It's December 6th, 1982. Here is the college football playoff match-ups:
#1 Georgia vs #4 SMU
#2 Penn State vs #3 Nebraska
Who will win the national championship playoff???
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#1 Georgia, 11-0, SEC Champions
23rd in scoring offense
10th in scoring defense
28th in strength of schedule
The Dawgs spent the entire season ranked in the top 10. They had several close wins along the way, including the season-opener vs #11 Clemson, winning by 6. Georgia's only other ranked opponent was Florida in the WLOCP, with UGA taking it easily, 44-0. That win springboarded them to #1.
Offensively, Georgia is pretty simple: Herschel left, Herschel right, Herschel up the middle. RB Walker is UGA's biggest trheat by far, with 1700+ yards and 16 TDs. The passing game is an afterthought and ineffective, with a poor completion % and overall rating (99.0). No other RB had 70 carries for the Dawgs and no receiver had as many as 13 catches. Walker had 340 touches.
Defensively, UGA was better at preventing points than yards. The run D wasn't special, and teams could pass some on the Dawgs, but UGA picked off a lot of passes on the year (35!!!!). That turnover ratio helped keep Georgia undefeated, for sure.
Good special teams, with the highlight being kicker Kevin Butler's 81% FG rate.
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#2 Penn State, 10-1, Independent
5th in scoring offense
22nd in scoring defense
3rd in strength of schedule
Like UGA, the Nittany Lions spent all year in the top 10. While PSU did suffer a loss (at #4 Alabama, by 21), they also faced a much tougher schedule. Penn State beat #2 Nebraska by 3, shut out #13 WV on the road, went into South Bend and beat #13 ND by ten, then finished the regular season with a win over #5 Pitt.
Unlike UGA, Penn State's offense was diverse. QB Blackledge had a high volume of pass attempts for the era, and threw for 22 TDs. He had several targets to choose from, including Kenny Jackson and G.Garrity. RB Curt Warner (1,000+ yds) kept the chains moving, as he and backup J.Williams averaged over 5.2 ypc and each caught over 20 passes.
PSU's defense swiped 20 passes of their own in 1982, but did allow it's fair share of yardage - both through the air and on the ground.
PSU boasts a strong return game and punter, and had 2 kickers - one good, one not.
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#3 Nebraska, 11-1, Big 8 Champions
1st in scoring offense
8th in scoring defense
38th in strength of schedule
Nebraska spent all year in the top 8, despite its September loss to Penn State. After losing on the road by 3, the Huskers didn't look back, reeling off 9 straight wins, including at #20 Auburn 41-7 and vs rival #11 OU by four. Unfortunately, the rest of the schedule wasn't very tough.
The option offense hit on all cylinders in '82, scoring 40+ points in eight of the twelve games. The offensive steamroller ran for 395 yards per game and QB Gill was careful with the ball (11 TD, 3 INT). RB Rozier had nearly 1700 yds at 7 yards per carry and 15 TD. Four other ball-carriers contributed 400+ yards and good averages. Nebraska's passing game actually had 3 threats - Brown, Williams, and Fryar.
Six Husker foes couldn't put up over 10 points. The pass D kept teams to 48% completions and the run D was good/not great.
While the special teams were mostly average, the punt return game was all-time great. RB Jeff Smith and WR Fryar both averaged over 15 yards per return and a TD each.
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#4 SMU, 10-0-1, SWC Champions
16th in scoring offense
11th in scoring defense
73rd in strength of schedule
As with the other three teams in the playoff, SMU spent the season ranked in the top 10. With several close wins vs unranked teams (by 3 vs TCU, by 3 at Baylor, by 6 vs Houston, by 7 vs TexTech), SMU seemed to play to its level of competition. The Mustangs beat #19 Texas in Austin by two scores and ended the season with a tie vs #9 Arkansas.
SMU didn't pass much, and when they passed, they didn't complete many of their attempts (47.5%), but when they completed them, the passing game was great (high yards per attempt average, good pass rating, strong ratio - 10 TD to 3 INT). The strength of the offense was the Pony Express RB Eric Dickerson (1600 yds, 7.0 ypc, 17 TD) and Craig James (900 yds).
The defense kept opposing running games in check, allowing under 3 yards per carry. Opponents completed just 47% of their passes. Only one team scored over 20 points vs SMU. Picking off 22 passes probably helped a lot with that stat.
The Mustangs didn't have a good return game and the kicker was average, but RB James, as the punter, was great (45 yd avg).
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Award Winners and Notable Players Involved:
RB Herschel Walker, Georgia - Heisman, Camp, Maxwell, All-American
QB Todd Blackledge, Penn State - O'Brien
C Dave Rimington, Nebraska - Outland, Lombardi, AA
HC Joe Paterno, Penn State - Coach of the Year
RB Mike Rozier, Nebraska - AA
DB Terry Hoage, Georgia - AA
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What say you?!?
