Another year has come to an end. That means we have the NY6 bowls to enjoy. Just to remind you all, the New Year’s Six are the Cotton Bowl Classic, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and the Fiesta Bowl. Here are my takeaways from these games:
Cotton Bowl Classic: #6 Oklahoma (8-2) defeats #7 Florida (8-3) 55-20
Kyle Trask may be a Heisman finalist, but in this game and the SEC Championship against #1 Alabama, he hasn’t performed like a Heisman winner. Against Oklahoma, he went 16/28 passing for a disappointing 158 yards and 3 interceptions, and had a QBR of 21.6. He was also responsible for 0 touchdowns when you look at the box score. Emory Jones rushed for 60 yards and 1 touchdown and Anthony Richardson, on his only pass attempt of the game, threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Pouncey late in the fourth quarter during garbage time. At least kicking wasn’t the reason they lost.
Oklahoma was just better in every single category. The passing game, run game, defense, special teams. It’s nothing like Mac Jones and Devonta Smith have been performing all season long for Alabama, but you can tell Spencer Rattler was the better quarterback this game. He went 14/23 passing for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also rushed 7 times for 40 yards and a touchdown. If we had college fantasy football, he would’ve had around 31 points. Strong outing for the guy replacing Jalen Hurts. I’m also impressed by the two running backs for the Sooners: Rhamondre Stevenson, the offensive MVP, who rushed for 186 yards and 1 touchdown on 18 attempts and Marcus Major rushed for 110 yards and 1 touchdown on 9 attempts. To compare, I picked Clyde Edwards-Helaire in my fantasy football league. He couldn’t consistently do that with 15+ carries. The receiving core wasn’t like CeeDee Lamb last season, but it was pretty balanced from what I’m seeing, no stand out there. Tre Norwood, the defensive MVP, had a pick-six as well, and the kicking was perfect. I expected better from Florida, I would’ve predicted them to win, even without Kyle Pitts.
Peach Bowl: #9 Georgia (8-2) defeats #8 Cincinnati (9-1) 24-21
Bad clock management late lost Cincinnati the game. They had the win in their hands and somehow lost it. On 3rd and 2, with under 2 minutes to play, Cincinnati threw the ball and didn’t convert. Oh also: Georgia had no timeouts left and the announcers said to chew the clock, which I agreed with them on. Overall, this was a great start to the college football games in 2021, and, hopefully, we see that as a trend for 2021.
I like JT Daniels, but if it wasn’t for the kicker, they would’ve lost the game. First off, Jack Podlesny, the offensive MVP, kicked the game-winning field goal from 53 yards, which was out of his range, but he made it look easy. He kicked 2 other field goals and an extra point earlier in the game, which put them in the position to win. JT Daniels threw 26 completions on 38 attempts, had 392 passing yards, a passing touchdown, and one interception. He wasn’t very good scrambling, having -20 rushing yards, but the guy can pass. A name I heard throughout the game was George Pickens. He had the most receptions with 7 for 135 receiving yards and a touchdown. JT Daniels and running back Zamir White could’ve held onto the ball better. The defensive MVP went to linebacker Azeez Ojulari, who had 4 solo tackles, 3 sacks, and 3 tackles for loss.
You can’t blame the game on Desmond Ridder. The only problem is that he only passed for 206 yards, but he did make up for that with a couple of touchdowns. Like I said before, clock management was the reason Cincinnati lost this game. Jerome Ford had a good game, 97 rushing yards on 8 carries and a touchdown. The defense was impressive and leading that was Darrian Beavers. He had 7 solo tackles and 8 total, as well as a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Cole Smith missed a 33-yard field goal that could’ve changed the outlook of the game.
The best thing that I saw from Cincinnati wasn’t during the game. It’s what Justin Harris did after:
If you don’t like that mentality, what planet are you on?
Rose Bowl (CFP Semifinal): #1 Alabama (12-0) defeats #4 Notre Dame (10-2) 31-14
At least the Fighting Irish covered! And gamblers were certainly happy about it:
I mean I can’t blame Notre Dame for losing by 17. It’s Alabama. Alabama has three of the Heisman top 5 and 2 of them are finalists. Mac Jones shocked the nation with how good he is and DeVonta Smith is the AP Player of the Year. Both are projected to go in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. The only questionable thing to people was Nick Saban’s halftime interview, which Twitter laughed about. Mac Jones had 297 passing yards (25/30) and 4 passing touchdowns. Guess who was the main target? DeVonta Smith, the offensive MVP who had 130 yards on 7 receptions and 3 receiving touchdowns. He’s the favorite to win the Heisman and would be the first wide receiver since Michigan’s Desmond Howard in 1991 to win the highly anticipated award. Najee Harris rushed for 125 yards on 15 attempts but was unable to punch it in the end zone. Will Reichard was also perfect kicking field goals and extra points. Christian Harris also picked off Ian Book. DeMarcco Hellams led the Alabama defense with 12 total tackles, 6 solo tackles, a sack, and a tackle for loss. Patrick Surtain was the defensive MVP despite Hellams having the better stats. Surtain had 3 total tackles, 2 solo tackles, and 0.5 tackles for loss.
Before I head onto my analysis on Notre Dame, just watch Najee Harris’s hurdle:
Anyways, not the best performance from Ian Book. To sum up his performance, he was once sacked for 16 yards. I can’t blame him, because Alabama’s defense is just so aggressive and talented, but there weren’t a lot of positives for him in this game. His scrambling game was very effective and perhaps his best part what he did, rushing for 55 yards and a touchdown. The passing game was just so problematic against a very talented Alabama defense. I’m not trying to hate on Ian Book, he’s looked better this season than how he performed tonight, but Notre Dame just hasn’t played a defense anything close to Alabama’s. He was 27/39 on 229 passing yards and got picked off once. People say that Texas A&M deserved the final playoff spot but they got blown out by more against Alabama earlier this season. For the Fighting Irish defense, Shaun Crawford had 9 total tackles and 5 solo tackles.
