All In The Span Of Three Days

  Well, the college football playoffs are over. To very few, the winner was no surprise. At least to the 60-65% wearing Crimson and Cream in the University of Miami’s stadium, seemingly dwarfing those clad in Orange, Green and White. 

The Indian Hoosiers prevailed by a score of 27-21. Closer than the two previous games IU won. Miami was absolutely no pushover. 

A number of top tier NFL players on the U’s squad showed up to play. They were a formidable opponent and those who bellyached that the Hurricanes didn’t belong in the playoffs got that wrong. Ditto those who bad-mouthed the Atlantic Coast Conference for fielding inferior teams. Miami’s two loses were to ACC schools—Louisville by 3 points and at SMU by 6. Defeating Texas A&M, Ohio State with their roster full of pros and Mississippi wasn’t exactly chump change here.  Kudos to the Miami team and Head Coach and Miami alumnus Mario Cristobal for energizing his rabid fan base. 

This was a physical game. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana’s  star quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner took plenty of shots from the Hurricanes’ pass rush, some of them questionable in their legality. One led to a bloody lip for the kid who grew up 2.2 miles from the Miami campus, played on it and whose mother played tennis there while attending the school. His parents still live there and his father is a valued member of the medical staff at the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital adjacent to campus. 

Mendoza and his mates didn’t have an awesome night offensively. Miami played somewhat better. As actually alluded to, this was smash-mouth football. Physicality was the name of the game. 

What separated the teams were two mistakes by Miami and one gutsy play by Mendoza. Miami punted near its end zone and sloppy protection allowed the kick to be blocked and for IU to fall on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. And in the final drive with IU clinging to its lead, heralded QB Carson Beck, who transferred in from Georgia, where he backed up Stetson Bennett on a championship team and who has NFL aspirations, threw an ill-advised pass which was intercepted. Game over after two keel downs by Mendoza. 

As for the gutsy call, IU head man Curt Cignetti related after the game that the play in which Mendoza scored the deciding points to put IU out of reach, was a quarterback draw installed this week. It worked almost to perfection as Mendoza bumped and cut his way into the end zone. 

Cignetti is a force. He is a football lifer with a pedigree from a College Football Hall of Fame father as his mentor and from Nick Saban, whose staff he was on at Alabama. As Cignetti famously says, look it up—I am a winner!

To many, this Indiana team was a team of destiny. Some say it is the greatest team ever. I don’t know how to measure others before it, so that is for those who believe what they want to believe. That they went 16-0, tying a Yale team from 1894 which played a looser schedule,  is an accomplishment. Indiana’s schedule was not as easy as others think—even Kennesaw State was a conference champ and played in a bowl game.Only three of the 15 opponents (they played Oregon twice) had losing records. And three of the five road games were closer scores than any other games until the championship game. 

Mendoza is a determined kid. Smart, affable and unafraid. I don’t know if he will succeed in the NFL at a mercurial stop like Las Vegas, where Tom Brady is part owner but Mark Davis can be a bit crazed in his decision-making. It will be dependent on how the draft goes, trades and signings progress and who the next head coach and offensive coordinator will be. Patience will be needed in stop where anything but patience is welcome. 

Indiana’s rise from basketball school and football doormat has been marvelous. They used the N-I-L and transfer portal magically. Mendoza and the kids who followed Cignetti from James Madison are proof. Talent neglected on the way up and who had a chip on their shoulder while raising their games under coaches who recognized the talent was always there. 

Look at Mendoza, Offered only to walk on at Miami and considered to be locked in at Yale, when California swooped in. He led the Bears to bowl games in his two seasons there. Cal is not exactly a football powerhouse. Indiana spotted him, recruited him to their stellar business school for grad school (he finished Cal as a redshirt sophomore). The rest is history. 

Another Miami kid, D’Angelo Ponds was a lockdown corner back. All 5’9” and 173 pounds of him denying pass after pass to taller receivers. This guy will play in the NFL. A JMU guy loyal to Cignetti, who believed in him. 

That’s what IU was made of. Guys who were overlooked. Discarded. Whose fire burned hotter than almost anybody recognized. The coaches found them and molded these unsung players into a team ready to compete harder than anybody else.

