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Writer's pictureRashad Mitchell

The Week That Was | College Football Playoff Recap | Remembering Rickey Henderson | NFL & NBA Seasons | 50th Anniversary of The Sea of Hands: Raiders vs Dolphins December 21st, 1974

The College Football Playoffs began on December 20th as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish won convincingly over Indiana Hoosiers by score of 27-17. The game was totally lopsided then the final score indicates because Notre Dame had a 27-3 lead in the 4th quarter. The game turned after Quarterback Riley Leonard of Notre Dame threw an interception and that put Indiana's offense in great shape to score a touchdown or a field goal but Quarterback Kurtis Rouke of Indiana threw an interception that picked off by Safety Xavier Watts. Then Notre Dame’s offense was backed up deep in their own territory and Running Back Jeremiyah Love of Notre Dame ran 98 yards for a touchdown: 7-0. Notre Dame never looked back and won handily against Indiana who showed that they are not ready for these magnitude of big games on primetime. Indiana had a great season but an atrocious showing in the first round against Notre Dame. Notre Dame will face the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.


Meanwhile on Saturday SMU Mustangs had a chance to make a statement on the road against Penn State but they failed horribly losing by score of 38-10. The Quarterback of SMU Mustangs: Kevin Jennings threw 2 pick sixes to put SMU behind the 8 ball trailing by score of 14-0. Then the running game of Penn State was effective when Running Backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton scored rushing touchdowns from 25 yards and 1 yard respectively to make the score:28-0 in the second half. Overall Penn State cruised to a 38-10 victory now the Nittany Lions will face Boise State in the next round of the college football playoff at the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve where Penn State is favored by 11 points.

Then Clemson vs Texas matchup where the Tigers of Clemson competed in this game scoring first to make it 7-0 when Quarterback Cade Klubnik of Clemson threw a 22 yard touchdown pass to Wide Receiver Antonio Williams but continuously the Clemson run defense could not stop the rushing attack of Texas who ran for 292 yards which is almost 300 yards. 2 of Texas running backs who ran over 100 yards were Jaydon Blue who had 146 yards rushing on 14 carries and 2 touchdowns. Quintrevion Wisner ran for 110 yards on 15 carries and 2 touchdowns. Overall the game was competitive when Quarterback Cade Klubnik began getting into a passing rhythm resulted in passing touchdowns which was 2 including a 7 yard touchdown pass to True Freshman T.J Moore to cut the lead of 31-17 to 31-24 in the 4th quarter but the Texas running game had a big response when Jaydon Blue went 77 yards for a touchdown run:38-24 which would be the final score.


Now Texas will play Arizona State in the Peach Bowl on New Year's Day where Texas is a 13.5 favorite over Arizona State. Finally Ohio State Buckeyes flexed their muscles by shaking, rattling and rolled over the overmatched Tennessee Volunteers by score of 42-17. This game was all about the Buckeyes and noncompetitive as a whole. The combination of Quarterback Will Howard and Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State was at a fever pitch connecting on a 37 and 22 yard touchdown passes from Howard to Smith. Smith had 6 catches for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns. Meanwhile Howard threw for 311 yards and 2 touchdown passes. Now the Ohio State Buckeyes will face the top ranked Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl AKA The Granddaddy of Them All on New Year's Day at 5pm. This will be the rematch of the high scoring affair between these two teams during the regular season where Oregon won at home by score of 32-31 on October 12th. Now the quarterfinals of the college football playoffs are all set hopefully the 4 games will be more compelling and on the edge of your seats kind of games even if you are a casual fan.


