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Writer's pictureRashad Mitchell

The Week That Was | College Football Playoff Recap | Remembering Greg Gumbel | NBA & NFL Seasons

The College Football Playoffs continued this past week as the semifinals are all set for next week to determine who will advance to the national championship game this month. Penn State defeated Boise State by score of 31-14. Boise State obviously had Running Back Ashton Jeanty as the headliner at the position but Running Backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton was able to show and prove who the best rushing attack was in the Fiesta Bowl by rushing for 221 yards between the backs. Meanwhile Jeanty of Boise State was held to only 104 yards on 30 carries no touchdowns. Allen ran for 134 yards on 17 carries and Singleton ran for 87 yards. Quarterback Drew Allar of Penn State connected with arguably the best tight end in the college game in Tyler Warren for 2 touchdowns.


So the Nittany Lions of Penn State will face the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame including the semifinals for a chance to advance to the national championship game. Notre Dame flexed their muscles on Georgia doing it with physicality on defense also spectacular on special teams including a 98 yard touchdown return kickoff return by Jayden Harrison. Quarterback Riley Leonard of Notre Dame did enough on offense not gaudy numbers but only threw for 90 yards and ran for 80 yards for a combined 170 yards. Notre Dame won 23-10 against Georgia who obviously didn't have Quarterback Carson Beck of Georgia to come to the rescue but Notre Dame deserves to win the ballgame and now one win away from advancing to the national championship game to break the drought of winning a national championship for the first time since 1988.


Georgia didn't get it done this year after winning 2 consecutive national championships now it has been 2 consecutive years without a championship see what happens next year for the Bulldogs. Meanwhile on the side of the bracket in the college football playoff, Texas won a barnburner against the pesky Arizona State Sun Devils winning in double overtime which was by far the best game in the college football playoff because it had drama led by the furious comeback by Arizona State trailing 24-8 in the 4th quarter to tie the game at 24 which led to overtime. Running Back Cam Skattebo was the catalyst by catching a 42 yard touchdown pass and running for a touchdown including a 2 point conversion to tie the game. Skattebo was superb in defeat rushing for 143 yards on 30 carries and 2 touchdown runs. In the overtime session, Skattebo scored on a 3 yard touchdown run to take a 31-24 lead. But Texas rallied by scoring 2 touchdowns including a 2-point conversion to lead 39-31. The biggest play of the game was on 4th down and 13 when Quarterback Quinn Ewers of Texas completed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Wide Receiver Matthew Golden to force a second overtime. Then in the second overtime, Ewers connected with Tight End Gunnar Helm to take a 39-31 lead including a 2-point conversion.


Then Defensive Back Andrew Mukuba made the game clinching interception to win and advance to the semifinal against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Speaking of the Buckeyes of Ohio State, the Buckeyes are playing the best football in the playoffs because they blew out Tennessee Volunteers in the quarterfinals:42-17 and 41-21 against the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl. Quarterback Will Howard of Ohio State was in great rhythm with Wide Receiver Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State by connecting with the dynamic dynamo for 2 touchdown passes. Smith had 7 catches for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns. Howard threw for 319 yards and 3 touchdown passes. Ohio State had a 34-0 lead leaving no doubt of who was the better team in this rematch from October 12th. For the Oregon Ducks they had a great season in terms of making their debut in the Big Ten and flourishing right away with an undefeated regular season including a conference championship which is a rarity in college football. Ohio State is a buzz saw and on a revenge tour bouncing back from the loss to the Michigan Wolverines are now in rare form and taking no prisoners.


Overall Notre Dame will beat Penn State to advance to the national championship game and will face the Ohio State Buckeyes who will beat the Texas Longhorns to play in the national championship game.


Moving forward in the sports broadcasting world, a giant in the industry passed away recently which is the one and only Greg Gumbel who was as versatile a broadcaster, studio host, play by play announcer as they come. He was synonymous with the Selection Show on CBS Sports to cover the selection of the teams who was chosen to go to the NCAA Tournament for so many years. But Gumbel could do it all whether doing play by play for college baseball, NBA, MLB, etc. He even was on the WFAN platform for sports talk radio before it became more fashionable including being on ESPN and MSG. He was one of the masters of the pregame show whether it was the Super Bowl where Gumbel was one of the few sports announcers to do a pregame, play by play and radio broadcast for Super Bowls. His greatest achievement was becoming the first black play by play announcer to do a Super Bowl in 2001 for Super Bowl 35 between the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants something unprecedented which hasn't been done since but that will change in the 2025 NFL season when in Super Bowl 60,NBC will have the coverage and Mike Tirico will only be the second black play by play announcer to call a Super Bowl. Meanwhile Gumbel was the first black play by play announcer to be the lead play by play announcer for CBS Sports for the NFL coverage from 1998 to 2003 which was another unprecedented feat in the illustrious career of Greg Gumbel who was poised and understated who let the game breathe breaking barriers for blacks to have opportunities to broadcast and do play by play announcing.


In The NBA landscape, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New York Knicks and the Oklahoma City Thunder are playing exceptional in the new year of 2025. The Cavs are 29-4 with an 8-game winning streak, the Knicks are red hot with a 24-10 record and a 9-game winning streak which is the longest in the Eastern Conference. The Oklahoma City Thunder is atop of the Western Conference with a 28-5 record including the longest winning streak in the NBA at 13 games.


In the NFL, the regular season is coming down to the end where the last regular season week is this Sunday a week before the real season of postseason begins next week. Running Back Saquon Barkley of Philadelphia Eagles will sit out in this week's season finale against his former team the New York Giants where Barkley was 101 yards away from breaking and surpassing Running Back Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record:2,105. Barkley did the right thing putting the team above individual accomplishments. The Super Bowl championship should be the goal not a rushing yards record during the regular season.


Last week the Chargers clinched a playoff berth against the New England Patriots winning 40-7. Coach Jim Harbaugh is the quintessential Mr. Fix It similar to Larry Brown the former head coach in basketball because everywhere Harbaugh goes whether it is Stanford, the San Francisco 49ers,or Michigan and now the Los Angeles Chargers. The Cincinnati Bengals won in overtime 30-24 against the Denver Broncos. Now the Bengals are 8-8 but need help and a win to get in the postseason. The Washington Commanders are in the postseason after beating the Atlanta Falcons at home in overtime 30-24. The Washington Commanders has finally found a true quarterback for the franchise in Jayden Daniels in more than a quarter century just go back to Mark Rypien or Joe Theismann.


For the final weekend of the NFL season keep eyes on the monumental matchup between the Detroit Lions and The Minnesota Vikings where both teams are 14-2 playing for the #1 seed and the division. By far this is the game of the week. I take the Lions in a shootout at home winning 35-30.


Co-Offensive Players of The Week:

Running Back Saquon Barkley of Philadelphia Eagles

31 carries,167 yards 0 touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys

Reaching 2,005 rushing yards for the season.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield of Tampa Bay Buccaneers

27-32 359 yards 5 touchdown passes and zero interceptions against the Carolina Panthers











Defensive Player of The Week:

Linebacker Tyrel Dodson of Miami Dolphins

15 tackles and 1 interception against the Cleveland Browns



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