In a couple of years we will see the pros littered with players from both teams. Some will star and some will filter through and out of the league. But what will be most memorable is that they competed against each other for the national championship. 

Which proved to be a coronation for the Indiana Hoosiers, two years out from playing crappy football. Every sport has its Cinderella story. Will the glass slipper still fit next year? Or in another year?

The NFL has set its Final Four. New England plays at Denver for the AFC title and Los Angeles travels to Seattle in the NFC. In games which cold and snow affected some while at least in Denver the lucky bad breaks went in favor of the Broncos. That obviously refers to Denver QB Bo Nix suffering a fractured ankle on the last play of the game-winning drive after Buffalo QB Josh Allen, the reigning M.V.P., was picked off on a questionable non-call in OT. 

Houston could not handle the cold, Drake Maye or the Patriots defense. I have continually thought Mike Vrable is the coach of the year for completely turning around the franchise of his playing days into a Super Bowl contender with a win over Denver, which is forced to start a back up QB on Sunday who hardly has played. 

The Rams survived a great throw by Bears QB Caleb Williams which tied the game with seconds remaining and put the Cardiac Bears in position once more to pull magic out of a hat. Except that on the supposed game-winning drive, Williams ended the Bears season with a poorly thrown ball which was intercepted. From miracle work to dunce. 

LAR went down the field and the ‘Thicker Kicker’, a rookie out of Missouri, banged through the winning field goal. The Rams now face Seattle for the third time, on its home turf, primed and ready to vanquish a second NFC West opponent in two weeks. 

Seattle QB Sam Darnold was healthy enough despite nursing an oblique injury to take down San Francisco. The defense looked awfully good, too,

Let’s see if the magic is there for Matthew Stafford, a possible M.V.P., as he invades very hostile territory in the Pacific Northwest. Or was it sheer luck that LAR advanced to this title game?

And will the other M.V.P. hopeful, Maye, overcome a very stingy Denver defense which must prevail given the offensive uncertainty at QB? Nick Foles, on his birthday, reminded us (and Philly fans) about the ability of a backup to defeat the Patriots in championship-level games. 

The NFL coaching carousel grew to 10 when Buffalo fired its head coach, Sean Mc Dermott. That makes two William & Mary guys out of a job, as he joins former Steelers head man Mike Tomlin, who abruptly resigned after Houston ended the Steelers’ season. 

Like John Harbaugh, who seems energized in New York, his and Mc Dermott’s successes weren’t enough when not getting to the Super Bowl with M.V.P, quarterbacks. It’s going to be interesting to see who replaces these stellar coaches, with Harbaugh already hired and Mc Dermott sure to be. 

Owners have the right to be pissed when the ultimate prize is not attained and big money is spent pursuing it, with little reward. Buffalo moves into a new stadium. They wanted to be champions leaving the old one. Except recent history tells us that in Buffalo, championships don’t happen with the Bills of Allen and Jim Kelly, two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, nor with the Sabres hockey team.

By the way, I wish former Jets head coach Robert Saleh good luck in Tennessee. At east he doesn’t have an Aaron Rodgers injury to mar his chances at winning there. 

Speaking of hockey, goalies for San Jose and Florida ended up brawling on Monday night. Thankfully nobody was hurt. Don’t see that much. Must have been the rarified South Florida air. 

Lastly, on Monday night, the resurgent Golden State Warriors saw their season come crashing down when star Jimmy Butler landed awkwardly contesting a rebound and tore his ACL. Steph Curry and mates may have won the game over Miami, but this is not sustainable for the rest of the season in a tightly-contested Western Conference where no playoff or play-in position is really set. 

Unless there is a trade, the 37 year old Curry, once more a starter for the Western Conference in the upcoming All-Star Game, may never smell a winning team again. Barring some transaction of significant magnitude, including his own. So sad. 

Don’t look now Knicks fans. Your team is in free fall, Ever since owner James Dolan claimed this was a championship team, Injuries haven’t helped. The team needs help. 

