The Scarlet and Gray

[Soapy]

boomer sooner leggo

[toysoldier00]

That Miami/Oklahoma matchup

I wonder if Tulane can do better against Oregon here than they did against Ole Miss in real life.

wellllllll.....

boomer sooner leggo

boomer sooner leggo

I should mention I CPU v CPU'd all the other playoff games, so I legitimately had no impact on the results.

[toysoldier00]

CFP Round 1 Recap: Chaos in Athens, Statement Nights Everywhere

Marissa Bleday
December 21, 2025

The first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff was supposed to be the weekend where the sport’s power programs took inventory, handled the upstarts and moved on. Instead, it became a referendum on nerve, on fourth-quarter quarterbacks, on trench play that travels, and on the kind of coaching decisions that either make you a legend or get replayed for a decade.

By the time the final whistle blew in Bloomington on Saturday night, two favorites had advanced with authority, one had survived a late ambush in a stadium that doesn’t usually allow it, and one traditional power had been punched out at home by a team that looked, frankly, built for this.



#10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 24 at #7 Georgia Bulldogs 23

If you only watched the middle of the game in Athens, it felt like Georgia had it. The Bulldogs caught the rhythm in the second quarter and rode one lightning bolt, an 82-yard catch-and-run from Gunner Stockton to Zachariah Branch, to a 16-7 halftime lead, the kind that makes Sanford Stadium start sounding like a verdict.

Georgia made it worse in the third quarter when Nate Frazier finished a 15-yard touchdown to push the lead to 23-10. That’s the point where plenty of road teams blink. Notre Dame didn’t. Not with a freshman quarterback who suddenly decided the moment belonged to him.

CJ Carr “went bananas,” as one Irish assistant put it, engineering two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, the first to cut it to 23-17 with 11:18 left, the second to take the lead on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Fields with 6:55 remaining. In between, the play that cracked Georgia’s footing: Stockton’s interception, picked by Notre Dame corner Devonta Smith, a takeaway that gave the Irish the ball and belief.



“This is why you come to Notre Dame,” Carr said afterward. “To be in games like this, in places like this, and to play fearless.”

Georgia had one more chance and went three-and-out. Notre Dame’s closing drive turned into the type of possession that wins playoff games: body blows, clock bleed, and Jeremiyah Love.

The final decision was the loudest one. At the two-minute warning, already in field-goal range, the Irish faced fourth-and-2 and could have played it safe. Instead, they went for the dagger, and Love found a crease for 10 yards to seal it.

“That’s trust,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “Trust in our guys, trust in our identity.”

Carr finished 38-of-44 for 331 yards and three touchdowns. Love added 94 yards on 16 carries, and Georgia’s comeback hopes died with that fourth-down run. Stockton threw for 302 yards and a touchdown, but the interception that flipped the game will sit heavy all winter.

“We let it slip,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “In this, one play is the difference.”



#11 BYU Cougars 17 at #6 Indiana Hoosiers 31

Indiana’s first home playoff game had the feel of a program meeting its own reflection: the Hoosiers as legitimate contender, not novelty. BYU didn’t roll over. In fact, the Cougars threw themselves into the game early, letting freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier fire away.

Bachmeier finished with 382 yards on 50 attempts, and BYU piled up 449 total yards, enough to win plenty of games. But it’s hard to survive a night where your critical third downs end in sacks, your best running back is erased, and one cornerback turns the ball into points.

That corner was Jamari Sharpe, who intercepted Bachmeier twice, including an 84-yard pick-six in the second quarter that swung momentum and permanently raised the volume in Memorial Stadium.

“Those are the plays you dream of as a kid,” Sharpe said. “You just don’t always get them in December.”

Indiana led 14-10 after the pick-six and then took control the way it has all season: methodical offense, clean quarterbacking, and a ground game that makes you defend every blade of grass. Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza was efficient (18-of-30 for 225 yards and three touchdowns), but the night belonged to Roman Hemby, who ran for 155 yards on 20 carries and helped the Hoosiers dictate terms.

