2025 College Football: CFP First Round Takeaways

We have finally arrived! It’s year two of the revamped College Football Playoff, and the committee almost aligned with my personal picks again. We were just one team apart, so I’m pretty happy with that. The top 4 seeds got byes, while the other 8 participants played for the right to face them. In the first round, playoff games take place not at bowl sites but on the campuses of the higher-ranked teams in the four matchups. That makes the atmospheres extra special. 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: (9) Alabama 34, (8) Oklahoma 24

You know what CFP time means: all hands on deck! Every injured player who could possibly go did so. Alabama RB Jam Miller (7/11) and TE Josh Cuevas (4/43) returned from their absences, as did Oklahoma DE R Mason Thomas. Sooners QB John Mateer finally had the tape off his injured hand, and he was better for it. OU scored the first 17 points of the game despite having no conventional rushing attack. Mateer (26/41, 307 yards, 2 TDs, INT, rush TD) and his QB runs did more damage, and he also found chunk plays with his arm. I still hate his throwing mechanics (what on earth are those arm angles?), but they worked.

Conversely, Alabama did nothing on offense for a quarter and a half. They couldn’t run the ball either, but their offensive line also failed in pass protection. Three straight 3-and-outs had the defense reeling, and they didn’t help themselves with a pair of poor punts. Eventually, Alabama got a drive going and converted a 4th-and-2 for a 10-yard TD to WR Lotzeir Brooks. That momentum helped, but then they caught a break. Sooners RB Xavier Robinson dropped a sure 3rd-down TD pass, forcing a punt. P Grayson Miller dropped the ball, leading to a block and a Bama FG. The wheels really fell off from there on both sides of the ball.

Mateer threw a terrible pick six to CB Zabien Brown, and suddenly the game was tied. With a chance to score points before halftime, a couple of people on the Alabama bench gifted them a sideline interference penalty, but they let the clock run out without attempting a Hail Mary. Following the break, we had a battle between 2 WRs. For Oklahoma, Deion Burks (7/107/1) had some great sideline catches. Brooks (5/79/2) did the same for Alabama, and his second TD gave the Crimson Tide their first lead as they scored 27 unanswered points. Burks answered with a TD of his own to cut into the newfound 10-point deficit.

Alabama’s pass rush then started to get home. While Oklahoma sacked QB Ty Simpson (18/29, 232 yards, 2 TDs), who really had a bounce-back performance after his SEC title game flop, 4 times, the Crimson Tide brought Mateer down 5 times. One more TD by RB Daniel Hill (9/43/1), and the game was nearly out of reach. Two exceedingly rare FG misses by Groza Award winner Tate Sandell of Oklahoma officially finished it. In the war between Washington (Bama HC Kalen DeBoer and OC Ryan Grubb) and Washington State (Mateer and Sooners OC Ben Arbuckle), the Huskies came out on top in the first CFP win in a true road game.

I’ll own up to my mistake. I didn’t have Alabama in my 12-team field because of how they’ve played for several weeks now. You can’t really blame me for that, but they proved me wrong in this game. The offense, which seemed dead for weeks, roared to life in the middle of the second quarter. Sometimes championship pedigree matters. I don’t see them pulling this off against Indiana in the Rose Bowl though. Oklahoma is now 0-5 all-time in CFP games. When their defense can’t hold a team down, the offense isn’t really built to come from behind. The Sooners had a good season with 5 AP-ranked wins, but it ended disappointingly in Norman.

CFP First Round Game #2: (10) Miami 10, (7) Texas A&M 3

Our most interesting matchup of the opening round could be titled “the teams that beat Notre Dame”. Yes, they’re still crying about it. The Aggies came into this game unbeaten at home and got RB Le’Veon Moss (7/15) back from injury. However, that did nothing to help the TAMU running game (89 yards at 2.5 YPC), and Moss re-aggravated his ankle ailment. Only QB Marcel Reed (25/39, 237 yards, 2 INTs; 15/27 rushing) did anything on the ground, but his stats were wrecked by sack yardage. In a sign of what this game would be like, Texas A&M had a 12-play opening drive…and it went 32 yards before ending in a punt.

Both defenses are known as great 3rd-down stop units. TAMU’s is the best in the nation, and Miami didn’t convert a single 3rd-down until just before the half. Neither offense had any sort of success; we witnessed our first scoreless first half in CFP history. Part of the issue was the heavy wind. Miami QB Carson Beck (14/20, 103 yards, TD) seemed to have trouble controlling any downfield passes, so he was mostly a bystander. That’s how the Canes did nothing following a Reed fumble. Reed is inaccurate in general, so I can’t say for sure if the wind is to blame for his 4+ off-target WR screen throws that killed YAC opportunities.

Another effect of the wind was that each team’s kicking game had a nightmare. When the Aggies hit a 59-yard bomb to WR Mario Craver (7/92). K Jared Zirkel had a 22-yard FG blocked by Ruben Bain Jr. Randy Bond used to be reliable, but kicking has been an issue for the Aggies all year (Bond did connect from 35 yards for TAMU’s only points in the game). Miami had it worse. Star freshman WR Malachi Toney nearly broke a PR TD but tripped after dodging one last tackle. That was a 7-point trip because the Hurricanes went 3-and-out and missed a 47-yard FG. K Carter Davis missed 2 more FGs, including one tried after a Reed INT.

The errors were almost comical. Texas A&M misfired on a fake punt pass. Both teams wasted a ton of time after the 2-minute warning in the second quarter, and even though Miami salvaged an FG attempt, they missed it badly. Toney was stripped by S Dalton Brooks (7 tackles, sack) for a crucial 4th-quarter fumble, but the Aggies did nothing with it. It took until the 3rd quarter for Miami to take a 3-0 lead, and TAMU matched that with Bond in the 4th quarter. Both defenses were stellar at least, with the Hurricanes racking up 7 sacks (including 3 from Bain, 1.5 from fellow DE Akheem Mesidor, and 2 from DB Keionte Scott).

