Which Heisman winner reaches the championship game?

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Back in 1964, Navy’s Roger Staubach and Notre Dame’s John Huarte quarterbacked their teams against one another with the Fighting Irish shutting out the Midshipmen, 40-0.

What did these two players have in common? Both were Heisman Trophy winners, although Huarte would not receive the award until after the season.

On January 4, 2005, Jason White and his Oklahoma Sooners played Matt Leinart and his USC Trojans in the Orange Bowl. Both quarterbacks already had won the Heisman but the point differential was almost similar as the Trojans won 36.

Approximately four years later, two more Heisman Trophy winners met as another Oklahoma quarterback, Sam Bradford, squared off against Florida’s Tim Tebow in the BCS Championship Game. The one-loss Gators defeated the one-loss Sooners, 24-14.

Fast forward to this season and there are two more Heisman Trophy winners taking on one another, this time in the 2015 Rose Bowl. The victor moves on to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against either Alabama or Ohio State.

Oregon’s Marcus Mariota has been on fire all season long but has been most effective since Nov. 8 when the Ducks defeated Utah. The junior has thrown 12 touchdown passes with zero interceptions since then, leading Oregon to 193 points – the largest four-game total in the team’s 12-game FBS schedule.

The Ducks also have put it together defensively allowing just 17 points per game over their last five contests. The defense gave up an average of 28 points per game in its first seven FBS matchups.

They will need their defense to stay on course against an explosive Florida State offense and last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Jameis Winston. The sophomore had an off season in 2014 but still threw for 3,559 yards – ninth best in FBS play.

When discussing Winston, most people talk about his propensity to turn the ball over (17 interceptions in 2014). However, only one quarterback with at least 12 interceptions completed a higher percentage of passes than his 65 percent and that was Boise State’s Grant Hedrick.

It is true Winston has not performed as well as he had in 2013 but it has been clear since the first game of this season that the talent at Florida State is nowhere near the level it was last year. Moreover, Winston should be given a ton of credit for keeping the Seminoles unbeaten despite so many close finishes.

The key to this matchup is not at quarterback or even at running back where both teams possess tremendous freshmen (Royce Freeman at Oregon and Dalvin Cook at Florida State). The game will be won by the team with the better defense.

It is difficult to judge which team that is, especially since Oregon plays in a more offensive-minded conference which skews the numbers in Florida State’s favor. To wit, the Seminoles have allowed fewer yards, fewer yards per play and fewer yards per carry.

However, Oregon has given up fewer yards per pass attempt and, surprisingly, the Ducks have allowed fewer points even with seven of their 13 games against top 50 offenses. Florida State played just three contests against top 50 offenses. Oregon does have to deal with the absence of cornerback Ifo Ekpre- Olomu as the senior is out with a knee injury, which even things out a bit.

When all is said and done, look for the Ducks and Mariota to get the best of Florida State and Winston with a 38-31 victory.

ALABAMA AND OHIO STATE MEET IN SUGAR BOWL

Which team will play Oregon for the title? Alabama seems to be the logical choice as the Crimson Tide have been in the AP top four all but two weeks of the season while the Buckeyes, outside of the first week, did not see the top 10 until week 12.

Despite its high ranking, Alabama had just four easy wins since the end of September. In the five other games, the Tide had three victories (and one loss) by a touchdown or less. The other matchup was an 11-point win over Auburn, a game they trailed heading into the fourth quarter.

Ohio State made it this far due to its dominating 59-0 performance over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game. Cardale Jones threw three touchdown passes and Ezekiel Elliott did his best Melvin Gordon impersonation with 220 yards on 20 carries for the 12-1 Buckeyes.

One thing is for certain – Ohio State will not shut out Alabama. Blake Sims, for all his faults, is one hundred times better than Joel Stave. Furthermore, Alabama’s offense is the best one Ohio State has faced outside of the possible exception of Michigan State.

Ohio State’s offense will be unable to keep up with the Crimson Tide, especially with Jones leading the way for the Buckeyes. It is one thing to get the job done against Wisconsin up 24-0 just 16 minutes into the contest, but it will be a completely different scenario against an Alabama defense ranked 4th in the country in scoring defense.

Expect a blowout in the Sugar Bowl as Alabama wins, 35-23.

Categorized in: NCAA Football