“We’re not trying to be flashy,” Curt Cignetti said. “We’re trying to be relentless.”

BYU never found a counterpunch. LJ Martin was held to 21 rushing yards on 10 carries, forcing the Cougars to live through the air. They did themselves proud with the yardage, but the turnovers and third-down failures were fatal. Indiana moves on to the Orange Bowl to face No. 3 seed Texas Tech, still looking every bit like the season’s most stubborn story.



#9 Miami (FL) Hurricanes 34 at #8 Oklahoma Sooners 17

The most telling number in Norman wasn’t on the scoreboard. It was in the way Miami looked up front, sturdier, deeper, and more comfortable when the game shifted into the kind of physical exchange that usually favors the home team.

Miami grabbed a 14-0 lead early to quiet the building, then weathered Oklahoma’s push (the Sooners pulled within 14-10 at halftime) before taking over again in the third quarter to build a 24-10 lead that never truly felt threatened.

Carson Beck played the role of playoff-point guard: 38-of-45 for 291 yards and three touchdowns, steady and unsentimental. But the centerpiece was Mark Fletcher Jr., who put together the kind of stat line that only happens when a defense can’t solve a matchup: 22 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown, plus nine receptions for 88 yards and another score.



“When you can run it and you can throw it to your back, you can control a game,” Beck said. “That’s what Mark did.”

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer had a rough night, throwing two interceptions against one touchdown, and the Sooners couldn’t establish the run to stabilize him. Miami’s defense made it worse, generating three sacks, two of them from edge rusher Akheem Mesidor, who lived in the backfield late.

“This was the standard,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “Physical, disciplined, and finishing.”

The Hurricanes now get the sport’s ultimate stage and opponent: a Rose Bowl date with Ohio State.



#21 Tulane Green Wave 16 at #5 Oregon Ducks 41

Tulane scored first and, for a moment, hinted at the kind of discomfort every Group of Five team needs to create to scare a power. Then the second quarter arrived and Oregon turned the game into a lesson.

The Ducks flipped a 3-0 deficit into a 24-3 lead, and although Tulane fought back, closing to 24-16 on a Maurice Turner touchdown run with 9:49 left in the third, Oregon’s response was immediate and final. The Ducks scored the last 17 points to move on, never letting the game drift into true danger.

True freshman Dierre Hill Jr. was the star, bulldozing his way to 102 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries, including the kind of red-zone finishing that makes playoff games feel simple.



“That kid runs angry,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “He’s built for this.”

Dante Moore was sharp (34-of-43 for 326 yards, one touchdown, one interception), and tight end Kenyon Sadiq was a chain-mover all night with 122 yards on 11 catches. Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff never found the answers (156 passing yards, no touchdowns, one interception), and the Green Wave’s best hope, leaning on Turner, was buried by game script.

Oregon now gets a heavyweight in Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl, while Tulane exits with the respect that comes from earning the spot, and the reminder of how small the margins are once you get there.

[toysoldier00]

genuinely spent way too much time designing those ESPN overlays fml

[redsox907]

fucking crispy gfx dear lord

Miami winning again...insert they can't keep getting away with this meme

[Caesar]

Ew. Notre Dame winning and Tulane getting blown out.

[Captain Canada]

My lord that was a beautiful update.

Ain't no way Georgia went out sorry like that against Notre Dame

[Soapy]

BIG GAME MARK!

[toysoldier00]

fucking crispy gfx dear lord

Miami winning again...insert they can't keep getting away with this meme

Appreciate it man. They've been trending up to this point though.

Ew. Notre Dame winning and Tulane getting blown out.

My lord that was a beautiful update.

Ain't no way Georgia went out sorry like that against Notre Dame

blowing a fourth quarter lead at home too and ending the season on back to back losses too smh

BIG GAME MARK!

yes, except now he's got the best defense in the country on deck




Appreciate the compliments guys, not sure that's wholly a repeatable effort on the game recaps but we'll see. ESPN graphic took way longer than I want to admit and now my ocd brain needs to make a FOX one

[toysoldier00]

bump