Tag: Sugar Bowl

Notre Dame projected as College Football Playoff quarterfinalist

Minds are starting to change about the Irish.

For much of the time after Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois, the Action Network’s Brett McMurphy was not empathetic. He consistently had the Irish in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, thus rendering their first season in the expanded College Football Playoff era a failure.

McMurphy has changed his tune about the Irish however. A week ago, he projected the Irish as the No. 10 seed in the playoff. While he had them losing to Penn State, it still was a sign of progress.

Now, McMurphy has flipped the seeds for the Irish and Nittany Lions, meaning the Irish now would host the first-round game. What’s more, he has the Irish winning the game, which would give them a New Year’s Day date with Georgia at the Sugar Bowl. Regrettably, that’s where he has the Irish’s run ending, but this still is a nice projection.

A lot has to go right for the Irish to get as far as McMurphy thinks they will, but that he even made this projection shows how much the narrative surrounding the Irish has changed for the better.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

2025 four-star RB James Simon commits to Texas

Texas adds another talented running back to the fold.

The Texas Longhorns added Louisiana four-star James Simon to the fold on Wednesday. It’s a big addition for the Longhorns’ 2025 recruiting class.

Simon continues an increasing trend of Louisiana players choosing to play for the Longhorns in recent seasons. Among the most famous players from the state, five-star quarterback Arch Manning and elite safety Derek Williams Jr. are already game ready heading into their second seasons in Austin.

The rapid development of Texas players might resonate with Simon, but the Longhorns making it to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl could have also caught the running back’s attention.

Simon’s physicality makes an impression in its own right. The hard-hitting runner doesn’t shy away from contact which could carve out a role for the running back early on in his playing career. He still shows elusiveness and tackle-breaking ability in addition to a bruising style of play.

Texas will look to continue to build on its 2025 recruiting class.

The addition of Simon allowed the Longhorns to leapfrog the Georgia Bulldogs in the composite team rankings from 247Sports. They jumped up from No. 16 to No. 13 overall and No. 6 in the SEC.

Updated SEC top 10 recruiting rankings

  1. Oklahoma Sooners | 15 Commits | 224.45 Points
  2. LSU Tigers | 11 Commits | 221.01 Points
  3. Texas A&M Aggies | 13 Commits | 217.46 Points
  4. Alabama Crimson Tide | 10 Commits | 199.13 Points
  5. Auburn Tigers | 11 Commits | 195.54 Points
  6. Texas Longhorns | 10 Commits | 185.07 Points
  7. Georgia Bulldogs | 9 Commits | 183.70 Points
  8. Tennessee Vols | 10 Commits | 175.96 Points
  9. Ole Miss Rebels | 8 Commits | 136.64 Points
  10. Missouri Tigers | 7 Commits | 133.10 Points

A look at the hectic upcoming 2024-25 College Football Playoff schedule

The college football schedule in December could look a bit hectic this upcoming season with the playoff expansion.

It was a foregone conclusion that once college football went into a playoff format it would be expanded for more teams than just four.

That expansion begins this coming year as the College Football Playoff will include a total of 12 teams with the top four receiving a first-round bye. Those first-round games will be played on campus sites.

Expansion doesn’t just mean more teams, however.

The football calendar will also be pushed to the limit and will resemble the NFL playoffs and will last nearly that long. The days of college football ending on New Year’s are long over.

For those two teams that make the National Championship, they would have played 15 or 16 total games. There was a reason the regular season ended in late November and most bowl games were played in the southern part of the country.

The weather.

A December game played at Wisconsin or Michigan won’t be fun for players or fans, but these extra playoff games will rack in the dough for schools to spread around.

On top of just the new playoff games, coaches and programs will also have to deal with the transfer portal and the early signing period, both of which will come in early December as well. Here’s a look at the upcoming schedule for the 2024-25 season, wich dates set for games this postseason.

Early projections say Oregon hosts CFP game at Autzen in 2024

Oregon is predicted to host a first round playoff game before going down in the quarterfinals in New Orleans next year.

The landscape of college football is swiftly changing with the transfer portal and players going from team to team more than any professional free agency could ever have.

Another big change will occur in 2024 when the College Football Playoff expands from four teams to 12.

As one of the favorites to win the Big Ten next season, the Oregon Ducks are expected to be one of the 12 playoff teams. The top four seeds would receive a first-round bye with the opening-round contests being played on campus.