Miami. Indiana. A CFP champion is anointed. NFL playoffs are paired down and another coach is axed. Hockey goalie fights. The Warriors lost Jimmy Butler. The Knicks continue to lose. All in the span of three days. 

Authenticity

  Someone who reads this blog asked a very pertinent question—how am I going to write about the NFL Wild Card weekend which just ended on Monday night? Good question. 

Because it was simply one of the most entertaining and defining weekends in the NFL in recent memory. The first four games had endings which were riveting. Comebacks were the name of the game. 

The Los Angeles Rams invaded Charlotte for the second time this season, looking to avenge a close loss to the Carolina Panthers. It took a gutsy pass from Quarterback Matthew Stafford in the final minute to secure the win and to move on to the next round. 

Where the Rams will face the Chicago Bears. The Cardiac Bears have come from behind seven times this season to win. Not exactly a script for success but it works. One thing for sure—Head Coach Ben Johnson let it be known how much he detests the Green Bay Packers, the team the Bears defeated. I love hated rivalries which go back eons. 

Buffalo and Jacksonville tangled in Northeast Florida. It became the Josh Allen show. The Bills QB was in and out of the blue medical tent and literally put his team on his back on a dramatic touchdown run which clinched the game for Buffalo. Up next for the Bills is a trip to the Mile High City and a clash with the top-seeded Denver Broncos. 

San Francisco limped into Philadelphia to play a very inconsistent Eagles squad. The Niners did enough on defense and offense to overcome the home team and move on to the second round where they will meet Seattle in the Pacific Northwest.  The Seahawks vanquished San Francisco two weeks ago in a winner-take-all game for the NFC’s top seed. 

Then on Sunday night, the New England Patriots throttled the Los Angeles Chargers—a team which filled a playoff slot but looked out of place in the cold of Foxborough. And on Monday night, the Houston Texans put on a defensive clinic in stifling the very overmatched Pittsburgh Steelers, making Aaron Rodgers look old and more than ready for retirement. Those two teams battle next weekend. 

I am not exactly the best prognosticator, as my wife and daughter outshined me all season long and then again last weekend when I went a very 2-4. So don’t put a lot of faith in my predictions for the upcoming weekend’s games. 

I have picked Buffalo over Denver—I think that the Broncos are white good but the Bills are the veteran team here and will survive. Seattle will once more down San Francisco—Seattle QB Sam Darnold has looked magical this year and the Seahawks defense is very tough. Plus the loud Seattle crowd will be a factor. Houston’s defense is just too good for New England; Drake Maye is still gaining experience and this group of Patriots are neophytes to the playoffs rigors. Finally, I picked the Rams to down the Bears—how many times can Chicago be so fortunate to come back and win?

The NFL coaching ranks suffered a second jolt this week when Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin stepped down after 19 years at the helm. That puts him up there with legends like Dallas’ Tom Landry for longevity. 

I felt that Tomlin was very accessible and liked by the TV media—forthright and quotable. He did win a Super Bowl and his teams were always above .500—two very laudable achievements. 

But did that give his resume enough juice to carry him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? I don’t know. There are 29 enshrined in Canton and iconic names like Landry, Shula, Walsh, Lombardi immediately come to mind. 

Tomlin will be compared more to Bud Grant, Hank Stram, Tom Flores among other. Some pretty heady guys, deserving of HOF stature. 

And he will of course be directly compared to the two Pittsburgh head coaches who preceded his tenure and are in the Hall—Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher. Both deserving of the accolade.

Should Tomlin’s coaching career end today, he would not be a first ballot entrant. That’s reserved for Bill Belichick, whose New England Patriots’ teams won 6 Super Bowls. 

The coach most comparable to Tomlin would be John Harbaugh, recently fired by the Baltimore Ravens after his field goal kicker missed a kick which would have put the Ravens into the playoffs instead of the Steelers. Harbaugh was in Baltimore and put up winning records and won a Super Bowl.

Harbaugh is choosing to return to coaching immediately, accepting the reins with the New York Giants. He has a chance to add to his legacy with a decent job in a major market. Succeed in New York and he will be beloved forever. 

