2019 College Football Playoff predictions, picks: Fiesta Bowl stands out but Peach Bowl can deliver
A Clemson vs. Ohio State rematch is intriguing, but LSU vs. Oklahoma could create fireworks
By
Dennis Dodd
•
4 min read
Same dry heat. Same desert. Same cacti. Same Fiesta Bowl. Same teams. It is a College Football Playoff rematch made in the Valley of the Sun.
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Clemson is the so-called "good" game in this season's CFP. Apologies to No. 1 LSU vs. No. 4 Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl semifinal, but the Fiesta semi has more juice. It has a legacy, too, now that we're halfway through the 12-year CFP contract.
History will be chasing history in the still-nascent playoff. Cast your mind back three years ago. Clemson announced itself as a national power in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl semifinal. The Tigers won 31-0, then beat Alabama for their second national championship.
The implications can still be felt today. Following the skunking, then-Ohio State coach Urban Meyer retooled his offensive staff. One of the new hires was the 49ers quarterbacks coach who came on a recommendation from Chip Kelly.
Who ever heard of Ryan Day?
Clemson was motivated back then by returning to the championship game. Nick Saban needed an onside kick the prior year to beat win 45-40. Clemson had basically spent the year decorating the locker room with newspaper and magazine clippings as reminders of that crushing defeat.
"We knew Day 1 where we wanted to be," center Jay Guillermo said. "Even if we didn't end up playing Alabama, it was back to the championship game."
After that game, Clemson was never the same -- in a good way. The momentum created from that Ohio State win spawned college football's latest dynasty. Since that day, the Tigers are 40-2 with two national championships in three years. The current 27-game winning streak is the 16th-longest in history. Win out this season and only nine schools will have longer streaks in the 150-year history of the game.
With Alabama missing the playoff for the first time, it can be said with confidence that Clemson is the program to be chased, not the one chasing anymore.
"This never gets old," Swinney said.
The case can be made for this being the best CFP ever. Four Power Five conference champions -- three of them undefeated. The four are a combined 51-1.
Thank goodness the BCS is gone. This last time three Power Five conference titlists got to the postseason, they couldn't be accommodated. Auburn was left out at 12-0 that year. That eventually led to the playoff.
Yes, the rewards continue to go to the rich. LSU became only the 11th team to make the playoff. That's 11 occupying the combined 24 spots over the six years. The Tigers have a fun-loving coach (Ed Orgeron), the nation's best player (Joe Burrow) and the overall home-field advantage in this season's playoff.
LSU opens against Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. That's close enough to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be overrun with Tigers fans. That's a prediction. This is a certainty: If Tigers make it to the championship game, nirvana awaits. The New Orleans Superdome is 70 miles from the LSU campus.
The Tigers two previous national championships (2003, 2007) have been played in the same de facto home stadium. You don't need a calculator to the math. Just a hurricane (the drink) and some aspirin for the inevitable hangover.
If the LSU Tigers are charming, Clemson's Tigers always seems to need a cause thanks to Dabo.
No doubt this month will be spent reminding players how Little Ol' Clemson made the playoff by the skin of its teeth.
Yeah, right.
Only Swinney could turn a positive moment into a complaint.
"We started the season No. 1, went undefeated in the regular season and finished third," Swinney told reporters. "OK, so that's history, first time that's happened."
That's a warped analysis. In 1966, Alabama's "Missing Ring" started No. 1, went undefeated and finished No. 3 due to poll voters' reaction to the civil rights climate in the South.
This is entirely about on the field. The Tigers were "victims" of a weak ACC schedule. And if Dabo needs that for motivation, God bless him. We've still got the best CFP ever.
We've gotten this far and haven't even mentioned Oklahoma is in the playoff for the third straight year. The Sooners are also 12.5-point, which explains why they may be destined to become 0-4 all-time in the CFP.
In the cool game, the Fiesta, call it the reigning national champion vs. straining for a national championship. It has been all of five years since the Buckeyes were the first CFP winners. They haven't been back to the CFP since that Clemson shutout in the desert. That qualifies as a drought in Columbus, Ohio.
Now there are whispers of this being the best Ohio State team ever. Jeff Okudah might be the game's best cover corner. Chase Young is the nation's best defensive player. Justin Fields has become one of the most efficient quarterbacks of this century. No quarterback in the last 11 years (at least) has thrown at least 40 touchdowns with as few as one interception. J.K. Dobbins is edging up towards 2,000 yards with 100 combined carries in the last three games.
Clemson will not be impressed. The Tigers have "quietly" gone 13-0, outscoring opponents by 36 points per game. Ohio State is a tick ahead at 36.1. There were 115 teams that didn't average 36 points per game.
Swinney will take your Fields and raise you Trevor Lawrence. Turns out Lawrence actually wasn't ready for the NFL after that performance earlier this year against Alabama. At one point this season, Lawrence was leading the ACC in interceptions. As the season wore on, the ACC was a mere inconvenience for Lawrence and the Tigers. In the second half of the season, Lawrence threw 20 touchdown passes without an interception.
If there is further motivation for the Tigers, there may not be enough national awards to accommodate all of Clemson's stars.
Next up, another Ohio State meeting in the desert. Same matchup. Different result?
