Georgia vs TCU College Football Playoff National Championship Live Game Updates, Thoughts, Reactions

Georgia vs TCU College Football Playoff National Championship live thoughts, updates, and comments as the game goes on

Georgia vs TCU: Thoughts, live updates, reactions during the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Georgia vs TCU: College Football Playoff National Championship

CFP National Championship Thoughts
Pregame | First Quarter
Second Quarter | Third & Fourth Quarter

Georgia vs TCU live updates, thoughts, reactions: Pregame

Dear lord … 24 years in a row I’ve been doing this. I wanted to do this from Los Angeles – never been in SoFi – but couldn’t make it out and had to bail at the last second. Considering the incessant whining coming from everyone I know who’s out there, I’m good.

Last year’s CFP National Championship: Georgia over Alabama

For the moment, all the rain and cold stalls my stumping for every major sporting event to be played in LA and San Diego – if it had the facilities for it – but Miami is still on.

Out of all the ESPN gimmicky gamecasts about to kick in, I’m looking for the one that shows this game being close.

Slightly off-topic … this is the game potentially built for all the different versions. Like the fantastic Manning thing on Monday Night Football, the alternative options are great when the game sucks. When the game is great, you want the announcers of record.

If you have Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit calling a College Football Playoff National Championship, I’m not sure why you need any of the 1,248 other options ESPN has to take away from its No. 1 team.

It’s not TCU’s fault. It has been a magnificent story, and it’s been a fantastic thing for college football just to get here. TCU earned it – there’s no such thing as a cheap run to the College Football Playoff National Championship game.

With all of that said, this would have been a very, very, very different day if it was Michigan vs Georgia. There’s just NO national buzz for this – I’m doing my best. Everyone is far more focused on the NFL Playoffs.

CFP National Championship Preview
CFP National Championship Top Prop Bets

Excuse me, Stewardess, I speak Nick Saban. The GameDay panel is trying to pump this game up, and Saban is doing his best to be nice about it – he’s all but saying TCU has no shot of handling the Georgia lines.

I agree.

Saban is fantastic on the GameDay pregame show. Even the hardest-core of coaches are great when they get to tell war stories and talk football. Get most of them them out of their lane, though, and there’s a big, big problem.

TCU has made me look ridiculous all year – and I certainly don’t need any help doing that. I’m still arguing that Michigan will win the Fiesta Bowl. With that said, I do think TCU will score, it’ll get the passing game going, and it’ll make this interesting …

For a half.

This isn’t the Georgia defense of last year – TCU will throw on it. The scores will be there, but eventually the Georgia D will generate the third down stops needed

Social media will go nuts – TCU might even be up going into the locker room. And then hell and the Georgia talent will come to breakfast – or to the all bacon-inspired spread traditionally served in the media hospitality area after the national title game.

All I want is a classic battle. I want America to be talking about this all day tomorrow, I want the College Football Playoff National Championship to be great again – last year’s was fine, even if it wasn’t all that well played – and …

Georgia by more than 13.5. It might take a little while to get there, but the last ten minutes will be about the Dawgs.

Let’s have some fun.

CFP National Championship Thoughts
Pregame | First Quarter
Second Quarter | Third & Fourth Quarter

NEXT: Georgia vs TCU: College Football Playoff National Championship First Quarter

Georgia LT Broderick Jones demolishes TCU safety Mark Perry on Stetson Bennett’s TD run

Georgia left tackle Broderick Jones demolished TCU safety Mark Perry on Stetson Bennett’s TD run in the College Football Championship.

Georgia left tackle Broderick Jones will absolutely be a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft. His combination of pure power and pass-blocking acumen makes him the kind of offensive lineman any NFL team would want, and Jones showed how he can maul on Georgia’s opening drive in the College Football Championship.

While all eyes were on quarterback Stetson Bennett as he took the ball 21 yards for the game’s opening touchdown with 11:01 left in the first quarter, it was Jones who made the play of the night (so far) as he took safety Mark Perry on a downfield ride that Perry certainly did not enjoy.

The 6-foot-4, 310-pound Jones came into this game allowing no sacks, two quarterback hits, and seven quarterback hurries on 439 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus. And you can see above how he handles defenders in the run game.

Best guess when will Notre Dame hoist the College Football Playoff Trophy?

One man’s guess when the Irish will hoist the championship trophy

Last night Georgia slayed big, bad Alabama, finally Kirby Smart defeating his mentor, Nick Saban. The culmination of the season now has become the College Football Playoff Championship game and since it’s over, we’re turning our attention to the 2022 season.

