CFP – #1 LSU vs #4 BYU - Peach Bowl – Atlanta, Georgia - Dec 31, 2016, 7:15pm EST – ESPN

A bunch of great story lines…it’s a de facto home game for LSU. The game features the top two Heisman vote getters. Taysom got 2nd and somewhat surprisingly says after Heisman ceremony, after congratulating Fournette, “There’s no question in my mind that an elite QB is always more valuable and impactful than an elite running back right? I mean, one has the ball in their hands every single play, the other maybe 20 times a game. Fournette’s an amazing talent but I honestly take this personally given the year I’ve had and all I’ve dealt with in my career to battle back and have a healthy season like this. We’ll see in a few weeks if this decision was correct or not I guess right?”

You also could not pair two coaches that were more exact opposite than Kalani and the Mad Hatter. BYU trots out with royal blue top, white pants and LSU with their classic white/yellow combo. It’s loud and surprisingly there is a LOT of royal blue in Atlanta.

Taysom lives up to his billing as the game-plan is to eat up a ton of clock, slow the game down and keep the ball out of Fournette’s hands. BYU opts to receive the opening kick and goes on an 14 play drive that eats up over 8 minutes of game time and ends when Detmer elects to go for it on 4th and 3 from the LSU 21 yard line and Jamaal gets stuffed short.

LSU then let’s Fournette carry it a few times but Brandon Harris, the up-and-down QB, get baited into throwing into double coverage by elusive safety Kai Nacua who picks him off at midfield. BYU’s slow and deliberate pace literally has Fournette jumping up and down on the sidelines as Taysom dink and dunks and scrambles around for gains of 4-5 yards a pop. The clock continues to run and, on the last play of the first quarter Taysom executes the play action on an “at-the-line” adjustment and nails MLP streaking up the middle for a 18 yard TD.

After one quarter BYU’s game plan is working perfectly…Fournette has 2 touches for 9 yards and BYU’s winning TOP battle at a 5-to-1 clip.

Langi, a revelation at DE this year, introduces himself in the 2nd quarter to Fournette who lowers his head and tries to bowl him over but Langi takes the blow, reaches his enormous paw into his arm and jars the ball loose. 2 LSU possessions…2 turnovers! BYU struggles to protect Taysom and he’s having to scramble quite a bit. After taking a big loss, he somehow avoids another big sack, splits right up the middle of the pocket and slides just past the marker for a first down. Five plays later Jamaal gets his first taste of CFP glory and runs one in from 8 yards out.

The glory is short-lived as LSU does a reverse on the kickoff return and takes it to the house to close the gap to 14-7. Just before the half Les Miles crazily goes for it on 4th and 8 from his own 33 yard line. The punter just barely crosses the first down marker and LSU tacks on a FG before halftime. 14-10.

The second half takes a while to get going as the teams struggle to move the ball and exchange punts for a while. Eventually Jamaal picks a really crappy time to lose his first career fumble as he is de-cleated by the LSU safety on what looked to be a promising run up the middle. BYU bites on a play-action and Harris finds a wide open WR streaking down the field for a big 54 yard touchdown pass…LSU up 17-14. Maybe BYU was too focused on Fournette? They’ve done a great job bottling him up but the big plays are killing the Cougs.

Taysom then goes on what he calls “the slow-mo drive of my life” after the game. 16 plays, and nearly 10 minutes of game time, eating up nearly the entire 4th quarter. He’s hitting his check downs perfectly, the line is opening up holes just barely big enough to pick up 3-4 yards and keep the D honest. After a nice completion to Kurtz for 15 yards, Taysom runs one in himself from 5 yards out on a beautifully timed bootleg by Detmer to give BYU a 21-17 lead.

In what many on the team deem to be Tuiloma’s NFL paycheck making play, he sheds the LSU center like he’s a punter and stuffs Fournette in the backfield for a huge loss on 3rd and short. LSU is forced to punt with 3:44 left. Not even Les is crazy enough to go for it. The announcers are lamenting that BYU won’t give the ball up and their game plan has been perfect…a bad snap almost screws all of that up.

After a couple big plays by Taysom and Jamaal to get the ball near midfield and literally a first down away from sealing their trip to the national title game, Koroma snaps the ball over Taysom’s head while he’s barking out a pre-snap read. The ball travels 12 yards backwards before Taysom falls on it…4th and 17 from the BYU 34.

Enter Jonny Linehan…the carefree Australian has been great all year but has yet to try the frequently promised fake…he picks a heck of time to try it. Given special team success LSU has a protect formation set up and sends 3 guys directly back to block for their returner. What they don’t imagine happening happens…Linehan is out Les Miles-ing Les Miles! Johnny Rugby cements his place in BYU lore by tucking the ball and thankfully choosing the correct side to run to. Bernard lead blocks for him, taking out the only defender between him and the first down marker. Jonny runs out of bounds right in to a screaming Ed Lamb’s arms.

Taysom takes a knee three times…game over! BYU wins 21-17. Taysom, when asked about his promise to “show who was better” remarks, “Pretty sure this game showed that some rugby player from Australia should’ve won the Heisman…he’s the MVP tonight!”

Les Miles reminds every one that BYU and LSU play in week 1 to kickoff the 2017 season and subtely takes a shot at Holmoe saying “I hope they don’t back out of this one just because of their Big12 schedule now.” Holmoe assures everyone the game is on and they aren’t moving it.

Player of the Game – Taysom Hill – 23/33, 288 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 INT, 14 rushes, 77 yards, 1 TD.


CFP – #2 Michigan vs #3 Stanford - Fiesta Bowl – Glendale, AZ – Dec 31, 2016 – 4:00pm EST – ESPN

Harbaugh vs Stanford rematch! The Big10 vs Pac12. This game is tailor-made for tv. While McCaffrey dazzles on a few plays, Michigan’s tough defense is able to force 4 turnovers and that, ultimately, is the death to the Cardinal’s season. Michigan manages a long FG in the fourth to pull away 27-24.