What are your thoughts about the quarterfinal games?

[RickinDayton]

-Texas against Arizona State. Two excellent RBs: Blue (Texas) and Scatteboo (AZ State). I think Texas wins with a better defense and the speed advantage: 31-20

-ND against Georgia. Dawgs defense could give Riley Leonard (ND QB) pressure probles if Dawgs can stop ND rush game. Don't think Leonard can beat the Dawgs throwing. ND's defense is also very solid and Dawgs are playing their backup B. If UGA can't run, the Dawgs are in trouble because like PSU, their WR play has been inconsistent.
The Dawgs pull out a close one: 24-17.

-REMATCH of OSU against Oregon. OSU was on fire against UT but Oregon isn't UT. Two high powered offenses. First game was earlier in season and OSU had an intact OL within All-American LT.
OSU's defense is much better now if the refs "let them play" as OSU's DBs are chronic holders but seem to get away with it. Still not sure OSU is able to run in a dominant fashion.
Still, OSU pulls this out 31-28.

-Penn State vs Boise State. At this juncture I know very little bout Boise other than that outstanding RN Ashton Jeanty. Wit the amount of time off, he should have fresh legs and no doubt Boise is working on some trick plays.
PSU defense must limit Jeanty,he can't be allowed to run free.
PSU offense has to get the running game controlling the game and then use play action. Depth wins out in a
PSU victory where they wear Boise down: PSU 31-20.

 

[bison13]

Texas, osu, uga, psu

 

[NC2017]

OSU v PSU for the ship

 

[mgkpsu]

-Texas against Arizona State. Two excellent RBs: Blue (Texas) and Scatteboo (AZ State). I think Texas wins with a better defense and the speed advantage: 31-20

-ND against Georgia. Dawgs defense could give Riley Leonard (ND QB) pressure probles if Dawgs can stop ND rush game. Don't think Leonard can beat the Dawgs throwing. ND's defense is also very solid and Dawgs are playing their backup B. If UGA can't run, the Dawgs are in trouble because like PSU, their WR play has been inconsistent.
The Dawgs pull out a close one: 24-17.

-REMATCH of OSU against Oregon. OSU was on fire against UT but Oregon isn't UT. Two high powered offenses. First game was earlier in season and OSU had an intact OL within All-American LT.
OSU's defense is much better now if the refs "let them play" as OSU's DBs are chronic holders but seem to get away with it. Still not sure OSU is able to run in a dominant fashion.
Still, OSU pulls this out 31-28.

-Penn State vs Boise State. At this juncture I know very little bout Boise other than that outstanding RN Ashton Jeanty. Wit the amount of time off, he should have fresh legs and no doubt Boise is working on some trick plays.
PSU defense must limit Jeanty,he can't be allowed to run free.
PSU offense has to get the running game controlling the game and then use play action. Depth wins out in a
PSU victory where they wear Boise down: PSU 31-20.

I will be shocked if we beat Boise by less than 21.

 

[fastlax16]

I think our matchup is another Franklin Big Game, football's equivalent to Schrödinger's cat. Big Game in the build up, but you'll only really know if it was a big game once its over. Expecting us to win. For all the praise Jeanty got, and deserves, they really played a bunch of terrible rushing defenses...

we had a much better day rushing against Oregon than Boise did. 297 yards on 34 carries vs 221 yards on 33 carries. Kaytron and Nick also had 5 receptions for 58 in that game. Jeanty had 2 for 8.

Rank	Team	Rushing yards allowed per game
22	UNLV	115
35	Oregon	126.1
79	San Jose State	155.4
92	Hawaii	165.7
97	Washington State	173.7
110	Oregon State	185.8
112	Wyoming	191.7
114	Nevada	192.8
122	San Diego State	207.3
123	Georgia State	210.3
127	Utah State	214.5

 

[Marylovesthelions]

Games are won on defense and a great running attack. Our defense is peaking and our running backs are posting their best stats,. I predict a PSU OSU rematch. They have better WRs but we can beat them if we get a few breaks. Aches and pains are wearing on players. The championship will be one by the biggest hearts.
Because we use 2 RBs, they are less injured and tired. This should help. A good run game will help keep OSUs WRs on the sidelines.

