Back to the "What if" CFPs...….here's a year full of debate. 2001: A Playoff Odyssey.
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Please vote as if it's December 10th, 2001. The Huskers lost their last game, but are still #2, etc. No bowls have been played.
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The Teams:
#1 Miami, 11-0, Big East Champions
Scoring offense: 3rd
Scoring defense: 1st
Strength of Schedule: 22st
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The preseason #2 team spent most of the year at #1. Games at #14 FSU, #14 Syracuse, and #12 Washington ended in massive blowout wins, and the season-ender at #14 VT was the only narrow win.
The offense was pretty balanced, passing for 250+ per game and rushing for 200+. QB Dorsey was steady and efficient, tossing to WR Johnson and TE Shockey the most. RB Portis had 1200 yds and 10 TD, with backups McGahee and Gore (9.1 ypc) mopping up. The offense scored 38+ points in 8 of 11 games.
The Canes defense held 8 teams to single-digits. Allowing 270 yards of total defense was all-time great. The strange part was that it was nearly balanced - allowing only 138 passing, but 133 rushing. The Canes were suffocating vs air attacks, allowing just 45% comp rate. They picked off 27 passes, led by S Reed's 9 - leading to 7 total defensive TDs. The Canes created 4.1 turnovers per game.
WR Johnson was an average KR, but CB Buchanan was a great PR, with 15.0 per return and 2 TD.
K Sievers hit 81% of FGs and P Capshaw's 42 ypk were good.
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#2 Nebraska, 11-1, Big 12
scoring offense - 9th
scoring defense - 10th
strength of schedule - 29th
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In the top 5 all season, the Cornhuskers ran roughshod over their schedule. Both ranked opponents were 2-score victories (#17 ND, #2 OU). No one could stay within 10 points of Nebraska until their loss to #14 CU (62-36) in the season finale. Yet, the BCS computers still had Nebraska #2 and participating in the playoff.
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The option offense ran for 315 ypg, led by Heisman-winner QB Crouch. He wasn't a great passer, but did run for 1115 yards and 18 TDs. I-back Diedrick also went over 1,000 (1299) and had 15 TDs himself. Backup RB Collins (6.9 ypc) and FB Davies (6.0) only helped the per-carry average of the team. WR Thomas led the receivers with 616 yds on 37 rec.
On defense, the Blackshirts held teams to 287 total yards per game. They were strong vs the run (117 pg) and pass. A 43% comp rate was really low and 19 INTs were a lot.
Special teams were pretty special, good KR (Davis), PR (Groce), and P (Larson). K Brown only hit 71% of his FG, though.
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#3 Colorado, 10-2, Big 12 Champions
scoring offense - 26th
scoring defense - 52nd
strength of schedule - 9th
The Buffs remarkable run to the playoff started the season unranked and losing to Fresno State! After that, CU settled down and beat 3 ranked teams (#24 CSU, at #12 KSU, and #25 A&M) before another loss at #9 Texas in a blowout. But the Buffs were able to redeem themselves in a huge blowout win over #2 Nebraska, then a revenge victory in the Big 12 CG vs #3 Texas.
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The inconsistent Colorado offense peaked at the right time, ending the season scoring 38, 40, 62, and 39 points. It was pretty balanced, averaging 206 passing and 229 rusing ypg. Using 2 QB (Ochs, Pesavento), the Buffs kept the chains moving enough. Reliable TE Graham was the main target, while RBs Brown and Purifoy each had 900+ yards. Brown set himself apart with 16 TD.
The defense didn't shut many teams down, but made stops when they needed to. Neither the pass D nor run D particularly shined, but they did pick off 17 passes.
Hollowell was an okay KR but a great PR, with 2 TDs and 18 ypr. K Flores hit 75% of his kicks and P Mariscal boomed punts at 44.5 ypk.
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#4 Oregon, 10-1, Pac 10 Champions
scoring offense - 16th
scoring defense - 30th
strength of schedule - 26th
The Ducks started with high expectations and lived up to them, with the lone loss being by 7 points to unranked Stanford. Oregon took care of the 3 ranked teams on the slate by one score vs #22 Wisconsin, at #14 Wazzou, and at #17 UCLA. The Ducks had other close calls as well, but always came out on the right side.
The offense was pretty prolific, and more balanced than most think. QB Harrington did have a good year, but Oregon also had 2 rushers go over 1,000 yards (RB Morris and Smith). WRs Parker and Howry had 9 receiving TDs each.
Defensively, the Ducks were a mess, allowing 285 yards passing per game. Only a 50% comp rate, so they allowed a lot of big plays through the air. The run D was better, but not elite. 21 INTs helped, but the defense was a team weakness.
On special teams, the return game was special, with great KR and PR in RB Smith and WR Howry. The kicking game was weak all around.
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The noteworthy folks of note:
QB Eric Crouch, Nebraska - O'Brien, Heisman, Camp
TE Daniel Graham, Colorado - Mackey, All-American
OT Bryant McKinnie, Miami - Outland, AA
QB Ken Dorsey, Miami - Maxwell
HC Larry Coker, Miami - AFCA, Bryant
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OL Toniu Fonori, Nebraska - AA
OL Andre Gurode, Colorado - AA
S Ed Reed, Miami - AA
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Hmmph....sort of a shortage for this playoff quartet. Oh well.
Who ya got and why?!?
Boy, this sure would be a fun podcast exercise......!!