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Sunday, December 25, 2011

College Football Playoffs: Semi-Finals

The semi-finals of the Banshee Sports College Football Playoffs gave us two dream match-ups.  The match-ups that BCS-bashers have been begging for.  Oklahoma State played Alabama.  Oregon played LSU.  These games were played at neutral sites selected in geographically neutral locations.  And boy did the SEC teams miss the home cooking.

Oklahoma State 31, Alabama 24.  This game was played in Houston at Reliant Stadium.  This was a see-saw battle all game long.  There were six lead changes.  Alabama's run defense was stifling in this game.  The Tide held the Cowboys to -8 yards on the ground.  But, the Cowboy defense stood tall when they needed to, too.  The game was tied 24-24 with 1:40 to go when Alabama intercepted a pass and ran it back to the OSU 40 yard-line.  Then the Cowboys sacked McCarron on three consecutive plays to force a punt.  The Cowboys got the ball back on their own 27 yard-line with just over a minute to play.  Weeden completed a long pass to the Alabama 1 yard-line with only 20 seconds remaining.  Moore scored a rushing touchdown from there to give the Cowboys the lead with virtually no time left on the clock.

Oregon 43, LSU 36.  This game was played at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.  This game was decided by two players.  For LSU, Jordan Jefferson played like the girl with a curl.  When he was good, he was very good.  But when he was bad, he was horrid.  Jefferson threw five touchdown passes in the game.  But he balanced that out by throwing three interceptions.  Two of those were returned for touchdowns.  The player of the game for the Ducks was Rob Beard, the place kicker.  Beard was 5-5 in the game, including one from 52 yards.  The Tigers scored late to pull within a touchdown, but the Ducks were able to hold on for the biggest upset of the tournament.



Championship.  The championship game will be played in the afternoon on New Year's Eve at the venerable Rose Bowl.  This seemed like an appropriate setting.  It has history.  It has a mild climate.  And, it's geographically appropriate for these two teams.  The Cowboys will be considered the home team by virtue of their higher seeding.  That only matters for purposes of uniform selection.  Fortunately, the Ducks have an extensive wardrobe to choose from.  Check back in 2012 to get the results.

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