Sugar Bowl (CFP Semifinal): #3 Ohio State (7-0) defeats #2 Clemson (10-2) 49-28
Clemson beat Ohio State last year in the College Football Playoff semifinal, but Justin Fields and the Buckeyes were not going to let that happen again. Ohio State did not have a win over Clemson before this game, and what fueled the fire that got the Buckeyes the win was Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney ranking Ohio State #11 in the final coaches poll, claiming that “they haven’t played enough games.” When asked if he has any regrets ranking Ohio State #11 in the coaches poll, Swinney replied, “No.” Ohio State came into this game as the slight underdog, since Trevor Lawrence is widely considered the most hyped up quarterback in recent years. Justin Fields withstood a big hit and was shaken up for the majority of the game, but he then was 22/28 on 385 passing yards, six passing touchdowns, and one interception. For my fantasy players:
Yes, Master Teague was out for this game, but that didn’t stop the run game. Trey Sermon had 193 rushing yards on 31 carries and 1 touchdown. A skill player that will go overlooked thanks to Justin Fields’s monster performance is Chris Olave. On 6 receptions, Olave had 132 receiving yards and 2 receiving touchdowns. Jameson Williams had 3 receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown, Jeremy Ruckert had 3 receptions for 55 yards and two touchdowns, and Luke Farrell caught a touchdown as well. From what I’ve seen, this is the best offensive game from the Buckeyes this season. There was no need for field goals, but Blake Haubeil went 7/7 for extra points. Shaun Wade led the way with 9 total tackles and 7 solo tackles. Sevyn Banks had 4 total tackles (all solo) and had 1 interception. Tuf Borland was the Sugar Bowl defense MVP with 8 total tackles and 4 solo tackles.
It’s not like Trevor Lawrence had a bad game, it was just a battle of who had the better offense in the game. Lawrence threw 33 completions on 48 passing attempts, passed for 400 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Travis Etienne had an off game: on 10 carries he had 32 rushing yards and 1 touchdown. Someone I liked watching was Cornell Powell. Powell had 8 receptions for 139 yards and caught both of Trevor Lawrence’s passing touchdowns. On the Tigers’ defense, Bryan Bresee had 5 total tackles, 4 solo tackles, 1 sack, and 2.5 tackles for loss. Mike Jones Jr. had 1 total and solo tackle and 1 interception. Myles Murphy had 3 total tackles, 2 solo tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a pass deflection.
Fiesta Bowl: #10 Iowa State (9-3) defeats #25 Oregon (4-3) 34-17
The first half was competitive but when the second half started, it was all Iowa State from there. Oregon could not score a single point in the second half and that lost the game for the Ducks. O’Rien Vance was the game’s defensive MVP for the Cyclones with 4 total tackles, 2 solo tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 2 fumble recoveries. Mike Rose had 6 total tackles, 3 solo tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, and 1 interception. Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy was named the offensive MVP with 156 passing yards (20/29), and 1 passing touchdown. Purdy rushed for 39 yards and a touchdown on 9 carries. My favorite player of that game was Breece Hall, the running back who finished 6th in Heisman voting, who rushed for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns on 34 carries. The only problem I have with that stat line is that it took him 34 carries for that. He averaged 4 yards per carry, which, especially for a top running back in college football, isn’t very good. Charlie Kolar caught the only receiving touchdown for the Cyclones on 5 receptions and 53 yards.
There wasn’t anything to be happy about offensively for the Oregon Ducks. Anthony Brown and Tyler Shough combined for 226 passing yards and an interception (19/28 combined), with Shough throwing the pick. Anthony Brown was responsible for the two touchdowns Oregon had in the first half, both rushing touchdowns. Kayvon Thibodeaux was the Pac-12 Championship MVP but didn’t have that type of game against Iowa State (6 total tackles, 4 solo tackles, 2 tackles for loss).
Orange Bowl: #6 Texas A&M (9-1) defeats #13 North Carolina (8-4) 41-27
It was until the start of the Aggies’ drive after Josh Downs’s go-ahead touchdown that the Orange Bowl was a great game. After Downs scored for North Carolina, Texas A&M scored 3 unanswered touchdowns to win the game. Sam Howell could not move the ball and I could’ve sworn he was sacked six times in the fourth quarter. Texas A&M running back Devon Achane was named the game MVP. He ran for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries. Star quarterback Kellen Mond went 16/26 for 232 passing yards and tallied 36 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts. Ainias Smith was the top Aggies receiver with 125 yards on 6 receptions. Aggies kicker Seth Small was responsible for 11 of Texas A&M’s points, knocking down 2 field goals and 5 extra points. The defense was stellar, especially in the 4th quarter. Buddy Johnson had 10 total tackles, 8 solo tackles, 1 sack, and 2.5 tackles for loss. Andre White Jr. had 8 total tackles, 4 solo tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1 interception, and 1 pass deflection. Tyree Johnson had had 6 total tackles, 4 solo tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 2 tackles for loss.
Sam Howell was solid until the fourth quarter. He went 18/31 for 234 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Josh Downs was his top receiver with 91 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns on 4 receptions. I think the offensive side of the Tar Heels team let them down. Eugene Asante had 10 total tackles and 7 solo tackles, Trey Morrison had 7 total tackles, 6 solo tackles, 1 sack, and 1 tackle for loss. A play I was very impressed by was when Raymond Vohasek pushed Texas A&M center Ryan McCollum down to the ground then tackled Devon Achane for a loss of one yard inside the 5.
Calhoun's Corner 