With that in mind, it’s time to look ahead, especially for Notre Dame. A new era has begun and although Marcus Freeman’s debut didn’t go as many of us would liked, the program is still in a very place, one of the best in the country.

The championship drought however has stayed around since 1988, a fairly long time for a collegiate power. The question remains, when will the Irish hoist a championship trophy again?

For me, it seems like the time is coming, Freeman will be building a culture that breeds competition and ultimately winning. I’m just going to guess here that Freeman will be the one to break the drought. When, is the question and I’m going to guess it’s before the time he turns 40. That gives him 5 more years to get the job done, which I think he will do.

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Stetson Bennett’s post-championship celebration led to this amazing Good Morning America appearance

Let Stetson sleep, y’all. He needs it.

I think it’s safe to say Stetson Bennett had a pretty good time last night. It’s almost a requirement to go out and have a bit of fun after winning a national championship in the College Football Playoff.

Especially when you’re the quarterback? And you made the biggest throw of the game in the 4th quarter to put your team up? Yeah, you deserve to have a bit of fun.

And, clearly, Bennett did. We know because he showed up for his Good Morning America interview looking like he needed quite a few cups of coffee.

Y’all. My guy looks like he didn’t sleep at all.

Michael Strahan greets him so enthusiastically. “Stetson, good morning my friend. How are you feeling after that incredible performance last night? Have you had a chance to get any sleep?”

We all know the answer is no. But Stetson says “You know, a few hours. Um, not many. Been wondering about…yeah, no, not many.”

Not many, huh? Yeah, this face definitely looks like less than one.

So I guess “not many” is an accurate way to describe this? Get that boy some coffee. Maybe some Pedialyte, too? The party isn’t stopping anytime soon.

Twitter had so many jokes about this. Poor Stetson.

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Alabama vs Georgia College Football Playoff National Championship Live Game Updates, Thoughts, Reactions

Alabama vs Georgia College Football Playoff National Championship live thoughts, updates, and comments as the game goes on

Alabama vs Georgia: Thoughts, live updates, reactions during the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Alabama vs Georgia: College Football Playoff National Championship

Alabama vs Georgia live updates, thoughts, reactions: Pregame

Welcome back to the – ugh – 23rd year(?!) of my rolling pretentious game  commentary for the national championship. I actually used to do this for every bowl game. I was young. I needed the work.

For anyone new to the bit, I’ve done this ten feet away from Deshaun Watson almost killing me. I’ve done this in the back of the end zone for Georgia vs. Alabama. From a hospital room, a Potbelly’s, and for the epic Vince Young Rose Bowl against USC, sick as a dog on a couch, I’ve kept this all going.

I’m in the stadium for it this year – I think. I kept walking through various skyways and tunnels from the hotel to here, and all of a sudden I was on the field.

Yes, I’m posting my own tweet.

This is a very, very different feel from the 2018 version between Alabama and Georgia in Atlanta. That was all about the elite of the Southern elite coming to the game. It was like royalty, there was an off-the-charts energy level, and it was all made that much crazier with a two-hour wait in the rain to get in thanks to Trump’s appearance at the thing.

This time around? Fans are here, but it’s just too cold.

It’s not Indianapolis’s fault, and it’s possible to not be outside at any time if you’re a part of the media, but it’s tough to have fun outdoor events when the temperature outside isn’t fun.

After going to the Orange Bowl last week, anyone who says they’d rather be too cold than too hot is lying. Humidity rules.

Oh, by the way, you’ll be glad to know that COVID is over in Indianapolis. There was one mask among the thousands of fans jammed inside the fan fun center of stuff. It wasn’t actually on the young woman’s face or anything, but she was technically wearing it.

I am beyond sick of hearing that America is bored of this matchup. Really? Cincinnati captured your imagination that much? You would’ve rather seen something other than the two best and most talented teams in college football go at it? Yeah, I get it.

The Alabama fatigue is real, and that’s just the Alabama people here. The energy is almost all on the Georgia side – to a point. Alabama media people are exhausted. Georgia media types are more spry because their base is jacked for the opportunity.

CFP National Championship Preview
CFP National Championship Top Prop Bets

I ran into three different Alabama media friends when I first got here. All three whispered that they think Georgia will win, and one thinks it’s going to be a blowout. I have yet to talk to one Georgia fan who can bring himself/herself to dare dream that anyone but Bama will roll.

