Winners and Losers of the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals

After an opening round full of lopsided games, the College Football Playoff quarterfinals brought a different kind of drama.

The slate opened with Penn State comfortably taking down Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. But then, Texas survived Arizona State in a wild Peach Bowl before Ohio State shocked the nation with an eye-popping beatdown of top-seeded, undefeated Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

Each of those winners has advanced to the CFP semifinals, which will be played at the Orange and Cotton Bowls.

The final matchup—Notre Dame vs. Georgia in the Sugar Bowl—had been postponed to Thursday in the aftermath of the terror attack on Bourbon Street. While it was a more competitive game, it ended with a Notre Dame victory in another double-digit margin.

This piece was updated.

Two things can be simultaneously true.

James Franklin has an ugly history of his teams losing to top-ranked competition. Until the Nittany Lions beat an elite opponent—think Ohio State or Oregon this season—there will be doubts. That is fair.

On the other side, Penn State has advanced to the CFP semifinals after toppling SMU and Boise State. No matter the competition along the way, only four programs can reach that stage. This is, quite literally, an unparalleled opportunity for Penn State thanks to a 31-14 victory over Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.

In short: The noise around Franklin isn’t getting worse.

Look, if the Nittany Lions play poorly in the Orange Bowl, the narrative around his struggles with Top Five opponents will persist. At this point of his 11-year tenure at PSU, it’s not an unreasonable topic, either.

But this is Penn State’s first chance to formally reach a national championship game since the creation of the BCS in 1998. That matters. Even if the Nittany Lions lose, they’ve reached a stage of the postseason never before accomplished under Franklin. That matters, too.

Franklin still has plenty to prove in the toughest games, but Penn State has fully earned its opportunity to quiet doubters.

This matchup was always the concern: Would the Boise State offense be able to handle a terrific Penn State defense?

Unfortunately for Broncos, the answer was no.

Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty managed 104 hard-earned yards on 30 carries. Maddux Madsen threw for 304 yards—the highest total allowed by Penn State’s all season—but tossed three interceptions in the second half of the 31-14 loss to the Nittany Lions.

The offense just made too many mistakes. While it’s easy to point out giveaways or missed field goals as the key problems, a 15-yard penalty and 10-yard sack on separate red-zone chances were killer, too.

Boise State didn’t need a perfect game to spring the upset, but an error-plagued night ruined the Broncos’ hopes.

Despite the 39-31 loss to Texas, Cam Skattebo was the star.

Arizona State’s running back closed the Peach Bowl with 30 carries for 143 yards and two scores, eight receptions for 99 yards and a 42-yard touchdown pass. Put simply, he put the Sun Devils on his back.

Skattebo’s toughness was on fully display throughout the game as the senior broke what seemed like 125 tackles, relentlessly fought for yards after contact and just refused to go down easily. It was nothing new to Arizona State fans, of course, but Skattebo—voted the MVP of the game—absolutely thrived on the biggest stage of his career.

Without him, it would’ve been a blowout loss for ASU.

Texas is thrilled to have emerged with a two-overtime win. It might be happier to have outlasted Skattebo’s brilliant day.

Texas had a mediocre day offensively until the clutch moments, which is certainly the ideal moment to shake a rut. However, the Longhorns still managed a victory behind a whole lot of timely defense early on.

Or, in Arizona State’s case, many missed opportunities.

The team’s opening drive stalled at the 23-yard line, so they settled for a field goal. In the second frame, the Sun Devils committed back-to-back turnovers on downs on possessions that crossed the 35-yard line before Texas blocked a 36-yard field goal just before halftime. ASU then missed a 4th-and-goal at the 2-yard line to begin the third quarter.

Let’s be clear: Every one of those decisions was fine. ASU coach Kenny Dillingham trusted his offense while shying away from a kicking game that’s been a problem all year. Hindsight should not change that.

But we cannot pretend it doesn’t sting, either.

One field goal here, maybe one conversion there. Flip something, anything—even as the butterfly effect is reasonable to acknowledge—and the Sun Devils could have advanced instead of Texas.