As to Harbaugh getting into the Hall of Fame, a lot will depend on how he does in New York. Like Tomlin, he has one Super Bowl ring over his 18 years as Ravens’ head man. Definitely not first ballot material right now. 

Tomlin leaves Pittsburgh at a time when the franchise may be headed towards a reboot. There is plenty of talent but the issue for the past few years has been quarterback. No big name has come in and made himself indispensable running the Steelers offense. Unless the Steelers find a quarterback through the draft or via trade, they will be resigned to being also-rans. 

Speaking of perennial also-rans, the New York Jets suffered another blow when Oregon QB Dante Moore opted to return to the Ducks for next season. Moore’s potential is there. Yes, he had a disastrous game against Indiana. He left $50 mammon in guaranteed money on the table with his decision. And he made Oregon a favorite to win the College Football Playoffs next year.

What the Jets will do now is questionable. Moore and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza were the two top QB’s in almost every draft projection. With the Jets history of messing up quarterbacks (think Sam Darnold now thriving in Seattle; Zach Wilson now a back up in a muddled situation in Miami; Aaron Rodgers ready to retire from Pittsburgh; Justin Fields never materializing as the one and Mark Sanchez facing felony charges), whatever they do isn’t going to necessarily remedy the situation quickly. 

Speaking of college football, the finale to the 2025 playoffs is on Monday night in South Florida. The University of Miami plays its home games in Hard Rock Stadium, the location of the championship game. The betting favorite are the Indiana Hoosiers, the sole unbeaten left in the tournament. 

If Miami’s defense can negate Mendoza, the local kid having a homecoming in the biggest college football game of the year, (tell that to those Ohio State and Michigan fans who consider their rivalry to be larger than a mere CFP crown) then Miami can make a game of it. However, if Indiana plays to the level it did against Oregon, this game will be over quickly. 

Indiana is the sentimental favorite for what it has accomplished in the era of N-I-L play for pay. The Hoosiers have the second-most losses of any college playing big-time football (only because Northwestern surpassed them this season by losing a couple of games while IU lost none). The top (or bottom) 10 are: Northwestern; Indiana; Rutgers; Wake Forest; Kansas; New Mexico State; Iowa State; Kansas State; Tulane; and Vanderbilt. Thus the Big Ten has the three worst college football-playing schools ever at this level, and those three are the only ones with over 700 losses (Northwestern 718; IU 715; RU 708).

But sentimentality does not rule the playing field. Miami was considered a pre-season favorite to win it all. With the home field advantage, they have a chance to actually win this game or at least make a contest out of it if, as I stated earlier, the defense plays well enough to thwart Mendoza. 

My wife and I attended another Drew University game on Wednesday night. Sitting down low, the effort and physicality of the play is very apparent. This is not DI-level play nor are  the players as athletic as their taller counterparts. However, the intensity of play is clear and enjoyable. 

For the record, Drew shook off a loss to league-leading Catholic at the Palestra to win 97-88 over Wilkes in a Landmark Conference game. Burying three pointers unlike Wilkes (Drew shot 13 for 32 while Wilkes could only connect on 3 of 16, all in the second half), the Rangers opened up sizable leads to as much as a margin of 16, only to have the Colonels chip away repeatedly to as close as 5, before Drew secured the win.

The star of the game, as much as it was a team effort was the career high 34 points scored by junior Andre De Los Reyes. The Business major has now scored over 30 points twice this season. He combines quickness and an unwavering belief that he can score given the opportunity—especially from three-point range where he went 5 for 10 against Wilkes. 

We probably have one more Drew game which we can attend. The price is right, the parking is free and only 170 showed up according to the box score. There isn’t a pep band and the cheerleaders will likely reappear when school starts for the Spring Semester. 

It is merely a fun activity within a 20 minute drive from home when there is no traffic. We know the players from watching them over the years. The coach is always coaching, disagreeing with the referees or involved in some way. My expectations are low, unlike with Rutgers, and I come out entertained. 

Drew has the third best overall record in New Jersey—right after 15-0 Montclair State and 14-3 Seton Hall, a recent loser to UConn, the top dog in the Big East. Are any of these teams title threats outside of their conferences? No. 

