Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530431
44 JANUARY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED C O L L E G E F O O T B A L L P L A Y O F F In the final year of Texas' near-three-decade stay in the Big 12, the Longhorns advanced to and won the conference championship game. It only took one year for them to get all the way to the SEC title game, too. Steve Sarkisian simply has this program humming the last two seasons. "We knew it would be a heck of a challenge to get to an SEC championship," Sarkisian said. "And it took all the way until the last game to go do that. And to get it done on the road in a re- newed rivalry with [Texas] A&M, it was a special moment. "But that moment ended when we got off the bus back here in Austin. It was, 'OK, we've got to get back to work because the mis- sion's not done, and there's more work to do.'" That's been the story of this Texas football season — special moments coupled with maintaining a chip on Bevo's shoulder. There are still plenty of doubters, and those skeptics have good reason for pause. When the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings came out Dec. 3, the Longhorns hadn't beaten anybody ranked in that poll. Not one team. What the Longhorns had done, though, is beat a lot of teams other College Football Playoff contenders could not. Ohio State, for instance, got knocked off by Michi- gan in Columbus. Texas beat Michigan by 19 points in Ann Arbor. Alabama got drummed by Oklahoma, 24-3. Texas scolded the Sooners, 34-3, in the rivals' annual October meeting in the Cotton Bowl. In the Longhorns' one shot in the regular season to beat a CFP- ranked team, they lost to Georgia at home, 30-15. That's the card non-believers like to play over and over again, especially after they fell to the Bulldogs again, 22- 19 in overtime, in the SEC Cham- pionship Game Dec. 7 in Atlanta. Fact of the matter remains, though; Texas has one of the highest-rated defenses, like Notre Dame, and the Longhorns have beaten most of the teams on their schedule pretty badly, like Notre Dame. The Irish and Horns even came away with the same margin of victory over Texas A&M — a win by 10 at Kyle Field. Notre Dame and Texas are similar in many ways. So, if you're high on the Irish — and if you're read- ing this, it means you likely are — don't sleep on the Longhorns making some noise in this big dance. — Tyler Horka The knock on Penn State under head coach James Franklin has been that his teams couldn't beat the Big Ten big boys, and until it found a way to knock off Ohio State and Michigan, its playoff hopes were slim under the old four-team format. So, when the playoffs ex- panded to 12 teams, popular belief was that the Nittany Lions might boost their inclusion odds more than any other school in the country, and finally get a chance to play in the postseason for a national title. That theory proved true, and now Penn State finds itself in its first-ever College Football Playoff after a handful of near misses. Balanced would be the best way to describe this team. It en- tered the Big Ten Championship Game against Oregon ranked No. 19 nationally in total offense (442.8 yards per game) and No. 4 in total defense (266.8 yards allowed per game). The Nittany Lions averaged 33.3 points a game during the regular season and allowed only 14.0 points per outing. Their first-down defense was No. 5 in the country, which often puts opponents in difficult down-and- distance situations. That advantage helped produce 12 interceptions during the regular season and 2.67 sacks per game, both top-30 marks in the country. The Nittany Lions' defense also averages 7.1 tack- les for loss per game, which has helped lead to 17 takeaways, the fifth-best mark in the Big Ten during the regular season. Offensively, balance is again the key for Penn State. Behind dual-threat junior quarterback Drew Allar, the Nittany Lions av- erage 194.7 rushing yards and 248.2 passing yards a game, so they can beat opponents in ei- ther way. Other than some sketchy spe- cial teams play — Penn State has given up three blocked kicks and its return games have gen- erated little — it's hard to poke many holes in the quality of this team that played four one-score games this regular season and won three of them. As far as common opponents with Notre Dame, Penn State won 33-30 in overtime at USC Oct. 12 and 49-10 at Purdue Nov. 16. The Irish won 66-7 at Purdue Sept. 14 and 49-35 at USC Nov. 30. — Todd D. Burlage NO. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions NO. 4 Texas Longhorns First-Round Matchup: vs. No. 12 Clemson Dec. 21 in Austin, Texas Potential Quarterfinal Opponent: No. 4 Arizona State Jan. 1 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Atlanta 2024 Record: 11-2, 7-1 SEC Head coach: Steve Sarkisian (36-16, fourth season at UT; 82-51, 11th season overall) Soonest the Irish could see them: College Football Playoff National Championship Jan. 20 in Atlanta All-time series vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame leads 9-3 Last meeting vs. Notre Dame: Longhorns 50, Irish 47 in 2OT (Sept. 4, 2016, at Austin, Texas) First-Round Matchup: vs. No. 11 SMU Dec. 21 in University Park, Pa. Potential Quarterfinal Opponent: No. 3 Boise State Dec. 31 in the Fiesta Bowl at Glendale, Ariz. 2024 Record: 11-2, 8-1 Big Ten Head coach: James Franklin (123- 56, 14th season at PSU and overall) Soonest the Irish could see them: National semifinals Jan. 9 in the Orange Bowl at Miami or Jan. 10 in the Cotton Bowl at Arlington, Texas All-time series vs. Notre Dame: The series is tied 9-9-1 Last meeting vs. Notre Dame: Nittany Lions 31, Irish 10 (Sept. 8, 2007, at University Park, Pa.) 2024 STAT LEADERS Rushing: RB Tre Wisner (863 yards, 3 TD) Passing: QB Quinn Ewers (2,665 yards, 25 TD, 9 INT) Receiving: TE Gunnar Helm (611 yards, 5 TD) Tackles: LB Anthony Hill Jr. (90) Sacks: EDGE Colin Simmons (8) Interceptions: CB Jahdae Barron (5) 2024 SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 31 Colorado State W, 52-0 Sept. 7 at Michigan W, 31-12 Sept. 14 UTSA W, 56-7 Sept. 21 Louisiana-Monroe W, 51-3 Sept. 28 Mississippi State W, 35-13 Oct. 12 vs. Oklahoma# W, 34-3 Oct. 19 Georgia L, 30-15 Oct. 26 at Vanderbilt W, 27-24 Nov. 9 Florida W, 49-17 Nov. 16 at Arkansas W, 20-10 Nov. 23 Kentucky W, 31-14 Nov. 30 at Texas A&M W, 17-7 Dec. 7 vs. Georgia* L, 22-19 (OT) Dec. 21 Clemson^ (TNT) 4 p.m. # at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas * SEC Championship at Atlanta ^ College Football Playoff first round 2024 STAT LEADERS Rushing: RB Nicholas Singleton (838 yards, 7 TD) Passing: QB Drew Allar (2,894 yards, 21 TD, 7 INT) Receiving: TE Tyler Warren (1,062 yards, 6 TD) Tackles: S Jaylen Reed (79) Sacks: DE Abdul Carter (10) Interceptions: S Jaylen Reed (3) 2024 SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 31 at West Virginia W, 34-12 Sept. 7 Bowling Green W, 34-27 Sept. 21 Kent State W, 56-0 Sept. 28 Illinois W 21-7 Oct. 5 UCLA W, 27-11 Oct. 12 at USC W, 33-30 (OT) Oct. 26 at Wisconsin W, 28-13 Nov. 2 Ohio State L, 20-13 Nov. 9 Washington W, 35-6 Nov. 16 at Purdue W, 49-10 Nov. 23 at Minnesota W, 26-25 Nov. 30 Maryland W, 44-7 Dec. 7 vs. Oregon* L, 45-37 Dec. 21 SMU^ (TNT) 12 p.m. * Big Ten Championship at Indianapolis ^ College Football Playoff first round