushing). His protection alternated between great and terrible, and his receivers couldn’t get open. Making matters worse, star RB Dylan Sampson (2/6) missed much of the game with an injury.
RB Peyton Lewis (10/77) subbed well for Sampson, and Iamaleava did some damage on the ground himself, but Tennessee couldn’t score points and fell in a 21-0 hole. The refs tried to get them back into the game with a pair of gifts though. On OSU’s 4th drive, Howard threw a deep ball to Smith, but DB Will Brooks came down with it. A clear PI foul was missed, and the replay showed that Brooks did not have control of the ball before he was out of bounds, but the play stood. Tennessee converted that into 3 points. Next, Iamaleava threw an INT, but a poor roughing the passer call wiped it out. That led to a TD.
During that little stretch, the Volunteers had much better rhythm on offense, and the defense shut OSU out in the second quarter. With the game 21-10 at the half, Tennessee had a chance. However, they punted after receiving the 3rd-quarter kick, and Ohio State strung together 3 straight TD drives for the second time. Tennessee added one garbage-time TD against backups, completely flaming out of the CFP. They’re not in Ohio State’s league. The Buckeyes were the most impressive team this round, and their only real hole is a kicker that can’t reach 50 yards. Oregon will have their hands full in the upcoming rematch.