Week 17 of college football produced big moments, blowouts and questions as teams took one last shot to show the College Football Playoff selection committee they deserved to be in the final four. Here are five takeaways from conference championship play:
1. USC is not an elite program
Not right now, anyway. Even with one of the best receiving corps in the nation, the Trojans struggled to put together consistent drives, halves and full games this season. Four of their six contests were decided by one score, and when sophomore quarterback Kedon Slovis needed his best performance in the Pac-12 Championship Game, he crumbled.
Head coach Clay Helton is 18-13 since Sam Darnold’s departure. Even with depth on offense — with receivers junior Amon-Ra St. Brown, redshirt senior Tyler Vaughns, sophomore Drake London and redshirt freshman Bru McCoy — and national defensive standouts such as junior safety Talanoa Hufanga, Helton can’t come up big where it counts.
USC’s choice to opt out of a 2020 bowl game prevents Helton from worsening his 2-3 bowl record, which seems to be for the best. Combine the crunch time play of the regular season and the abundance of conference championship turnovers, and bowl game play provided no guarantees to add to the Trojan win column.
Whether it’s the coach, culture or both, the Trojans need to reset. For the fans, players and coaches, national contention isn’t an option. It’s a standard.
2. Ohio State found its next coming of Ezekiel Elliot
Ohio State ran past Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game — literally. In doing so, the Buckeyes found the second coming of Ezekiel Elliot when graduate running back Trey Sermon ran for a whopping 331 yards and two touchdowns.
Sermon passed Elliot’s record for rushing yards in the Big Ten title game and recorded the most rushing yards by a player in any conference championship game in FBS history. He also set a new Ohio State single-game rushing record, passing former Heisman Trophy-winner Eddie George’s 314-yard effort back in 1995.
Throughout the first half, junior quarterback Justin Fields and the Buckeyes struggled to string together a solid drive against a highly-touted Wildcat defense. Sermon came alive in the second half, accumulating 271 rushing yards on 11.4 yards per carry to dig the Buckeyes out of a 10-6 deficit.
Sermon could be a body double for OSU alum Elliot at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, with the ability to push past most defenders off sheer speed and strength.
Against Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoff, Sermon will hand Tigers’ senior linebacker James Skalski his biggest test of the season in securing the middle of the field. If OSU wants any shot at avenging its 29-23 Fiesta Bowl loss from last season, especially while Fields has continually struggled to let the ball fly, Sermon will have to pick apart Clemson’s defense and deliver another record-breaking performance.
3. DeVonta Smith is dense
Alabama’s senior wide receiver only weighs 175 pounds, but once he catches the ball, he’s nearly impossible to bring down. Smith owns the SEC record for receiving touchdowns (38) and leads the nation in receiving yards (1,511) and yards after the catch (693). Odds are he’s good for 15.4 yards (his season average), and then some every time he touches the ball.
Notre Dame will have to contain Smith and try to limit the star receiver to a fraction of what he’s averaging now if it wants to contain an explosive Alabama offense come the Playoff semifinals.
4. Trevor Lawrence can do it all
In the ACC Championship Game, junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence proved how much of a difference he makes for the Tigers when padded up.
Back in Week 10, Clemson dropped the ball in a 47-40 loss at Notre Dame despite true freshman D.J. Uiagalelei throwing for 439 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. The difference Saturday — aside from a replenished defense — was not Lawrence’s 322 passing yards and two passing scores, but his 90 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. In their first matchup, Notre Dame didn’t have to worry about a mobile quarterback. This time around, containing the run was a struggle.
But “dual-threat” doesn’t quite cut it when describing the ACC Championship Game MVP and presumptive No. 1 NFL draft pick.
With about one minute left in the first half of the ACC Championship, Lawrence threw a block to open up the field for senior running back Travis Etienne to find 15 yards on a third-down run. It led to another seven on the board and a 24-3 halftime lead.
Throw, run, block, win. Lawrence can do it all.
5. Notre Dame should stay in the ACC
The Fighting Irish joined the ACC for the 2020 year amid conference-only regulations implemented to combat the spread of COVID-19 among programs. But Notre Dame should say goodbye to a fluid independent schedule and put a ring on the conference schedule life. And here’s why: Notre Dame has never been more relevant.
Sure, Notre Dame has made it to the playoff and joined the national conversation as an independent, but never has it been watched or deeply discussed during conference championship weekend.
Joining the ACC pits the Irish against some of the best teams in college football, which could add quality wins to their resume, including a potential future conference championship, which the committee has already said it takes into account (as it did with a Big Ten champion who only played six games.)
Notre Dame lost the ACC Championship and still made the College Football Playoff because of who it lost to, showing the strength of the conference it could join. It put another rigorous game on its schedule in a year where the number of games played has never been more relevant.