CFP quarterfinals takeaways: Lane Kiffin is irrelevant for a day; new blood prevails over blue bloods
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The College Football Playoff quarterfinals were dominated by defense until the last of the games provided the closest score in addition to dazzling offense and the third upset.
With one game on New Year's Eve and three on New Year's Day, here are the most obvious takeaway takes on an appropriate theme …
Out with the blue bloods, in with the new blood
Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama won four of the last five CFP championships and seven of the 11 since the CFP replaced the BCS in 2014. But those blue bloods are now singing the blues after falling in the quarterfinals.
After No. 2 Ohio State was shocked by No. 10 Miami 24-14 on New Year's Eve, No. 9 Alabama was thoroughly embarrassed by No. 1 Indiana 38-3 and No. 3 Georgia was upset by No. 6 Ole Miss 39-34 on Thursday.
The most recent national champion of the teams advancing to the semifinals is Miami, which in 2001 capped a 12-0 season with a victory over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl. Ole Miss has to go back nearly to the leather helmet era for its 1960 national title and neither Indiana nor Oregon has ever won it all.
Read more:Plaschke: College football needs to stop diminishing the national treasure that is the Rose Bowl
Indiana was 9-27 from 2021 to 2024 before authoring an astounding turnaround the last two seasons, so please forgive ESPN's Holly Rowe for asking coach Curt Cignetti after the win to explain why the moment wasn't too big for the Hoosiers.
And please forgive Cignetti for getting a tad testy.
"Why should [the moment] be too big, because our name is Indiana?" he said. "We've got a lot of veteran starters that played a lot of successful football in their careers. They have high character.
"We've come through in the clutch moments. I'm proud of the way they responded and prepared and met this challenge."
The same certainly can be said of the other surviving teams. Bring on the new blood in the semifinals when Miami takes on Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 and Indiana faces Oregon in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9.
Read more:Hot coaching commodity Lane Kiffin has a tough decision 12 years after USC fired him
Lane Kiffin's brief brush with irrelevancy
Lane Kiffin's messy departure from Ole Miss to take the reins at LSU six weeks ago is well-chronicled. Details were predictably rehashed during pregame coverage of the Sugar Bowl, although On3 reported that ESPN put the kibosh on Kiffin's request to appear in the broadcast booth during the game.
And once the game began, Kiffin was persona non grata. The focus rightly turned to new coach Pete Golding and the Ole Miss players.
Rebuffed by ESPN, Kiffin didn't even attend the Sugar Bowl, opting for an LSU women's basketball game instead. He did take a parting shot at ESPN, pointing out on social media that every analyst on the network's "College GameDay" show picked Georgia to win.
"What are you guys thinking?!?!? @CollegeGameDay Have you not watched ???" Kiffin wrote.
The victory, however, spotlights the awkward dilemma of several Rebels assistant coaches who will join Kiffin at LSU. It's unclear how many — if any — will jump to their new job now or continue at Ole Miss until the season ends.
The transfer portal opened Friday and those assistants have been meeting with Kiffin to help with LSU's recruiting while still coaching Ole Miss through the playoffs.
"Everything has been extremely clear and transparent between myself and Pete Golding through constant communication, including a plan all the way through this historic championship run,” Kiffin told ESPN on Friday.
Kiffin is pulling for Ole Miss to continue its run if for no other reason than money. As if his $91-million contract with LSU wasn't enough, he will be paid a $500,000 bonus for the Ole Miss win over Georgia. He'll get another $250,000 if the Rebels advance to the final and another $250,000 if they are crowned champions. LSU is covering the performance incentives from his previous contract.
Some Ole Miss players were outspoken about Kiffin's continual presence. Senior defensive tackle Zxavian Harris called it a “slap in the face," adding that Kiffin was "just trying to steal our shine. That’s all he’s been trying to do is steal our shine.”
Killing a game's last pesky second
The absurdity of the Sugar Bowl officiating crew's determination to squeeze the last second off the clock was best illustrated by the fact that the large stage where the postgame award ceremony was to be held was assembled and wheeled to midfield, then off the field, then back on, then back off, and finally back on a third time.
Sean McDonough, whose wry, understated commentary as ESPN play-by-play announcer is one of college football's delights, at one point cut through the chaos by saying simply, "There's the hardest working stage crew in America re-assembling the stage."
After Lucas Carneiro booted a 47-yard field goal to put Ole Miss up 37-34 with six seconds to play, Georgia's Landon Roldan fielded the Rebels' kickoff in the end zone, ran a few yards and threw a backward pass to no one in particular.
The ball bounced out of bounds, hitting the pylon on its way out for a safety, extending the Ole Miss lead to 39-34. Game over? Wait, one second remained on the clock, so officials waded through the confetti, broke up the handshake between Golding and Georgia coach Kirby Smart and ushered everyone back to the sidelines.
Georgia executed an onside kick from its own 20-yard line and Cash Jones fell on it. No time ran off the clock but, again, nearly everyone thought the game was over, Golding was given a Gatorade bath and the stage for a second time began weaving its way to midfield.
McDonough kept his cool while questioning the officials for prolonging the obvious, saying the ordeal was “excruciating” and asking ESPN rules expert Matt Austin, “Does common sense need to prevail here?”
Georgia got one snap from scrimmage and had some frantic fun with it, with players making nine lateral tosses like a fledgling rugby squad before quarterback Gunner Stockton was tackled to end the game.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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