Texas Football: Did Georgia deserve spot in CFP after all?
What happened in the College Football Playoff Semifinals
Georgia’s fans and players quickly went up in arms as the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff Semifinal game moved along between Clemson and Notre Dame. Even some Texas football fans on social media were favoring Georgia over Notre Dame, which says a lot. We’re not going to post everything that exploded on social media, but there was a significant outcry for the mistake from the Selection Committee.
Text from an FBS head coach: "When will the (CFP) committee actually watch personnel? Notre Dame doesn't have players anywere close to the three other teams or Georgia. Like watching a NFL team play a college team."
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 30, 2018
So best and most deserving. We all agree Georgia is better than Notre Dame now however Notre Dame was 12-0. Let this be a lesson to us all
— Booger (@ESPNBooger) December 29, 2018
List of teams that would have competed with Clemson as well as Notre Dame has:
— Dayne Young (@dayneyoung) December 30, 2018
Georgia
Ohio State
UCF
Vanderbilt
Clemson’s scout team
Valdosta State
Atlanta Braves
The Roots
The A-Team
Nick Saban’s grandchildren
Red squad from Wild ’n Out
Toon Squad
Dillon Panthers
By all indications, Clemson and Notre Dame looked to be a much closer game on paper than it was in reality. The combination of the suspension of the All-American defensive lineman along with a true freshman quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, on the national stage made for a game that had some favor to head coach Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame fell completely flat on its face at AT&T Stadium in the Cotton Bowl. The offense never got its footing, and junior quarterback Ian Book and the Irish fell by a final score of 30-3. Clemson was able to toss in its backups on both sides of the ball early in the second half, including backup quarterback Chase Brice.
Moreover, what we saw from Heisman winning quarterback Kyler Murray and the Oklahoma offense was much more formidable than Notre Dame against Clemson. Oklahoma got off to a slow start against Alabama in the Orange Bowl, but both sides of the ball for them stepped up in the second half. It just proved too little too late in the 45-34 defeat. We shouldn’t bash Oklahoma for the test it gave to the Crimson Tide.