So That's What Good College Football Playoff Games Look Like

Thoughts on two of the best games of the season

Through eight seasons of the College Football Playoff, there has not been a single season that featured two good semifinal matchups.

When looking at all 16 semifinal games from 2014-21:

• 3 ended with a margin within one score

• 5 ended with both teams scoring at least 25 points

• 6 were upsets by seeding, but those winners were Ohio State (twice), Georgia (twice), Alabama and Clemson

None of those three things — all of which I would call fun — happened at any sort of consistent level. The truth about the semifinal games heading into this year was this:

• The average margin of victory in a semifinal was 21.06 points

• Four programs — Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State — made up 14 of the 16 (87.5 percent) winners. Oregon and LSU were the others.

• More teams won by at least 30 points (4) than by one score

• More losing teams have scored single-digit points (6) than have scored at least 25 points

We have grown accustomed to bad semifinal games. Ohio State-Alabama in 2014, Oklahoma-Georgia in 2017, Ohio State-Clemson in 2019, these were the anomalies.

Until this year.

The 2022 College Football Playoff semifinals both ended with one-score margins. They both ended with teams scoring at least 40 points. One was a substantial upset from a team not named Alabama, Clemson, Georgia or Ohio State.

Above all else, both of these games were a blast, a rare delight to watch from start to finish unless you were a fan of the losing team.

I don’t think I need to break these games down much — if you are reading this you likely watched them or have heard plenty about them by now — but I wanted a place to express the joy of watching these games. They were, for once, exactly what I wanted them to be. I’m not holding my breath that the national championship will also deliver, but stranger things have happened.

First up was Michigan-TCU, the game that I was more hopeful of between the two. Immediately, it delivered. The Horned Frogs took leads of 14-0, 21-3, 34-16 and 41-22, the last of which felt like the final nail in the coffin. They did this despite Max Duggan, their Heisman finalist quarterback, completing less than half of his 29 passes and throwing a pair of interceptions.

Michigan scrapped and clawed their way back and had a chance to win the game late, but ultimately fell short. TCU won 51-45, and we get a new team as a finalist for a national title.

TCU did this by, somehow, winning the ground game. Michigan ultimately had an OK day running the ball — 186 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 4.7 YPC — but it was a struggle early and in key situations, and the Horned Frogs capitalized on it. TCU, behind a 150-yard explosion by Emari Demercado, ran for 263 yards and three scores on 6.4 YPC.

Duggan didn’t have his best game, but a lot of TCU’s biggest plays were his throws to freakish superhuman Quentin Johnson, who caught six passes for 163 yards and a touchdown.

The stats did not tell the whole tale of this game, and Michigan fans likely would be Ohio State 2019 levels of angry if not for the outcome that came later. The Wolverines seemingly scored when Roman Wilson’s rear looked to be in the end zone on a deep catch, but he was ruled down at the 1. Michigan then fumbled and turned it over on the very next play.

There was also the targeting at the end of the game, which came on a failed last-ditch effort that had zero chance of scoring. Still, it looked like it could be called, but the refs said no and TCU won the game. Those results stink, but Michigan also only has itself to blame for some of it. Simply don’t fumble at the 1, simply don’t throw two pick sixes, and the Wolverines get where they wanted to go.

They did do those things, and now we get to watch this despicably fun and cool TCU team try to do the impossible.

Michigan-TCU was a great start to New Year’s Eve, but Ohio State-Georgia decided to take it to a whole new level.

These teams threw haymakers at each other all night, combining for exactly 1,000 yards and 83 points. C.J. Stroud had the best game of his collegiate career, Ohio State took an early lead, then led 38-24 at the end of the third quarter. But Georgia is Georgia, and the Bulldogs diced the Buckeyes up through the air to take a 42-41 lead with under a minute to go.

But Stroud, in a game he threw for 348 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, gave the Buckeyes a chance with a 27-yard run into Bulldog territory. Ohio State couldn't get any more yards, so it was up to a 50-yard field goal attempt by Noah Ruggles to decide this instant classic of a playoff game.

It missed.

It was a tough ending to such a brilliant football game, especially considering that the ball drop basically coincided with my girlfriend’s suffering.

Ohio State fans will also have something to be mad about that was out of the team’s control. Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. had to leave the game with a head injury after what appeared to be a hit worthy of targeting. Instead, no call, and Ohio State lost points and their best offensive weapon in an instant. The Buckeyes were outscored 18-3 after that drive.

Ryan Day, who I have been very critical of for his game management in key matchups, coached really well here. The offense was aggressive and scored over 40 on a very, very good Georgia defense. The plays after Stroud’s big fourth quarter run weren't great, but it’s easy to say that with the hindsight of a miss.

Georgia-TCU, on paper, feels lopsided. Ohio State had the talent to match with the Bulldogs, and Michigan’s talent gap against the Horned Frogs was less significant. TCU will have to play the game of its life to overcome that, and Duggan will have to be much sharper.

But, I don’t think it’s impossible that we get a good game here. Georgia clearly is vulnerable to a strong passing attack, and TCU’s defense might just need to disrupt Stetson Bennett even a little to keep this close. And if it’s close, I will trust that TCU will keep it close with how much resiliency this team has shown all season.

Would I pick against Georgia to win it? Absolutely not. But I also did not pick a combined 179 points coming in the two games we have already gotten. Give me even a little bit of what we got on New Year’s Eve and I’ll be amped. And Go Frogs.

If you are interested in me talking about random topics like this, or on my more focused posts with Big Ten women’s basketball, you can subscribe with the button above or share with the button below.