Will Drew lose another game this season? Absolutely—and more than one. Sitting in tiny Baldwin Gym with people who have a rooting interest in a child or friend is comforting. 

The glitz and glamor of Rutgers, with TV cameras, a loud band, t-shirt tosses and dance and cheerleaders who are on scholarship is nice. Rutgers is not competitive within the Big Ten, even with its two overtime wins at home against Oregon and Northwestern. 

When the referees handling a Drew game go to video replay, the play-by-play announcer carefully walks down four rows of empty bleachers to share his computer with the officials to assist in making the correct call. Then he goes back to his motley table to continue his streamed broadcast. 

Yet Drew is a threat to repeat as Landmark Conference champions. They are in third place, a game behind 13-1 Scranton and two back of Catholic, undefeated in conference play at 7-0, with an identical 11-3 record. 

When the season ends, I will have likely seen four Drew games and one Franklin and Marshall game at Stevens. And I will have had a better feeling heading home than when I watched Rutgers struggle against American, a middle-of-the pack Patriot League team, which is 3-2 in conference and 10-8 overall. 

For there is something realistic about the DIII hoops. Which it shares in common with the NFL Playoffs, John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, Dante Moore, Fernando Mendoza and a lot of others I have the good fortune to watch.

What is that commonality? Authenticity. 

Competitive Chaos?

  I hope you have been watching football in the last month or so. Let me repeat that—I truly hope you have been watching football recently because it has been spell-binding. 

Whether it is the NFL (anyone but the horrible New York Jets) or college (any division), it has been a real treat for the fans. The sheer intensity of the level of play with so much on the line has been thrilling.

In the NFL, the final weekend of the regular season settled two final playoff berths and resulted in a number of coaches being fired (thus far). Playoff seeding and matchups were also determined even as some teams chose to rest starters. And the final order for the NFL Draft in April has been set. 

The madness in the NFL began on Saturday afternoon. Carolina and Tampa Bay were meeting in Florida to decide which team would have an advantage on Sunday to win the NFC South. The Buccaneers had to win to keep alive any chance to get into the playoffs. Carolina could lose but still had a way into the post-season. 

Both teams slogged through the regular season with modest winning steaks but in the end were at or near .500 as the game began. Appropriately, the contest was played in a deluge which drenched the Tampa faithful, while making playing conditions far from optimal. 

This wasn’t an instant classic. Far from it. Yet the game’s outcome would be affected by a game on Sunday pitting NFC South rivals New Orleans and Atlanta in a game which meant nothing to either team except perhaps pride. 

Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield, once a heralded prospect when he entered the league with Cleveland, performed well enough in the slog to lead the Bucs to the win by a 16-14 score. Mayfield began the season on fire, leading pundits to believe he was a viable M.V.P. candidate. His fall from his great performances mirrored the Bucs fall in the standings to the point that at 7-9, this was a must win scenario with no promises beyond that. 

As it turned out on Sunday, Atlanta, behind the resurrected Kirk Cousins under center, defeated New Orleans. This created a three-way tie for the NFC South lead, although tie breakers did not permit Atlanta any hope of moving on. The 19-17 margin was just enough for the Panthers to secure the division title and to host a playoff game in the opening round. At 8-9.

Saturday’s second game had all of the hype. Seattle and San Francisco would meet in Santa Clara for the NFC West crown and the overall top seed in the conference. Many thought that the Niners were on a roll and would overtake the Seahawks in the standings. That SF QB Brock Purdy (“Mr Irrelevant” as the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft) would outshine Seattle QB Sam Darnold (3rd pick in the 2018 draft by the aforementioned Jets who screwed him up good before sending the former USC star on an odyssey through Carolina, San Francisco and Minnesota before more than landing on his feet in the Pacific Northwest). 

Those who believed that the Niners, decimated by injuries on offense and defense were any match for the Seattle juggernaut were mistaken. The Seahawks dominated the Niners 13-3 era route to the NFC West title and the top overall seed. 

This is a scary good team—Darnold seems to have matured as a quarterback and the defense is top notch. Do not underestimate Seattle in the playoffs. 