 

[LandoComando]

Texas, osu, uga, psu

Texas and Penn State are near locks
UGa likely wins but we'll see how a kid making his first start does. I think he'll be fine.
Ohio State and Oregon is the best game. I could be sold on either team. I'm leaning towards Ohio State just because I trust their defense more

 

[lazydave841]

I enjoyed the 1st round immensely even if the games weren't actually close. Home field, pressure, all important elements of a playoff.

Quarters looks a lot stiffer, but 2 will require the bye team to play up to their competition.

Texas against Arizona State. I don't think AState can keep up with the Texas scoring. I'm not sure AState will even score 20. Texas and big. I think they sell out to stop Scattaboo and he struggles.

ND against Georgia. I could see a low scoring defensive battle here, but I'm not sold on ND yet. Beck being out could be tough for UGA to overcome, but Stockton is mobile and threw some good passes vs Texas. Similar to their talent advantage over IU, ND will be at a disadvantage here. UGA wins with a late FG.

REMATCH of OSU against Oregon. Beating the same team twice is always tough. The thing about the first matchup is both played lights out. I'm going to call this one a push. Advantage to who wins the turnover battle.

Penn State vs Boise State. Can we stop the Heisman runner up? That's the primary question. I think we do to some degree. Enough to win.

 

[bdgan]

I will be shocked if we beat Boise by less than 21.

Why? The oddsmakers say half that.

 

[LionDeNittany]

Why? The oddsmakers say half that.

The oddsmakers say Mgk will be half shocked? Or mild shocked?

 

[bdgan]

Games are won on defense and a great running attack. Our defense is peaking and our running backs are posting their best stats,.

Our defense certainly didn't peak vs Oregon. I know their offense is good but it wasn't a good showing. I expect them to be much better than that vs Boise because they don't have Gabriel and those WRs. But that's why they play the games.

 

[PSUWrestlingFanSince2011]

I wanted an 8 team playoff, no byes no automatic berths. First round at Home. 9-12 seeds were not competitive.

 

[jimarnp]

-Texas against Arizona State. Two excellent RBs: Blue (Texas) and Scatteboo (AZ State). I think Texas wins with a better defense and the speed advantage: 31-20

-ND against Georgia. Dawgs defense could give Riley Leonard (ND QB) pressure probles if Dawgs can stop ND rush game. Don't think Leonard can beat the Dawgs throwing. ND's defense is also very solid and Dawgs are playing their backup B. If UGA can't run, the Dawgs are in trouble because like PSU, their WR play has been inconsistent.
The Dawgs pull out a close one: 24-17.

-REMATCH of OSU against Oregon. OSU was on fire against UT but Oregon isn't UT. Two high powered offenses. First game was earlier in season and OSU had an intact OL within All-American LT.
OSU's defense is much better now if the refs "let them play" as OSU's DBs are chronic holders but seem to get away with it. Still not sure OSU is able to run in a dominant fashion.
Still, OSU pulls this out 31-28.

-Penn State vs Boise State. At this juncture I know very little bout Boise other than that outstanding RN Ashton Jeanty. Wit the amount of time off, he should have fresh legs and no doubt Boise is working on some trick plays.
PSU defense must limit Jeanty,he can't be allowed to run free.
PSU offense has to get the running game controlling the game and then use play action. Depth wins out in a
PSU victory where they wear Boise down: PSU 31-20.

—Texas is the OSU of the south….. the best talent money can buy. One might think that they’d boat race ASU, but I think it will be close. Texas in a close one.
— ND and Georgia should be a good game. Georgia ain’t the team it’s been the last several years….they are beatable by most teams currently in the playoffs ( and a few teams not in the playoffs). That said, they’re still solid and Kirby is a good coach. To me, this is a “pick-em”. I’m going with ND, only because I’d like to play them…and kick the sh*t out of them.
—OSU over Oregon on a neutral field. - Look for massive uptick in holding calls here ( on both teams) , if non BIG officials are doing the game.
—PSU over Boise, unless we suddenly start putting the ball on the ground. Wouldn’t shock me if Boise scores several times early, but ultimately, I think we stuff them pretty good. I think we win by 3+ scores

 

[LMTLION]

I wanted an 8 team playoff, no byes no automatic berths. First round at Home. 9-12 seeds were not competitive.