After two weeks of saying Georgia is going to win the national championship, I supposed I have to stick with it. The defense really is that good, Alabama really might be as inconsistent as it was throughout the regular season, and I’m picking a low-scoring slugfest with the Dawg D taking its game up another level.

But I want a 49-46 shootout, and don’t care who wins. I’d actually take a repeat of the Raiders-Chargers game. In fact, if this starts to stink, I might switch over and start commenting on a replay of that.

The First Quarter coming up next.

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Ohio State vs Alabama 10 Thoughts, Live Updates, Reactions: National Championship Pregame

Ohio State vs Alabama: 10 thoughts, live updates, reactions during the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Ohio State vs Alabama: 10 thoughts, live updates, reactions during the College Football Playoff National Championship.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Ohio State vs Alabama: College Football Playoff National Championship

Ohio State vs Alabama 10 thoughts, live updates, reactions: Pregame

Changing up my ultra-pretentious College Football Playoff National Championship game notes for tonight’s Ohio State showdown vs. Alabama. They’ll be done on the fly with ten reactions, updates and thoughts per quarter in what I’m hoping and praying will be something excellent.

For anyone new to the bit, I’ve been doing these for over 20 years for various outlets. I’ve done them ten feet away from Deshaun Watson. I’ve done them in the back of the end zone for Georgia vs. Alabama. I’ve done them in a hospital room. I’ve done them in a Potbelly’s. I’ve done them while hammered with the flu under ten blankets while watching Vince Young put on a performance for the ages against USC.

Tonight, I’m not doing them from Miami. That sucks.

So here we go with the pregame and all the fun starting in just a bit.

There are two types of people in the college football media world. Those who went to Miami to cover this, and everyone else. To let you in on a little secret – in the all-digital era, there’s absolutely no reason to actually attend these events in person anymore other than to 1) get away from your family, 2) hang in the bar with other media members and 3) get free stuff.

I can not adequately convey the level of whining going on from so many media types – especially me – can’t go to Miami this year and next year’s College Football Playoff is in … Indianapolis. In January. However, after growing up in Minneapolis and having been to several Final Fours, cold weather big events can be an absolute blast if you enjoy bars. The event people go out of their way to make sure you have a great time to distract you from not being some place awesome.

Okay … the game. After waffling all week long and trying to cover my butt – I really do like this Bama team and it could absolutely be amazing – I’m diving in. Ohio State, outright, over on the 74.

It’s amazing how many people are acting like Alabama is playing some directional MAC school. This is Ohio State. It has as much talent as Alabama, it’s every bit the same sort of monster program – if not bigger – and it has the five-star, NFL talents across the board to hang.

So why the 8.5 point spread? What’s crazy is how it’s just not budging. It’s shocking that there’s not a flock of late money coming in on the Buckeyes with such a huge spread for a game that really is more even than it seems. There appears to still be the thought out there that the Ohio State win over Clemson wasn’t fluky, but it was an outlier.

No, really, so why the 8.5 point spread? We’re all used to Alabama blowing out teams this season. It has the Heisman winner. It has Mac Jones. It has Najee Harris. It has Nick Saban. It’s ALABAMA, and it ripped through the season like it was all a light scrimmage. Ohio State struggled to beat Indiana and Northwestern.

It can’t be stressed enough how Ohio State was never quite right this year. Every team dealt with COVID issues, but the Buckeyes just never seemed to be right. They were missing a ton of players late in the year and didn’t have a full offensive line for most of the season. This is the second game in a row that it’s close to right.

For everyone who keeps whining about being bored of Alabama and are sort of sick of Ohio State being great, we got LSU last year and Georgia a few years ago. That’s not exactly going wacky, but really, you wish Cincinnati was here playing the Buckeyes?

Remember, you can’t Cinderella your way into the College Football Playoff National Championship. This isn’t some gimmicky thing like the NCAA Tournament. This isn’t an EVERYONE gets in thing like the NBA and NHL playoffs seem to be, and this isn’t a one-hot-pitcher bad break thing like the MLB playoffs. If you’re here, you had to do something incredible during the season and then beat an awesome team in the semis.

So enjoy the greatness. Yeah, it’s like Darth Vader vs. Hans Gruber, but these two have the ability to do something special. They have the potential to put on a 45-41 show. They have the talent to give you a college football national championship to go up against anything the sport has seen in over 150 years.

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