Other games of note involved playoff teams which had been locked into the post-season but didn’t know their destination. And the top seed in the AFC was still up for grabs. 

Jacksonville secured the number three slot in the AFC after Denver won its late game against the playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers and New England romped over Miami in the Massachusetts cold. LAC would have to travel cross-country to play the # 2-seeded Patriots.

The Jaguars drew Buffalo as their opening round opponent.

A good Houston team had to wait until Sunday night to know if they were traveling to Pittsburgh to face Aaron Rodgers and company or Baltimore for crab cakes and Lamar Jackson. The final game of the season, in the Western Pennsylvania cold night air, would decide which team stays alive. 

In a game which defied logic, Rodgers engineered a 37th game-winning drive to put the Steelers ahead 26-24 with 55 ticks left on the clock. Then reliable place kicker Chris Boswell, who had nailed a 57 year field goal earlier in the game along with one from 25 yards out, did the unthinkable—he missed an extra point for the first time in eons. 

Those last seconds were enough for Jackson to put together a drive which placed the Ravens in position to win the game with a field goal. Kicker Tyler Loop let his right leg swing just a bit “thin” as he called it, and the ball missed the uprights to the right. 

Delirium ruled in the Steel City. Dejection was immediate in the Inner Harbor. The shocking loss may have been the final blow for Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who, after 18 seasons and one Super Bowl win, was fired. 

Don’t feel that things are so secure for Steelers head man Mike Tomlin. Like his fierce rival Harbaugh, Tomlin has a Super Bowl win on his resume. Except that while the Steelers keep having winning records each year, it isn’t translating into much playoff success. A loss to Houston might spell the end of Tomlin’s time with the franchise as it reboots and searches for the next great quarterback. 

Back to the NFC. Besides Seattle, things became clearer as to who faces who on Sunday. With the Niners loss, the Rams went out and pasted the Cardinals, thereby clinching the number five seed and a return trip to Carolina where on November 30th, LAR lost to the Panthers 31-28, ending the Rams’ six game winning streak. LAR QB Matthew Stafford was outplayed by Carolina’s Bryce Young. 

San Francisco lost its home field throughout the Super Bowl possibility with the loss to Seattle. The Niners now travel to meet an up and down Philadelphia squad looking to defend its Super Bowl win. 

Even with a second loss to eliminated division rival Detroit, Chicago managed to cling to the second seed. For their troubles, a third grudge match with NFC North cohort Green Bay looms.

The end of the season brought about coaching mayhem. In addition to Harbaugh’s spot in Baltimore, there are seven other head coaching vacancies in the NFL as I write. The former skipper in Baltimore will have his choice of where to land. As would Tomlin, if he gets axed. 

New York Giants fans hope that a savior coach emerges. Jets fans are left wondering if Aaron Glenn is the right man for season 2, especially when Glenn, a defensive back in the NFL, could not get his team to pick up one interception in 17 games—a record that nobody wants. 

Is the NFL done with the coaching firings? Who knows? I do know that 8 franchises are looking for new guidance towards The Promised Land of being consistently in contention. 

Moving over to the colleges, excitement reigned on Thursday night as the University of Miami came back to stun Mississippi in a thrilling fourth quarter. The Hurricanes have now vanquished two very worthy opponents in #2 Ohio State and #5 Ole Miss. They look formidable. 

The late score by Miami propelling the team to victory was almost handed away. Mississippi QB Trinidad Chambliss benefitted from loose Miami pass coverage and led the Rebels to attempt one more play to win the game. 

The Ferris State transfer, almost an afterthought for Mississippi but who blossomed when summoned to lead the offense, did what he did best under pressure. He’s got the arm and the accuracy; his running skills are good, too. I saw glimpses of Robert Griffith III and Lamar Jackson in this kid who was stuck at the Division II level with definite DI skills. 

Chambliss, to whom on Friday the NCAA refused to give a sixth year of eligibility as a medical redshirt, lofted a pass into the end zone on the final play. There was plenty of jostling and holding between the Rebs’ receiver and the ‘Canes DB’s. No pass interference was called—almost a long overdue reversal of fortune for Miami fans who saw the team lose in the Fiesta Bowl on a last second pass interference call which allowed Ohio State to score on a free play and head to a National Championship in double overtime. 