Rickey Henderson passed away on December 20th and before he passed away he was by a unanimous decision the greatest leadoff hitter to ever play the game of baseball when you are at his home runs when he was a leadoff hitter. Henderson hit 81 home runs to start the game. Obviously Henderson's forte was base stealing which he was known as the Man of Steal because was and currently the league leader in stolen bases with 1,406. He knew how to get on base and set the table by mastering the art of manufacturing runs whether scoring on sac fly, home runs, groundout, etc. Rickey Henderson was the it factor in this department why because he scored the most runs: 2,295. He won 2 World Series championships with 2 different teams: Oakland As and Toronto Blue Jays including league MVP in 1990 for the American League as well ALCS MVP in 1989. Henderson had a flair in his style of play on the baseball diamond which broke the old guard of how the game should be played whether popping his collar after his home runs was hit overall 297 home runs in his career. Rickey Henderson was 1 of 1 unlike any baseball player the game will never see again.

The NBA Season is in full swing especially on Christmas Day where there were 5 games on the slate. The game that stood out was the Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics matchup where the 76ers with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George was in the starting lineup which has been a rarity this season due to the rashes of injuries. The 76ers went into Boston and won by score of 118-114. Big performances came from Maxey scoring 33 points including 27 points from Embiid. George only scored 12 points only shooting 4-15 from the field and 0-7 from the 3-point arc. But Caleb Martin picked up the slack in the starting lineup scoring 23 points including 7 3-point shots made to boot. The 76ers are now 11-17 winning 7 out of the last 10 games. If this lineup remains intact, look out and beware Eastern Conference!


The NFL season is almost coming to a close where the Washington Commanders snapped the Philadelphia Eagles long winning streak at 10 consecutive games winning by score of 36-33 where Quarterback Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders threw 5 touchdowns against the Eagles defense. Washington trailed by score of 21-7 but was able to rally and win with 6 seconds to go when Daniels connected with Wide Receiver Jamison Crowder. The Minnesota Vikings won a nailbiter at Seattle on the road by score of 27-24 where Quarterback Sam Darnold continues his stellar season with a go ahead touchdown pass to Wide Receiver Justin Jefferson with 3:51 left from 39 yards. Kansas City Chiefs played on Christmas Day and clinched the AFC #1 seed by playing arguably their best game of the season winning 29-10 over the slumping Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. The Chiefs defense had 5 sacks on Quarterback Russell Wilson of The Pittsburgh Steelers. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City was his usual self throwing for 320 yards and 3 touchdown passes. Tight End Travis Kelce caught 8 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown resulted in his 77th touchdown reception surpassing Tight End Tony Gonzalez for the franchise. Mahomes remains unbeaten against the Steelers at 4-0 lifetime now teams whomever it may concern will have to go through Arrowhead Stadium to knock off the 2-time defending champions Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs.


Offensive Player of The Week:

Running Back Jonathan Taylor of Indianapolis Colts

29 carries,218 yards and 3 touchdowns against Tennessee Titans












Defensive Player of The Week:

Outside Linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel of Minnesota Vikings

5 tackles and 2 sacks against the Seattle Seahawks














Finally, 50 years ago back on December 21st 1974 when the Miami Dolphins played against the Oakland Raiders in one of the great playoff games ever played. The game was dubbed Super Bowl 8 1/2 due to the fact of the dominant conference the AFC had at the time whether it was the Steelers, Dolphins and Raiders. The Miami Dolphins were the 2 time defending champions of the Super Bowl the last 2 seasons:1972-1973. Meanwhile the Oakland Raiders were known for playing in big games but no titles to show for it so they had to dethrone the Dolphins from their perch and they did when Quarterback Kenny Stabler of the Oakland Raiders made a little scramble and threw a pass into the end zone and went to Running Back Clarence Davis who caught the game winning touchdown pass but there were Miami defenders with their hands up to deflect or intercept the pass thrown by Stabler. This is why this game was known as The Sea of Hands. The Oakland Raiders won by score of 28-26. There was no 3 consecutive Super Bowls championships for the Miami Dolphins. The Raiders would advance to the AFC Championship Game where they would lose to the eventual Super Bowl champion the Pittsburgh Steelers by score of 24-13.



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