College Football Championship Game 2015: Key Factors That Will Shake Up Outcome
Factors surrounding the College Football Championship Game continue to evolve.
Really, both the Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes are accustomed to quick adaptation under pressure, though.
Urban Meyer's Buckeyes are familiar with a quarterback carousel, which, unlike a certain pro team that shares similar colors and calls a desert home, actually proved an easy hurdle to jump.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Mark Helfrich's offense continues to blow away the opposition despite an injury bug in the trenches, although yet another batch of adversity places his team's title hopes in jeopardy.
As the title game inches ever closer, take a moment to catch up on emerging factors.
College Football Playoff National Championship Odds and Schedule
| January 12, 2015 | Oregon vs. Ohio State | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN | Oregon -7 |
Key Factors to Watch
Trench Chess
Marcus Mariota likes to get out of the pocket and run around. His 40 touchdowns and three interceptions, as well as 731 yards and 15 scores as a rusher, speak well enough to that.
Part of Mariota's designed rollouts and options are out of necessity, though, as injuries wiped out what would have normally been a stout set of warhorses up front.
The line will still be without top tackle Tyler Johnstone, who suffered torn knee ligaments back in August, but going into Monday, the unit is as healthy as it has ever been this season. This development includes the continued return of star center Hroniss Grasu, who is ready to go to war with what he deems a worthwhile opponent, as captured by Steve Mims of The Register-Guard:
Call it a treat for observers more than anything else.
Mariota will now rest behind the best batch of linemen he has had all season while elite Ohio State edge-rushers Joey Bosa and Adolphus Washington go to work. Grasu's presence up the middle also means Oregon back Royce Freeman (1,343 yards, 18 scores) will have bigger gaps to gash.
Monday is set to be one of the better war of wills the entire collegiate season offers, quite a befitting scenario of a title game.
Jones' Progression
There seems to be an aura around the Ohio State program that the best is yet to come from former third-string quarterback Cardale Jones.
In fact, all of the rage centers around the developing sense that Jones' arm will make all the difference against the Ducks. Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose Crimson Tide lost in the College Football Playoff Semifinal to the Buckeyes, says that Jones' arm brings out the shocking talents of his deep threats, per USA Today's Nicole Auerbach:
"The one thing that the new quarterback does is he has a tremendous arm — and they have some very talented receivers. Those things became very apparent in the last two games because of the quarterback. Now, they were a little different and the quarterback was a great runner, when (Barrett) was playing, and he was a good passer. But it wasn't so obvious when you watched the film all season long that they had these great skill players that could really make plays down the field.
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Senior Buckeyes wideout Devin Smith, at least so far, seems to be the main benefactor of the change under center. In the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin, he caught four passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns, with two more grabs for 87 yards and a score against Alabama.
Jones himself was a tad shaky against Alabama, going 18-of-35 for 243 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but pair the stage with it being his second start, and it is difficult to complain.
As Auerbach notes, Meyer and Buckeyes players believe Jones will only improve once again come Monday. If that is the case, a shootout of epic proportions may be in the cards.
Flight Cut Short
Oregon knows all about losing players. Forget the aforementioned line issues—the Ducks lost star corner Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and still kept Florida State's Jameis Winston in check.
The offense mostly played that 59-20 victory without top receiver Devon Allen, too. No matter, as freshman wideout Darren Carrington came up big with gaudy numbers.
Now he is out of the picture, too.
According to Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman, Carrington is suspended:
"Darren Carrington, who caught seven passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the Ducks' 59-20 win over Florida State last week, failed an NCAA drug test and has been declared ineligible, a source told FOX Sports. Carrington reportedly tested positive for marijuana. The rangy wideout was not on the trip to Texas and won't play in the game.
An appeal by Oregon already has been heard and denied, a source told FOX Sports. Team spokesman Andy McNamara confirmed that Carrington is not with the team but would not indicate why.
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One game's box score does not do the loss justice. For a better perspective, look at a graphic provided by ESPN CollegeFootball:
Monday will prove whether Mariota—or Oregon's offense in general—can plug in names and still produce ridiculous numbers.
The offense will need more production from Dwayne Stanford, Byron Marshall—who leads the team with 66 catches for 834 yards and five scores—and senior leader Keanon Lowe.
With three of Mariota's five leading receivers out of the picture (tight end Pharaoh Brown is out, too), his Heisman mettle and Oregon's final proving ground are set for one final test.
Betting information courtesy of Odds Shark. Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