Only one player had a big day on offense: UM RB Mark Fletcher (17/172). Not splitting carries for once, he had a career-high in yards. Fletcher single-handedly drove Miami near the goal line at the end of the day, and Toney (5/22/1) caught a pop pass for a redemption-worthy TD. Reed nearly responded with a TD of his own, but he threw an end-zone INT to DB Bryce Fitzgerald (who had 2 on the day). This is a disappointment for TAMU, who started 11-0 and will have questions asked of them about their habit of late-season swoons. Every year, they’re pretty good in the regular season before fizzling out, and their offense really blew it.

For Miami, it should be noted that despite being in his 6th season of college football, Carson Beck hadn’t started a CFP game. Maybe in the Cotton Bowl, which has a dome, he’ll be more comfortable. I imagine the committee is congratulating themselves somewhere. Their controversial pick made it through the first round, and their defense is truly a championship-caliber unit. Obviously though, 10 points won’t get it done against Ohio State. I see enough talent for Miami to upset the Buckeyes. Whether they put it all together is always a mystery with a Mario Cristobal-coached team. We’ll find out in January.

CFP First Round Game #3: (6) Ole Miss 41, (11) Tulane 10

In a rematch of a September blowout, Tulane’s hope rested on a key factor: that QB Jake Retzlaff, who barely knew the playbook at that point due to his late arrival to camp, would fare better this time around. Technically he did, but not nearly enough to matter. Tulane’s defense wasn’t an ounce better than before. Within 3 plays of the opening kickoff, Ole Miss had a TD from RB Kewan Lacy (15/87/1). The Green Wave put together a promising opening drive of their own, but Retzlaff threw a red-zone INT, and the Rebels returned to the end zone 4 plays later. Tulane turned the ball over on downs on their next, and things could’ve spiraled.

Curiously, they actually hung around for the rest of the first half. Each team put up only 3 points in the 2nd quarter, and Ole Miss nearly had a disaster. Both QB Trinidad Chambliss and Lacy went down in the final minute of the half. Original starter Austin Simmons (4/5, 64 yards) came in and completed 2 nice passes but then lost the ball on a strip sack. Fortunately, both players returned, and Chambliss (23/29, 282 yards, TD; 6/36/2 rushing) led a rout just like he did in the first meeting. Retzlaff (20/35, 306 yards, TD, INT) had decent stats, but his 2 lost fumbles and 3 total turnovers were back-breakers for Tulane.

I feel worst for HC Jon Sumrall, who just lost his father and now lost his final game with Tulane before going to Florida. He still led a fantastic season. However, they were clearly outmatched. Everything went the Rebels’ way. OC Charlie Weis Jr being back for this game helped a lot, and maybe Lane Kiffin didn’t matter after all? Chambliss had a great day: even his old D-2 Ferris State Bulldogs won a title while he was playing! Finally, the stadium set a record for the largest gathering of people wearing Santa hats. Everyone has to enjoy that right? A rematch with Georgia awaits, and I think both teams are better than they were in game 1.

CFP First Round Game #4: (5) Oregon 51, (12) James Madison 34

Unfortunately for those of us who love to see Group of 6 teams punch above their weight, this weekend only really provided fodder for those who want them excluded from the CFP entirely. Following Tulane’s blowout loss, James Madison allowed the Oregon offense to do even better. The Ducks scored their first TD in just 4 plays, moving down the field with alarming ease. Curiously, they went for 2 and got stuffed. JMU decided (smartly) to take a ton of time on their first drive, but they had to work way too hard. Their opening march required 8:03 and two 4th-down conversions, but the Dukes came away with just 3 points.

Any formula for a JMU victory required their highly-rated defense to show out. That unit ended up being their downfall. Oregon scored touchdowns on each of their first 5 possessions. They ran for 201 yards and 2 TDs at 7.7 YPC, with RBs Jordan Davison (10/90) and Dierre Hill Jr (6/76/1) leading the way. The passing game featured three completions of 40+ yards, and WRs Malik Benson (5/119/1) and Jeremiah McClellan (6/83/1) had a blast. QB Dante Moore (19/27, 313 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, rush TD) was firing bombs at will, though his two picks won’t fly against Texas Tech next game. I’m still not buying him as the draft’s QB1.

The whole game just felt so hard for James Madison. QB Alonza Barnett (23/48, 273 yards, 2 TDs; 12/45/1 rushing) had 3 passes batted at the line in the first quarter alone and was woefully inefficient. Moving down the field in the first half required a trick play with a double pass, which WR Nick DeGennaro (5/90/1) completed for 50 yards. That drive went backward from there due to penalties, and the subsequent FG got blocked. Penalties were a common refrain, as JMU committed 13 of them for 113 yards. Once the game was out of reach, the offense started flowing, and RB Wayne Knight (17/110) truly did well, but it was too late.

Oregon put up a weekend-high 51 points against the Dukes’ best unit. You could probably call the enter second half garbage time (the score was 34-6 at the break), but credit James Madison for fighting and scoring 28 points in the final two quarters. Something to recall about JMU is that this is just their 4th season at the FBS level. Winning 12 games and the Sun Belt and making the CFP is a great achievement for HC Bob Chesney, who now heads to UCLA. Oregon’s road continues with Texas Tech up next. They’ll need to finish much stronger in that game, but they clearly have the talent to compete with the Red Raiders.