Ohio State led by 21 after barely 11 minutes. Penn State led by 28 after 29. Texas spotted Clemson a touchdown, then went on a 31-3 run. Indiana trailed longer in one half in South Bend than in the previous 12 games combined.
We seem to have stumbled across a new, spectacularly combustible substance: playoff home-field advantage. The four home teams in the College Football Playoff's first ever first round were favored to win by a combined 38 points. They won by 77, and that's with quite a few garbage-time points involved. The atmospheres were overwhelming. We didn't get any actually thrilling games, but we got college football at its most intense and distilled. It was an enlightening experience. And it set up four dynamite quarterfinals.
Here are the main takeaways.
Jump to:
Ohio State 42, Tennessee 17
Texas 38, Clemson 24
Penn State 38, SMU 10
Notre Dame 27, Indiana 17
Ohio State 42, Tennessee 17
What just happened?
Angry Ohio State showed up, that's what. Two years ago, Ohio State responded to an embarrassing loss to rival Michigan by playing its best game of the season and all but beating eventual national champion Georgia. This year, the Buckeyes responded to Ryan Day's most embarrassing loss to Michigan yet by issuing a comprehensive beatdown to a talented Tennessee team. Whatever works.
Quarterback Will Howard played the best game of his college football career, running back TreVeyon Henderson ran wild, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith reminded everyone that he's basically already ready for the NFL, JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer dominated in the pass rush, Tennessee had to work super hard for every single first down ... it was just a complete performance in every way. Where the hell was this three weeks ago??