THE REITMEYER RANT COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

ROUND 1

SOUTH REGION
Pitt @ Alabama
Saturday Dec 19th 3:30pm
Weather at kickoff- 42 degrees, light winds.
The Panthers took the opening kick-off and put points on the board. Pitt drove 52 yards in 9 plays and Dan Hutchins finished the drive by making a 41-yard FG. After that, it was all down hill for the Panthers though. This game was played in the trenches and that is where Alabama excels. The Tide defense held freshman RB Dion Lewis to just 91 yards on 32 carries, it was only the 4th time Lewis did not surpass 100 this season. Meanwhile, Alabama tailback Mark Ingram showed off his Heisman Trophy winning skills while running for 132 and 3 scores against the Panthers.
ALABAMA 27, PITT 10

Georgia Tech @ Ohio State
Saturday Dec 19th 3:30pm
Weather at kickoff- 33 degrees, light winter mix of rain and snow
Josh Nesbitt took the title most versatile quarterback in his showdown with Ohio State star Terrelle Pryor. Nesbitt did a little bit of everything for the Yellow Jackets. Nesbitt started the day by breaking a 61-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and never looked back. Tech back Jonathan Dwyer finished that first drive with a 2-yard dive into the endzone to put GT up 7-0. Pryor did what he could to help the Buckeyes throwing for 217 and 2 TD’s and running for 1 more, but Ohio State had no answer for the duo from Georgia Tech. Dwyer finished the game with 171 and 2 TD’s and Nesbitt ran for 142 and a score while throwing 1 more score.
GEORGIA TECH 38, OHIO STATE 24

NEXT GAME:
Alabama vs Georgia Tech, 3:30pm Saturday Dec 26th, Georgia Dome

MIDWEST REGION
BYU @ Texas
Saturday Dec 19th 8:00pm
Weather at kickoff- 47 degrees, partly cloudy
Max Hall, senior QB at BYU, said earlier in the week that his team would have to play a nearly perfect game to upset the Longhorns, but he didn’t help matter himself. Hall threw for over 3,000 yards and 30 TD’s this season, but he also threw 14 INT’s and it was the INT’s that came back to hurt him in this match-up. The Longhorns picked off Hall three times, returning one for a touchdown as the Texas defense dominated from start to finish. Heisman finalist Colt McCoy didn’t put up great numbers but the offense did enough to win the game. McCoy threw for one interception of his own, but he also threw for 251 and 2 scores. Short yardage bruiser Cody Johnson scored twice also for Texas. Johnson finished the game with 4 carries for 5 yards and 2 TD’s.
TEXAS 41, BYU 10

Penn State @ Oregon
Saturday Dec 19th 8:00pm
Weather at kickoff- 57 degrees and cloudy
The Nittany Lions traveled to Oregon for the first time under Joe Paterno, but it was not a memorable trip. Oregon showed why speed kills in sports and scored on 5 of their 6 first half possessions. Penn State made adjustments at halftime and limited the Ducks to just 7 second half points but it was too little too late. Jeremiah Masoli started the scoring off for the Ducks with an 8 yard toss to TE Ed Dickson to take a 7-0 lead. Masoli scored on a QB keeper on the next possession to make it 14-0. After a Derek Moye 18 yard TD catch for Penn State and a stop on defense the Lions looked to be right back in the game. However, on the first play of the possession for Penn State Daryll Clark threw an interception that was returned to the 6-yard line by Oregon. 2 plays later LaMichael James run in from 5 yards and the Ducks never looked back.
OREGON 38, PENN STATE 20

NEXT GAME:
Texas vs Oregon, 7:00pm Saturday Dec 26th, Cowboys Stadium

WEST REGION
Miami @ TCU
Friday Dec 18th 7:00pm
Weather at kickoff- 41 degrees and clear
TCU jumped on Miami early and showed why they are #1 in total defense in the nation. The Hurricanes were held to just 178 yards of offense and their lone score came on a Graig Cooper 97-yard kickoff return. The Horned Frogs meanwhile had no trouble moving the ball. Five different TCU players found the endzone and Andy Dalton threw for 4 scores.
TCU 45, MIAMI 7

Iowa @ Boise State
Friday Dec 18th, 10:30pm
Weather at kickoff- 39 degrees
Iowa controlled the tempo of this game from the beginning and seemed to have Boise State making a lot uncharacteristic mistakes for the first 45 minutes of the game. Going into the 4th quarter Ricky Stanzi led the Hawkeyes to 17-7 lead, but the Broncos finally woke up and made the game interesting. Boise State, who was a +19 in turnovers coming into the game, had 5 TO’s in the first three quarters, but sophomore QB Kellen Moore threw at TD pass to Titus Young on the second play of the 4th quarter to cut the Hawkeye lead to 3. After a 3-and-out by Iowa, Moore wasted no time at all and found Young again after a flee-flicker for a 58-yard score. Boise State would add two more scores in the fourth quarter to finish off the Big Ten runner-up.
BOISE STATE 35, IOWA 24

NEXT GAME:
TCU vs Boise State, 10:30pm Saturday Dec 26th, University of Phoenix Stadium

EAST REGION
LSU @ Cincinnati
Saturday Dec 19th, NOON
Weather at kickoff- 34 degrees and light snowfall
In their first game without new Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly running the show there were lots of questions about the Cincinnati offense, Tony Pike and Co. answered those questions quickly. Tony Pike connected with Mardy Gilyard for a 33-yard TD reception and hooked up with D.J. Woods on the teams second possession and the Bearcats jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the 1st quarter. LSU, who is not known for their offense, had a tough time playing catch-up. Charles Scott got LSU on the board early in the 2nd quarter with a 16 yard run. Josh Jasper added a 49-yard FG for the Tigers to cut the lead to 14-10, but Pike struck again. This time Pike connected with Armon Binns from 12 yards out to put the Bearcats up 21-10 at the half. LSU established a power running game with Scott in the second half, but could never overcome that early 1st quarter deficit.
CINCINNATI 37, LSU 21

Virginia Tech @ Florida
Saturday Dec 19th, NOON
Weather at kickoff- 58 degrees with strong winds
The Florida Gators are known most recently for their all-everything QB Tim Tebow, but this game was dominated by their all-everything defensive line. Yes, Tebow played well totaling over 300 yards of offense and score 4 TD’s (2 run, 2 pass), but the story of the day was the play of the Gators front 4. Virginia Tech freshman running back Ryan Williams had averaged 128 ypg this season, he had 14 yards on Saturday. Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham each had three sacks and the Gators totaled eight on the afternoon. The Hokies did not cross midfield until the 12:08 mark of the third quarter.
FLORIDA 31, VIRGINIA TECH 3

NEXT GAME
Cincinnati vs Florida, NOON Saturday Dec 26th, Gillette Stadium