Orange Bowl – #4 ASU vs #1 Auburn

The Sun Devils are the surprise team of the year by many and Bercovici was a heisman contender who has blossomed in his 5th year…he’s waited patiently and it’s paying off. ASU trots out in their “Desert Ice” white unis that look super sharp. Graham’s aggressive defense confuses Auburn all night long. Auburn QB, Jeremy Johnson, who has been good all year, has a few costly miscues. He throws two INT’s early (one goes back for an ASU TD) and fumbles on an option play late in the game basically sealing the Tiger’s fate.

For the second straight year a #1 SEC team goes down in the playoff, which is quickly being dubbed the “anti-SEC” era. ASU prevails 24-16.

Cotton Bowl - #2 tOSU vs #3 BYU

tOSU has looked invincible all season long, however, Michigan provided a blue-print (no pun intended) on how to beat them and it seems to fit BYU’s MO…run the ball right down their throats and catch their safety’s creeping up for Big plays. On defense you have to get to Barrett early and often and rattle him. Meyer adds to his legendary status with BYU fans as he calls them “the other Blue team from a distant past” in an interview on ESPN. Bronco laughs it off and said “maybe if I had just won a national championship I’d be a little more dismissive of the ‘little guy’ too.”

In what gives many BYU fans nightmares of disastrous Utah games, OSU trots out in their bright red uniforms and BYU dons their retro white/royal combo used vs Mizzou. BYU has never beat the Buckeyes…”that will all change tonight” proclaims an overly confident Mitch Mathews in a pregame interview on the field.

The play of the game may have happened on the first series of the game. Fred Warner and Takitaki simultaneously smash Barrett on a deep pass attempt. It was miraculously completed but Barrett is visibly shaken up. He tries to go one more series after that but is not himself. Many worry it was a concussion and question Meyer even putting him back in the game. Enter Cardale Jones.

Jones has had some limited action this year but Barrett has been healthy and good all year so his role has been that of a backup that has a slightly larger role than a normal back up. Needless to say he appears a bit rusty and the magic from last season’s run appears to have worn off.

Taysom shows off his legs by shredding the Buckeye D for 122 yards on the ground in the first half alone! In one particular play, Taysom fakes the pitch and defensive star Bosa dives at Brown, Taysom cuts on a dime, jumps over Bosa’s legs and dashes 45 yards for the TD. Herbstreit proclaims “well…they don’t have that kind of a QB in the B1G, that’s for sure!”

Jones does hit a WR on a long double-move in the third to tie the game at 17 but Taysom responds again and this time rolls out, fakes the option throw, stops on a dime and nails Mathews for a long TD. Jones nails Braxton Miller over the middle for a crucial 1st down in the 4th but Langi crushes him and causes the ball to pop out. Takanaka falls on it and BYU runs the clock out and wins a CFP game in the heart of Big12 country with (allegedly) many top Big 12 brass watching. 27-20 Cougars.