According to Brad Crawford of 247sports.com, the Ducks would play in that first round by hosting South Florida at Autzen in the middle of December as a 6-seed.

There is a lot to like with what former Tennessee assistant Alex Golesh built down there in Tampa. He out-recruited every other Group of Five program in the 2024 cycle and with reigning conference champion SMU moving on to the ACC and questions around Tulane following Willie Fritz’s departure to Houston, that strong league is wide open. Oregon makes its first playoff appearance under Dan Lanning after a terrific projected finish during its first season in the Big Ten. — Crawford

Once Oregon eliminates the Bulls, the Ducks are projected to travel to New Orleans and face Florida State in the Sugar Bowl. The Seminoles, a 3-seed, automatically advance to the quarterfinals with their seed. It will be interesting to see how first-round winners do after playing a game against a team that has a month off.

Florida State will have former Beaver DJ Uiagalelei as its quarterback and the Ducks are very familiar with him and his skillset. Nonetheless, 247sports projects a Seminole win here.

Florida State and Oregon in New Orleans would be an excellent, evenly-matched tilt between teams led by transfer portal quarterback and two fast-rising head coaches among the elites. — Crawford

The Ducks will have many firsts in 2024 with their initial season as a member of the Big Ten. Thankfully, they’re expected to do very well and see where this new playoff format takes them.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Late-game injury in Washington-Texas Sugar Bowl brings up a problem for college football

An injury should not give the opposing team clock-based relief. College football has to change this rule for 2024.

An entire nation of college football fans reacted with shock as the Texas Longhorns — about to lose the 2024 Sugar Bowl to the Washington Huskies — received an unexpected lifeline in the final minute of regulation.

Washington, leading by six with a minute left and Texas having no timeouts, executed a running play with roughly one minute left. The play clock would have run 40 seconds, which would have taken the game clock near 15 seconds. Washington would have then punted and left Texas with close to 10 seconds left and the whole field to go. That’s basically “game over.”

While it’s true that Washington should have taken a knee, the Huskies did not fumble the ball. The running play itself occurred without a turnover or a player running out of bounds. That should have been enough to drain the 45 seconds of clock (40 for the play clock, five seconds for the play itself).

However, running back Dillon Johnson got injured. He couldn’t get up.

The clock stopped and did not restart when the ball was ready for play. The clock restarted on the next snap, which was a fourth-down snap. Texas was bailed out by this injury and was able to start its possession not with 10 to 12 seconds left, but with almost 50 seconds left. Texas gained nearly 40 seconds just because a Washington player got injured.

Does that seem fair? Injuries are part of football. It is not a failure of a team to have a player get injured. In no way should a team be punished for a player getting injured, especially since an injury itself hurts a team quite a lot, particularly if the injured player is a star or a core part of the team.

Next season, last-minute injuries should not permanently stop the clock. That’s basic common sense.

Of course, if a defensive player goes down with an injury to stop a hurry-up offense, that’s a different situation. College football could make sure players aren’t taking dives to fake out the refs. This situation in the Sugar Bowl was nothing like that, however. The stop-clock rule has to be changed.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Social media remembers the 2009 Big 12 title game during the Sugar Bowl

College football fans have been having a field day on social media following the conclusion of the 2024 Sugar Bowl.

College football fans have been having a field day on social media following the 2024 Sugar Bowl. The No. 2 Washington Huskies defeated the No. 3 Texas Longhorns, 37-31, on Monday evening.

The game ended on a Texas pass into the end zone that fell incomplete, but it was Texas’ reaction before the game-deciding play that had Nebraska fans take to social media.

On the second to last play, Longhorn quarterback Qwinn Ewers threw the ball out of bounds with time expiring but the officials added one second to the game clock to give Texas a chance to run a final play to win the game.

Nebraska fans began to reminisce about the ending of the 2009 Big 12 Championship. In that game, the Cornhuskers lost to Texas, 12-10, when the Longhorns had a controversial second added to the clock, giving the Big 12 South team a chance to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.

A decade and a half later, Nebraska fans are still voicing their anger about Texas receiving that extra second, and the Cornhuskers faithful had a bit of a laugh at the Longhorn’s expense. You can find some of those social media reactions below.

Pac-12 wins first College Football Playoff semifinal in nine years

The Pac-12 won the first four-team playoff semifinal … and the last one.

