The last college football game of the 2024-2025 season to be played on a Saturday may have occurred last weekend, but there’s little reason to start feeling the blues quite yet.
The expanded Playoff has not only suspended our yearning for the next season to begin – it has also provided a longer bridge between the chaos of Bowl Mania and the next big sporting events (namely, the Super Bowl and March Madness) that keep many people in the country occupied during the winter months.
The fact that four bluebloods are left in the inaugural 12-team Playoff is just icing on the cake for the powers that be.
As we approach the finale of the season (only three games remain including the national title), the Von Hugendong Bowl Mania group is far from settled. More than a small handful of entries still have a mathematical shot at winning the group, with Matman Robinson still holding onto the lead that he has had for a large part of the postseason. Shout out to Matman, a new dad who I’m sure could put the Von Hugendong pool winnings to good use. I hear diapers aren’t cheap.
Let’s take a look at the first of the two College Football Playoff semifinal matchups, which takes place in one of the few areas of the country not currently experiencing some form of challenging weather.
Capital One Orange Bowl
#7 Notre Dame vs. #6 Penn State (Thursday, 7:30 PM ET – ESPN)
Despite all the flak that each of these programs have caught, not only this season but in general over the course of the past decade and arguably longer, both Notre Dame and Penn State arrive at this game having won two matchups apiece in this season’s CFP and were the favorites in all four of the respective matchups. Sure, looking at the brands that the Nittany Lions dispatched, the casual fan would expect Penn State to still be standing. But that same casual fan would also be quick to remind you that James Franklin is not to be trusted in “big games”. Newsflash to the uninformed: no matter who you play at this point, they’re all big games. Penn State was generally in control of the first two, proving that its offense can move the ball against any defense and doing as well as any team this season accomplishing the nearly impossible task of slowing down Ashton Jeanty. The Nittany Lions appear ready to meet the challenge that is a Notre Dame defense that has allowed at least 400 total yards just a single time this season.
That Notre Dame defense is why the Fighting Irish are playing in this game. Yes, Riley Leonard was gritty and helped the offense move the ball effectively against Georgia, especially in the second half when it became clear that limiting the Bulldogs’ possessions would be key to advancing. But without Al Golden’s package of defensive pressure looks, Gunner Stockton may have looked more like the guy who helped Georgia come from behind against Texas in the SEC title game. Instead, Stockton looked like someone with limited gametime and Georgia’s offense sputtered as a result. Whether Golden will opt to employ similar tactics against Drew Allar is going to be the most interesting aspect of this game. Allar has shown an ability to pick apart defenses that are overly aggressive, and his favorite target Tyler Warren is a matchup problem for even the elite defensively. A more conservative approach will likely be more successful, but it will also likely result in longer possessions for the Nittany Lions. Thus, Notre Dame’s run first offensive approach may be pressured to do more with less (time, that is).
With Jeremiyah Love slated to play but perhaps not 100 percent, the Fighting Irish may lean more heavily on Leonard’s legs and the stable of backs by committee. While Penn State has been burned by a strong rushing attack earlier this season, I don’t think Notre Dame is going to be able to get quite the push up front it needs to be wildly successful in the trenches. Penn State has an upper hand offensively in terms of being able to score quickly, a factor that I think will play a part in a game that will be close in the fourth quarter. This game could certainly go either way, but I’m prognosticating that an all-Big Ten national title game will still be a possibility by the end of the night.
My Pick: 27-23 Penn State
Bowl Mania Confidence: 25 points