There are simply too many games between the playoff tournament + ccg for some. This could evolve into the healthiest team, and not necessarily the best team, wins. I know that happens to a degree anyway in any sport, but college football is a brutal sport. Somehow the conference championship game, which I do think is important, must get incorporated into the 12 game reg season rather than a 13th game. 8 games is totally reasonable for a playoff tournament. A team like SMU will never win this thing.

 

[doctornick]

Ignoring our game, I actually think that the other three games are fascinating and could easily go either way. I think Arizona St is peaking at the right time and will be a challenge to a Texas team that I think is kind of overrated.

I would have picked Georgia but time over ND if they hadn’t lost their QB. But who knows now.

 

[doctornick]

There are simply too many games between the playoff tournament + ccg for some. This could evolve into the healthiest team, and not necessarily the best team, wins. I know that happens to a degree anyway in any sport, but college football is a brutal sport. Somehow the conference championship game, which I do think is important, must get incorporated into the 12 game reg season rather than a 13th game. 8 games is totally reasonable for a playoff tournament. A team like SMU will never win this thing.

The last few teams in should be teams that have little shot to win. That ensures that no worthy teams are excluded. 12 is a pretty good number for that as you will rarely if ever have a team in the 11-15 range that is a realistic contender. 8 teams is too small since that 8-9 range can certainly have a team capable of making a run that it would be disappointing to exclude.

What shouldn’t happen is expanding the tournament to more teams - all that will do is add more subpar teams to the mix.

 

[mgkpsu]

Why? The oddsmakers say half that.

What did those same odds makers say about SMU? Same situation, except a neutral field, which will actually help our offense.

#PSUByAMillion

 

[LandoComando]

The last few teams in should be teams that have little shot to win. That ensures that no worthy teams are excluded. 12 is a pretty good number for that as you will rarely if ever have a team in the 11-15 range that is a realistic contender. 8 teams is too small since that 8-9 range can certainly have a team capable of making a run that it would be disappointing to exclude.

What shouldn’t happen is expanding the tournament to more teams - all that will do is add more subpar teams to the mix.

It's definitely expanding...14 by 2026.
We likely have 20 by 2032 at the latest
There's too much money involved not to
See March Madness which will be 80 by then probably

 

[heckmans]

-Texas against Arizona State. Two excellent RBs: Blue (Texas) and Scatteboo (AZ State). I think Texas wins with a better defense and the speed advantage: 31-20

-ND against Georgia. Dawgs defense could give Riley Leonard (ND QB) pressure probles if Dawgs can stop ND rush game. Don't think Leonard can beat the Dawgs throwing. ND's defense is also very solid and Dawgs are playing their backup B. If UGA can't run, the Dawgs are in trouble because like PSU, their WR play has been inconsistent.
The Dawgs pull out a close one: 24-17.

-REMATCH of OSU against Oregon. OSU was on fire against UT but Oregon isn't UT. Two high powered offenses. First game was earlier in season and OSU had an intact OL within All-American LT.
OSU's defense is much better now if the refs "let them play" as OSU's DBs are chronic holders but seem to get away with it. Still not sure OSU is able to run in a dominant fashion.
Still, OSU pulls this out 31-28.

-Penn State vs Boise State. At this juncture I know very little bout Boise other than that outstanding RN Ashton Jeanty. Wit the amount of time off, he should have fresh legs and no doubt Boise is working on some trick plays.
PSU defense must limit Jeanty,he can't be allowed to run free.
PSU offense has to get the running game controlling the game and then use play action. Depth wins out in a
PSU victory where they wear Boise down: PSU 31-20.

TX, ND, Oregon, PSU

 

[PAgeologist]

Texas, osu, uga, psu

I keep flipping between OU and OSU. Neither one would shock me. The others I agree with.

 

[KCLion]

There are simply too many games between the playoff tournament + ccg for some. This could evolve into the healthiest team, and not necessarily the best team, wins. I know that happens to a degree anyway in any sport, but college football is a brutal sport. Somehow the conference championship game, which I do think is important, must get incorporated into the 12 game reg season rather than a 13th game. 8 games is totally reasonable for a playoff tournament. A team like SMU will never win this thing.

You would have to ignore the resources that SMU has to say this.

Maybe I misunderstood your point? If you are saying the current team couldn’t win it, you are correct. But if you are saying SMU in general could never get to the top, then I disagree.