THE REITMYER RANT PLAYOFF

ROUND 2

SOUTH REGION
Alabama vs Georgia Tech, played in Atlanta, GA, Georgia Dome
Saturday Dec 26th 3:30pm
Weather at kickoff- game played indoors.

In a match-up of two teams that love to run the ball, Georgia Tech and Alabama clashed in the trenches of the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Alabama ranks 12th in the nation running the ball and 2nd in run defense and total defense. The Tide lead the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 11 ppg. Georgia Tech on the other hand, is 2nd in the nation running the ball at over 300 yards per game, but 67th at stopping the run. Something would have to give in Atlanta.

Mark Ingram started the scoring on a 3-yard plunge on the Tides first drive that went 74 yards on 9 plays. Ingram had 6 carries for 51 yards on the drive. Not to be out down though Jonathan Dwyer got the ball on Tech’s first two plays and broke runs of 11 and 14 before a holding penalty stalled the drive forcing a GT punt. Bama scored again on their next possession and the one after that as they jumped out to a 21-3 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. The run-first offense from Georgia Tech is not made to play from behind and struggled mightily to stay in the game as Alabama continued to move the ball at will on the Yellow Jackets defense, taking a 31-10 lead into the locker room at halftime. Alabama put it into cruise control in the 2nd half and will host one of the two national semifinals next week.
ALABAMA 41, GEORGIA TECH 13

MIDWEST REGION
Texas vs Oregon, played in Dallas, TX, Cowboys Stadium
Saturday Dec 26th 7:00pm
Weather at kickoff- 37 degrees, partly cloudy

Two high-powered offenses met in the new Cowboys Stadium and lit up the $40M Jumbotron. This got started with both teams scoring on their first drives and having the feel that the team that has the ball last will win. Sure enough, that is exactly how it played out.

Colt McCoy led the Longhorns downfield and hit WR Dan Buckner on a 12-yard strike to get the scoring parade underway. Just three plays later, the Ducks tied the game on a 47-yard run by freshman sensation LaMichael James. This high-paced game continued through the first half as Oregon went into halftime holding a 24-21 lead. The second half was much of the same. Jeremiah Masoli scored on the QB keeper on the Ducks first possession of the second half to extend the lead to 10 points before Colt McCoy rallied his troops. McCoy and the Longhorns scored 21 straight points in the 3rd quarter to take a 42-31 lead going into the final quarter. After another James TD run for the Ducks to cut the lead to 42-38, the Oregon defense stepped up and did a little scoring of their own when Talmadge Jackson scooped up a Vondrell McGee fumble and raced 37 yards into the end zone.

With the score 45-42 Oregon, Colt McCoy once again worked his magic and put the Longhorns in field goal range with under a minute to play. Hunter Lawrence, who had already made 95 kicks this season, tied the game with a 38 yard field goal with :49 left on the clock. But 49 seconds was enough time for Jeremiah Masoli and the Ducks offense to get once last crack. Masoli completed 3 straight passes including a 29 yarder to Tight End Ed Dickson that moved the ball to the Texas 11 yard line with six seconds to play. Morgan Flint kicked home a 29 yard field goal as time expired to lift the Ducks to an upset victory over the second-seeded Texas Longhorns.
OREGON 48, TEXAS 45

WEST REGION
TCU vs Boise State, played in Phoenix, AZ, University of Phoenix Stadium
Saturday Dec 26th, 10:30pm
Weather at kickoff- game played indoors

Phoenix hosted a match-up of two non-BCS conference teams fighting to join the elite in the Final Four of the college football season. However, this game did not look like two non-BCS teams. One team looked far superior.

TCU dominated every aspect of this game from the start. The Horned Frogs defense forced a normally sure handed Boise State squad into five turnovers while the offense ran up and down the field on the Broncos. TCU was led by QB Andy Dalton who accounted for over 350 yards of total offense and 4 scores. Jerry Hughes and Tank Carder who were in the Boise State backfield all night led the defense.

After the embarrassing loss, Boise State head coach Chris Petersen has been linked to the newly available coaching job at Texas Tech.
TCU 51, BOISE STATE 21

EAST REGION
Cincinnati vs Florida, played in Boston, MA, Gillette Stadium
Saturday Dec 26th, NOON
Weather at kickoff- 38 degrees with a light fall of freezing rain

The Brian Kelly-less Cincinnati Bearcats wanted to prove to the nation that it was not the coach that got this team to 13-0, it was the players. What better stage to prove that than to beat the defending national champions and Tim Tebow?

Tim Tebow and the Florida Gator offense came out red-hot in the 1st quarter and took at 17-7 lead with the help of two 1-yard runs by Tebow. Tebow was sporting eye-black stickers with the word “URB” written on them, as opposed to his normal bible scriptures, in support of his head coach Urban Meyer who told his Gator team before the game that he would be stepping down after the game due to health issues.

Tony Pike and the Bearcats offense got rolling in their first possession of the second quarter as they drove 89 yards on 9 plays for a score. Pike was 8-8 on the drive and accounted for 84 yards. The drive was capped off by the only running play of the drive, a 5-yard draw to Isaiah Pead. After both defenses held up Florida ended the half with a 37-yard field goal by Caleb Sturgis as time expired.

The size and speed of Florida started to wear down the Cincinnati team as the game grew on and it showed. The Gators established a running game between Tebow and speed back Jeffrey Demps and the Gators pass-rush pressured Pike and the Bearcat offense into uncommon mistakes.

After the game Urban Meyer said that he would be back next week despite what he told his players before the game saying, “I thought it would motivate them a little bit and the would want to go out and win one for me. I would never leave Florida; I am living the dream right now!”
FLORIDA 34, CINCINNATI 20

NATIONAL SEMI-FINALS
Oregon @ Alabama, Saturday Jan 2nd, 8:00 start
AND
Florida @ TCU, Saturday Jan 2nd, 3:30 start