National Championship Game: College Football comes to its conclusion

College Football has had an extraordinary season and it climaxes on Monday with the National Championship Game at the AT&T Stadium in Texas (aka JerryWorld). National superpowers Oregon and Ohio State will play each other for the first playoff winner crown.

Here, US sports blogger Alex Ferguson reflects on the season, and looks ahead to the big game…

Well college football Gods, on Monday night finally you can rest once again after giving us all that we could have asked for from a season. It was a season of upsets and upstarts, great games and scorching finishes, all enriched with the usual soundtrack of roaring crowds and spectacular atmospheres. We asked, even begged you for a playoff, and finally you came forth. After a series of committee meetings - that were fun, if a little meaningless – you delivered us the four names that would play for the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy, and they were Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State. It was expected that Alabama and Florida State to be playing for glory on Monday night, so imagine the shock when, first Oregon put 59 points on Florida State, and then Ohio State go and beat Alabama.

It's a little poetic that the match is going to be all about offenses. Ohio State are on their third quarterback of the season in Cardale Jones, and have a bullet of a running back in Ezekiel Elliott who ran Alabama all over the field on New Year’s Day. Oregon boast quarterback Marcus Mariota, who has been playing at a consistently high-level all season despite the injury programs the Ducks’ offensive line has had. He also has an offensive gameplan more explosive than Fireworks Night.

But despite the obvious appeal of this playoff match, the college football season did not go without its questions, and here are some of them…

1. Who were college football’s players of the year?

A lot of people are going to tell you it was Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, who has thrown for 4,121 yards, 40 touchdowns and just three interceptions, yes three. He’s been by far the best quarterback in college football; accurate even on the run and great to watch. But for crying out loud, don’t underestimate Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon, who at one point during the season broke the NCAA rushing record with 408 yards, and ran for 2,587 yards and 29 TDs for the Badgers. He’s been sensational.

Oh, and Alabama’s playmaking wide receiver, Amari Cooper, was brilliant, with 1,727 yards and 16 TDs on 124 receptions. There wasn’t a game where an opposition defence managed to silence Alabama fans’ cries of ‘Cooooop’, and in the NFL, we’ll be hearing the cry a lot, too.

2. Who was college football’s team of the year?

I was at the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta in December, but finalists Alabama and Missouri weren’t the two teams of the year in college football. The battle of Mississippi during October moved us between Ole Miss and Mississippi State, because we thought that the rivalry game between the two after Thanksgiving might just feature a spot in the playoffs to be had. Unfortunately, injuries and fate took care of that.

A lot of people would be tempted to tell you that Arkansas were the best, bearing in mind their 7-6 record – including 2-6 in the conference – they could have been a lot better if the Razorbacks had had a bit of luck and some good special teams play. I jumped up and down as much as anybody when the Razorbacks shut out LSU to get their first conference win of the season – something they’d richly deserved for about a month.

There was also another team, who fans didn’t think would finish anywhere this year, but ended up being left out of the playoff – somewhat scandalously – by the committee after a season which no-one expected them to perform to the heights that they did. And that team was TCU. QB Trevone Boykin was a sensation all season long – including the end-of-season finale against Ole Miss when they crushed the Rebels 42-3 in a fantastic performance. Step up, Gary Patterson.

3. Who was coach of the year?

That would be Patterson, although Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, with what he created in Starkville, would definitely run him a close second. Mullen’s team were expected to be improved but not so much that they beat LSU on the road, beat Auburn and were in the top five throughout most of the season. Can both repeat it? Probably not.

4. Who was this year’s biggest disappointment?

Although they made the playoff and lost a ton of talent before the season even started, Florida State was this season’s biggest disappointment. They squeaked by games week in, week out, and it was only going to be time before they were slaughtered by some team or another. And that priveldge fell to Oregon at the Rose Bowl.

Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina team would run close though, and Florida’s offense made the Cleveland Browns look like the New England Patriots. And let’s not forget Michigan, who were equally terrible. Hopefully for the fans of both Florida and Michigan, the hiring of new coaches should change the teams’ fortunes. And fast.

Coaching-wise, the mouth of Penn State’s James Franklin was great to see, but the team’s awful offensive line ensured that any high hopes would end up in tatters on repeated occasions. Quarterback Christian Hackenberg – thanks to the offensive line and his inflated sense of his own skill – took a mega-step backwards, too.

5. What was the game of the year?

My favourite game was Ole Miss’ 23-17 victory over Alabama. It was a game that had everybody drooling, and for good reason. Ole Miss had a great defense. Alabama was good, but susceptible. Alabama roared out to a 14-3 lead, but Ole Miss kept pegging them back until Vince Saunders’ 34-yard catch tied things up at 17 in the fourth. Jaylen Walton’s 10-yard TD and then a subsequent missed point after with just under 3 mins was simply excruciating. Bama drove down the field…until Blake Sims was intercepted by Senquez Golson, sending the sold-out crowd to the field.

 6. And who’s going to win the big game?

I'm going with Ohio State by six. Ohio State are 9/5 with Sky Bet while Oregon are 5/11, and a 6-1/2 point favourite. Why? They’ve got more offense, and after beating Alabama, they feel that they can beat anyone. And their coach, Urban Meyer, has won two National Championships before.