Christmas has come early for college football fans as the bowl season has kicked off with a bang, and it is only expected to get more exciting moving forward.
Most notably, this coming Saturday, the top four teams in the nation will square off to see who will play in this year’s National Championship Game. With that in mind, let’s take a look at those two games as well as games and news from around college football:
Oklahoma Sooners vs. LSU Tigers
The road to the national championship gets kicked off with two high-flying offenses as the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners (12-1) and the No. 1 LSU Tigers (13-0) square off in the Peach Bowl.
Oklahoma will look to Jalen Hurts to lead them. This season, he threw for 3,634 yards, 32 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Hurts also led the team in rushing, going for 1,255 yards and another 18 touchdowns.
LSU is led by Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, who threw for a mesmerizing 4,715 yards, 48 touchdowns and six interceptions.
It will be interesting to see the health of running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who rushed for 1,290 yards and 16 touchdowns. While he is no longer on crutches after suffering an injury during practice, he is still questionable for the game on Saturday.
Regardless, LSU will still be a threat as long as the Heisman Trophy winner is under center.
Clemson Tigers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
In Saturday’s other semifinal, you have the No. 3 Clemson Tigers (13-0) squaring off against the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (13-0).
Clemson is led by quarterback Trevor Lawrence. After a phenomenal end of last season, one that ended with a national championship, many expected Lawrence to go off this year. While Lawrence has been solid (3,172 yards, 34 touchdowns, eight interceptions), many still expected more.
Travis Etienne has been spectacular for the Tigers, though, rushing for 1,500 yards and 17 touchdowns and bringing in 298 yards worth of receptions and another two scores.
Ohio State is led by quarterback Justin Fields, who has thrown for 2,953 yards, 40 touchdowns and just one interception. Running back J.K. Dobbins has also been stellar, rushing for 1,829 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Bengals Secure Top Pick
While no NFL team likes to lose, the one silver lining for the Cincinnati Bengals is that their losing ways have led them to the top overall pick in the next NFL draft. With players like Burrow and Chase Young available, the Bengals could very well get a franchise-changing type player in the draft, and, at No. 1, they can’t afford to miss on it.
Whether it is one of those two or another player, there is certainly a lot of top talent available this year, and the Bengals now have a few months to do their due diligence to make sure they get the right pick.
Buffalo Gets First Bowl Victory
There have been a lot of firsts already in this year’s bowl season, and one of them belongs to Buffalo, as it got the first bowl game victory in school history with a 31-9 win over Charlotte in the Bahamas Bowl.
In that game, it was running back Jaret Peterson leading the way for the Bulls, as he had 32 rushing attempts for 173 yards and two touchdowns.
Could Tua Return To Alabama?
While no announcement has been made either way, it appears as if Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is seriously considering a return to college next year. Tagovailoa, who suffered a season-ending hip injury, likely fears that his draft stock could plummet due to the injury and a year to show he is healthy very well could put him back into the top of the draft class.
It doesn’t come without risk, though. Even if he is drafted at the end of the first round or early second round this year, it has some financial security tied to it. If he were to return to college and show that he wasn’t healthy or couldn’t rebound from the injury, it may end his prospects at the NFL altogether.
Either way, it is not an enviable position for what was once considered a sure top-three draft choice this year prior to the injury.
In his shortened season, Tagovailoa went 180 for 252 for 2,840 yards, 33 touchdowns and just three interceptions in only nine games.
While it is still likely that he will enter into the draft, I am sure Nick Saban would welcome him with open arms if he did decide to return to the Crimson Tide.
Early National Signing Day
While most of the attention over the last week or so has been on the bowl games, the early signing period for high school players has come and gone, and, as always, it appears the rich keep getting richer.
The top five schools, in order, in terms of prospects signed are Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and LSU. The only school in the College Football Playoff not in the top five was Oklahoma, and it ranked 10th overall.
Clemson is bringing in six five-star prospects, while Alabama has three, Ohio State has two, Georgia has two, and LSU has two. Needless to say, these programs, which have built cultures of winning and success, likely won’t see those cultures changing anytime soon.