One piece of coaching advice I remember often in key moments is from Nick Saban: Think players, not plays.

To that end, let’s talk about Matthew Golden.

A transfer from Houston, the junior wideout has been a critical piece for the Longhorns. He entered the Peach Bowl with 49 catches and team-high totals of 787 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

Golden turned a quick-hitter into a 54-yard gain on Texas’ opening snap and reeled in passes on a 4th-and-2 and a 3rd-and-10 during possessions that led to 10 points. Golden set up one of Texas’ last (missed) field goals with a key 14-yard catch, sprinted past ASU’s secondary for a game-saving 28-yard touchdown on fourth down in the first overtime and snatched a two-point conversion in the second OT period.

When the Horns needed a play, Steve Sarkisian made sure Golden was part of Quinn Ewers’ progression.

Again and again, Golden delivered.

Texas’ top receiver finished the nerve-testing win with seven catches for 149 yards and a score, plus the two-point conversion.

Redemption, thy name is Will Howard.

During the October clash between Ohio State and Oregon, he made a game-deciding mistake. While trying to pick up a few yards and give OSU a chance for a last-second field goal, Howard used up the final six seconds of the clock when he dropped back, scrambled and slid as time expired. Ohio State lost 32-31 in truly heartbreaking fashion.

“I still have nightmares about that play,” he told reporters prior to the Rose Bowl rematch with Oregon.

That bad dream won’t be quite as painful now.

Howard capitalized on his second chance, dicing up the Ducks’ secondary with a 17-of-26 line for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Most impressively, he made a few terrific deep throws to Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka to spark a 41-21 beatdown of Oregon.

If the Buckeyes get this version of Howard against Texas in the Cotton Bowl, they’ll be awfully tough to beat.

It’s hard to envision 30 minutes going much worse for an undefeated, top-ranked team in the College Football Playoff.

I mean, that was a butt-kicking from the opening whistle.

Ohio State needed just three snaps to score a touchdown, then Oregon went three-and-out. After the teams traded punts, Ohio State had another three-play touchdown drive.

And so, the first half continued. Oregon punts, OSU hits a field goal. Oregon turnover on downs, Buckeyes answer with a touchdown. Two more Oregon punts, two more Ohio State touchdowns. The early gap became a Grand Canyon of a chasm. Oregon finally scored as the second quarter ended, entering halftime down 34-8.

Thirty-four to eight.

Oregon provided a semblance of hope by opening the third quarter with a touchdown and forcing a three-and-out. However, the Ducks were unable to get back within 19 points the rest of the way.

It was a horrible time for Oregon’s worst 30 minutes of the season.

Put simply: That’s what an elite defense is supposed to look like against an inexperienced, backup QB.

Gunner Stockton had a respectable day in his first career start for Georgia. All things considered, he should not be tagged as a main reason UGA fell 23-10 in the Sugar Bowl.

But this defense, as usual, is why Notre Dame won.

Early on, Adon Shuler laid a huge hit on UGA running back Trevor Etienne to force a red-zone turnover. Right before halftime, RJ Oben smacked the ball loose from Stockton’s blind side. That takeaway helped give ND a 10-point halftime lead instead of a 6-3 edge.

During the third quarter, Notre Dame’s defense came up with a clutch turnover on downs at its 42-yard line. It happened again in the fourth quarter inside its 10-yard line.

Though the offense is still a concern, this familiar, defense-oriented recipe keeps on working for the Fighting Irish.

The best way to help an inexperienced, backup QB is supporting him with an effective rushing attack.

Georgia had little assistance for Stockton in that manner.

When the fourth quarter began, the Dawgs had gained just 33 yards on 11 called first-down runs. They constantly put Stockton in clear passing situations, and Notre Dame capitalized on those moments.

Knowing all that, it shouldn’t be a surprise that UGA failed to convert a third- or fourth-down snap during the last three quarters.

Stockton did enough to give the SEC champions a chance, but the supporting cast couldn’t come through to help him.