The other side of the bracket featured the third rematch of the CFP. First, Alabama got revenge over SEC foe Oklahoma. Then Mississippi took down Georgia, another SEC rival. 

Then Big Ten members Indiana and Oregon met for the second time, this time in Atlanta at the Peach Bowl (I saw my only major college bowl game in 1996 at the Peach Bowl when LSU and Clemson tangled; this is a far better and more consequential matchup). Coaching wunderkind Curt Cignetti and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and a heady bunch of Hoosiers had downed Oregon 30-20 on the road on October 11. That was the Ducks’ sole loss in 2025. 

The game was supposed to showcase the top two quarterbacks in a high profile game—Mendoza and Oregon’s Dante Moore. Except nobody told the IU defense. Moore’s first pass was picked off and returned for a touchdown. And the annihilation never stopped. The final score of 56-22 didn’t really reflect how much of a defeat Oregon suffered, nor did it represent how dominant Indiana was. 

Indiana is the real deal. Cignetti can really coach. Mendoza is an elite passer. And one genuinely smart young man (he was headed to Yale before he landed at Cal). The defense is superb. There is very little wrong with this Hoosiers team. Mark Cuban, an IU grad, invested well with his significant donations to the athletic department. The 60,000 fans present inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium were roaring from the get go. 

It’s going to be a fun game on January 19th. Can Miami defend its home turf? Or is Indiana really the team of destiny and one of the best ever? We’ll find out then. 

Speaking of Ferris State, the Bulldogs won their fourth Division II title in the past five seasons with a 42-21 triumph over Harding. Chambliss led the Bulldogs to the 2024 win, combining for five TD’s in the rout of Valdosta State. 

Representing the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the team has been coached by Steve and Tony Annese for the last 14 seasons. Ranked number 1 in the polls for the entire season, Ferris State became the first DII school to go 16-0. 

This team was a true powerhouse. They set NCAA and program records by scoring 844 points (that’s an average of 52.75 per game). Ferris State is the second school to win four DII titles in five years; Grand Valley State was the other one. They are tied for the third most titles in Division II with Grand Valley State and Valdosta State, behind Northwest Missouri State (6) and North Dakota State (5). This win was the 30th consecutive triumph for the men from Big Rapids, Michigan. 

Division III saw Wisconsin—River Falls capitalize on mistakes by perennial power North Central to upset the number one team and walk away with the championship. This was North Central’s sixth straight appearance in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. The Cardinals are now 3-3 in title games. Led by Gagliardi Trophy winner Kalab Blaha (that’s the DIII equivalent of the Heisman Trophy), the Falcons repeatedly stymied a really good North Central in the cold night air of Canton, Ohio. 

The six appearances in the DIII finals puts North Central third all-time. Mount Union has gone to the championship game 23 times, winning 13 times. Wisconsin-Whitewater, River Falls rival in the WIAC, made 10 trips to the finals, coming away with 6 victories. 

In the Football College Subdivision playoffs, upstart Illinois State tangled with favorite Montana State. Nobody told the Redbirds they weren’t supposed to match up well versus the Bobcats. It took a walk off fourth down touchdown and extra point in overtime for MSU to prevail. 

This game was the third most-watched game in FCS history. The #2-ranked Bobcats topped off an impressive season with 14 straight wins after opening the season with a pounding by the aforementioned-Oregon Ducks in Eugene followed by a home loss to South Dakota State.

This was a thrilling game, with the Redbirds trailing 21-7 at the half, only to turn the tides by the same margin in the second half to tie the score. Illinois State dominated the time of possession while Montana State capitalized on big plays. In the end, it was two blocked kicks by Montana State—a field goal attempt and the extra point in OT—which proved to be the difference. 

ISU-MSU may have become an instant classic. People may have a very negative opinion of college football, according to a recent poll in The Athletic. Pro football’s image may be tarnished by the off-the-field actions of a few and the grandiosity of owners who cannot get their acts together. 

I disagree. I found this football season to be uplifting, no matter the controversies. Then again, who doesn’t like competitive chaos?