After an exciting conference championship weekend, the college football final four has been decided. Both of the semifinal games will take place on Dec. 28. The Peach Bowl will feature the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners versus the No. 1 LSU Tigers. After that, the No. 3 Clemson Tigers will take on the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl.
Let’s take a closer look at those two games plus other news from around the college football world:
No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners vs. No. 1 LSU Tigers
All four of these teams vying for the national championship have dynamic offenses, but these two are rather special. On the one hand, the Sooners have one of the most dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts, who has 3,634 yards passing, 32 touchdowns and seven interceptions. If that isn’t impressive enough, he also led the Sooners in rushing with 1,255 yards and an additional 18 touchdowns.
If completely healthy, he can be a matchup nightmare. Hurts’ leading receiver is CeeDee Lamb, who has 58 receptions for 1,208 yards and 14 touchdowns.
As solid as Oklahoma has been, LSU has been that much better. Its offense is truly special, averaging 46.3 points per game (third in the nation).
Quarterback Joe Burrow is a leading Heisman candidate, as he has thrown for 4,715 yards, 48 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He has a very solid chance of being a top draftee this year and would love to finish his college career off strong.
If that isn’t enough, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (1,290 yards rushing, 16 touchdowns), receiver Justin Jefferson (88 catches, 1,207 yards, 14 touchdowns) and Ja’Marr Chase (73 catches, 1,498 yards, 18 touchdowns) have also been sensational.
No. 3 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes
This one features a battle of the unbeaten as the No. 3 Clemson Tigers take on the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes.
For the Tigers, Trevor Lawrence gets another chance to repeat his glory from last season. While his performance has been a little down compared to his breakout last year, he has still thrown for 3,172 yards, 34 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Running back Travis Etienne has been the true focal point of the offense, as he has rushed for 1,500 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.
On the other side, Ohio State has looked a little more vulnerable as of late but would love to get to the national championship game. Justin Fields has thrown for 2,953 yards and 40 touchdowns this year. Impressively, he has only thrown one interception.
Like the Tigers, the Buckeyes have an even more impressive running back in J.K. Dobbins, who has rushed for 1,828 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Taggart, Addazio Quickly Get New Jobs
As college programs start to see their seasons end, the coaching carousel is starting to heat up. With some coaches being let go of their responsibilities, some of them did not have to wait on the unemployment line long.
The most notable to find a new job is former Florida State coach Willie Taggart. After being fired at the beginning of November, Taggart will be taking over the head coaching responsibilities at Florida Atlantic for the recently departed Lane Kiffin (who was introduced earlier this week at Ole Miss).
Taggart is hoping to have more success at Florida Atlantic then he did at Florida State. After going 5-7 in his first year, he was 4-5 at the time of his dismissal this season. Florida State has also moved on, having hired Memphis’ Mike Norvell to take over for the departed Taggart.
Former Boston College coach Steve Addazio has also already found a new job. After being fired by Boston College, it took only 10 days, and he was hired as the new head coach at Colorado State.
At Boston College, Addazio was .500 (44-44). Addazio replaces another fired coach, Mike Bobo, who was replaced after going 28-35 in five seasons.
Love To Enter NFL Draft
It appears that NFL teams in search of a quarterback will have another option on their draft boards, as Utah State quarterback Jordan Love has announced that he will be entering the draft and will not come back for his senior year.
It hasn’t exactly been a spectacular year for Love. On the season, he went 263 for 434 for 3,085 yards, 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
On the surface, that is a rather pedestrian season, but after throwing for 3,567 yards, 32 touchdowns and six interceptions as a sophomore, he is still on scouts’ radars.
It will be interesting to see when and where Love gets drafted, but he could be an under-the-radar pick if he can consistently put it all together.
Dillon To Enter NFL Draft
Love was not the only one to reveal that he will be entering the NFL Draft this week, as Boston College’s A.J. Dillon has also decided to pass on his senior season. In fact, not only will he be skipping his senior year but he will also be passing up his team’s bowl game, the Birmingham Bowl.
He leaves the team as the school’s leading all-time rusher. This season, Dillon rushed 318 times for 1,685 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also had 13 receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown.
Like Love, he might not be a top-tier draft prospect, but it will be interesting to see how his talents transition to the NFL level.