The Pac-12 Conference waited nine years for this moment. The Pac-12 had not won a College Football Playoff semifinal since New Year’s Day of 2015, when the Oregon Ducks defeated the Florida State Seminoles in the 2015 Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The last Pac-12 team to even play in a College Football Playoff semifinal was Washington in the 2016 season. The Huskies lost the 2016 Peach Bowl semifinal to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Atlanta. No Pac-12 team made a playoff semifinal until Washington returned to the playoff in the 2024 Sugar Bowl semifinal game against the Texas Longhorns.

The Huskies were able to get the job done in a crazy 37-31 victory. The nine-year drought for the Pac-12 is over. A Pac-12 team will once again get a chance to compete for the national championship. This will be the Pac-12’s first national title game appearance since Oregon faced Ohio State in January of 2015.

There’s another wild detail to be found in here: The Pac-12 won the first four-team playoff semifinal in history. That Oregon-Florida State game was the first-ever College Football Playoff game. Washington-Texas was the 20th and last semifinal in the four-team playoff era, given that next year’s semifinals will be part of a 12-team playoff.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Washington defeats Texas, 37-31

A memorable season comes to an end as Texas falls to Washington by six points.

The Washington Huskies remain undefeated. The Huskies defeated the Texas Longhorns, 37-31.

Washington outplayed and outcoached the Texas, yet somehow the Longhorns managed to stay in the game.

The Huskies did their best to take Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers out of the game, taking the RPO and intermediate game away and having the Longhorns passing attack out of sorts.

Ewers started the game 10-for-20 as Washington seemingly took away every available receiving option. Yet after a 9-for-10 stretch for Ewers and despite being significantly out-gained offensively, Texas cut the Washington lead to 34-28.

Washington quarterback Michael Penix, who feasted on the Texas defense all night, promptly drove his team down for a field goal to put the game out of reach, 37-28.

Texas rallied back within striking distance down 37-31, but was unable to cash in on its second chances.

The turnover battle was the deciding factor. Both Texas running backs Jaydon Blue and CJ Baxter fumbled on positive runs while the Huskies played mostly clean football.

Credit Washington for a tremendous gameplan and near perfect execution on offense and defense. The Longhorns finish their best season since 2009 with a 12-2 record and reason for national title optimism in 2024 should Ewers return.

Washington’s Elijah Jackson swatted the Huskies into national title game with incredible Sugar Bowl-saving play

WHAT A PLAY!!!

The Washington Huskies won the Sugar Bowl in the most dramatic way possible against Texas on Monday night.

With the Longhorns in the red zone on fourth-and-11 with a single second left on the clock, quarterback Quinn Ewers threw a dart to wide receiver Adonai Mitchell in the end zone for the walk-off win.

However, Washington cornerback Elijah Jackson made the play of bowl season so far by swatting the ball away to send the Huskies to the national title game.

It was just a perfect defensive play for Jackson, who stopped one of the best receivers in college football in Mitchell from making the game-winning catch.

This was the kind of play that Washington fans are going to remember forever (and the kind of play that will haunt Texas fans for a while).

Thanks to Jackson, the Huskies will now play Michigan for a championship next week.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1372]

Washington Sugar Bowl Champions gear: How to buy UW 2024 Sugar Bowl hat, t-shirt

Celebrate the Washington Huskies’ College Football Playoff Semifinal win over Texas with this Sugar Bowl champs gear from Nike and Fanatics.

The Washington Huskies are headed to the 2023-24 NCAA Championship game.

Following a dramatic 37-31 victory over the Texas Longhorns, the Huskies’ dream of title to top off an undefeated season is very much alive.

There is another game to be played, but it’s time for Washington fans to take a breath and celebrate the big win with new Sugar Bowl champions gear from Nike and Fanatics.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop UW 2024 Sugar Bowl champs t-shirt” link=”https://fanatics.93n6tx.net/9gZK5W”]

The 2024 Sugar Bowl champs T-Shirt celebrates the win while acknowledging the work still left to be done in order for Washington to win the National Championship.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop UW 2024 Sugar Bowl champs hat” link=”https://fanatics.93n6tx.net/jr4qoe”]

The Washington hat is a classic that can be used to celebrate the Sugar Bowl victory for many years to come regardless of what happens on Monday, Jan 8.

If you’d like even more Washington Huskies 2024 Sugar Bowl gear, head over to Fanatics to check out the entire collection.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop UW 2024 Sugar Bowl collection” link=”https://fanatics.93n6tx.net/21e4xO”]

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. FTW operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.