Ranking the Top Performances in College Football Playoff Games
The College Football Playoff committee gets a lot of flak every year because teams that should have received an opportunity to play for the championship get left out.
But for every clunker fans have had to endure, they've gotten a classic. For every overmatched group of players, there have been individual performances that will be etched in college football lore.
Over the past six seasons, the playoff has given us many memories, plenty of water cooler talk, cemented the biggest stars in the game and introduced us to the studs of tomorrow.
Yes, Alabama and Clemson are richly represented here, but that's because at least one of those teams has made the playoff every year since its inception. Oklahoma and Notre Dame are noticeably absent because they have never reached the title game, though the Fighting Irish will have a chance to add their name to the list Friday.
Let's take a look at the top performances (individuals and teams) from the first six years of the playoffs, factoring in performances when they mattered most and adding weight to big-time, stat-packing highlights in national championship games.
10. Oregon Kicks Off the College Football Playoff in Style
1 of 10
The first College Football Playoff semifinal took place in the Rose Bowl between the No. 2 Oregon Ducks and No. 3 Florida State Seminoles.
While the game was billed as a clash between 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and 2014 recipient Marcus Mariota, it turned into a one-sided affair, with head coach Mark Helfrich's Ducks dominating a 59-20 win.
Oregon's point total stood as the most points ever scored in the playoff until LSU's 63-28 semifinal rout of Oklahoma last year.
Mariota threw for 338 yards and a pair of touchdowns against one interception and rushed for 62 yards and another score in a hurry-up offense that averaged 20.2 seconds per play, according to ESPN Stats & Info. But he was just the brightest star that day in Pasadena. Running backs Thomas Tyner and Royce Freeman each had a pair of touchdown runs.
Uncharacteristically, the Ducks defense flexed its wings to rise to the challenge. The unit forced five turnovers, and head coach Jimbo Fisher's Seminoles allowed 27 third-quarter points after trailing by just five entering the break.
Oregon couldn't keep the momentum going in the title game, losing by 22 points to No. 4 Ohio State. Still, the Ducks had an offensive performance for the ages, and the defense showed up when it mattered in this affair.
9. Dominant Defensive Performances Highlight 2017 Semifinals
2 of 10
It's tough to pin down just one team in the 2017 semifinals (which followed the '16 season), when both of the winners proved to be too much defensively for their opponents.
That's what ultimately made the points barrage between No. 2 Clemson and No. 1 Alabama in that year's title game so extraordinary. Had you watched the Tigers and Tide smother Ohio State and Washington, respectively, you'd have never expected it.
Clemson shut down Urban Meyer's squad like nobody ever had before. The Tigers' 31-0 demoralization of the Buckeyes was the only time a Meyer-coached team was ever shut out. It also was the first time Ohio State had been shut out since 1993 against Michigan.
"Ohio State's not used to this, I'm not used to this, and we will not get used to this," Meyer said, according to The Football Four (H/T CBS Sports' Ben Kercheval). Meyer parted ways with co-offensive coordinator Tim Beck and hired Kevin Wilson afterward.
In the other semifinal, Alabama's front seven made life difficult for Washington quarterback Jake Browning, who was sacked five times and threw two interceptions in a 24-7 defeat.
Huskies head coach Chris Petersen looked like he had a team that could compete with the Crimson Tide, with his squad averaging 258.8 passing yards per contest. But head coach Nick Saban's No. 1-ranked defense held the Washington offense to 194 total yards (150 passing).
Is it cheating to include both semifinalists in one slide? Probably. But they were equally impressive.
8. Georgia's Dominant Run Game Ends Baker Mayfield's Career in 2OT in 2018
3 of 10
Everybody rips on Oklahoma because the Sooners are 0-4 in College Football Playoff semifinals, but it is just silly to act like they've never been close to the title game.
The closest head coach Lincoln Riley's Sooners came to the final was in 2018. That's when Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield put on a show against the Georgia Bulldogs. Unfortunately for the Sooners, they couldn't stop UGA's vaunted rushing attack.
Sony Michel burst through the line of scrimmage for a 27-yard walk-off touchdown in second overtime, and the Bulldogs earned a spot against Alabama with a wild 54-48 victory at the Rose Bowl.
The two future NFL star rushers helped kick-start coach Kirby Smart's recent run of success in Athens.
Michel finished with the game's offensive MVP award, rushing for 181 yards on just 11 carries. He also scored four total touchdowns. Nick Chubb had one of his best games since returning from a knee injury, with 14 carries for 145 yards and two scores.
It was the beginning of the end for Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, who was fired in the middle of the '18 season nine months later.
Mayfield went on to be selected first overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2018 NFL draft.
7. LSU Leaves No Doubt over Oklahoma in 2020 Semifinal
4 of 10
Let's go ahead and finish picking on Oklahoma.
The previous slide described a Sooners team that struggled defensively despite coming close to winning in overtime against Georgia. Defensive struggles aren't anything new for OU, but last season's semifinal loss to No. 1 LSU arguably provided a new low.
The No. 4 Sooners allowed 63 points to Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow and offered next to no resistance in a 35-point defeat.
Head coach Ed Orgeron's Tigers led 49-14 at halftime before they not only took the foot off the gas but also put it in neutral. Without doing that, there's no telling how many points they would have scored against coordinator Alex Grinch's defense.
LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger did a masterful job after daughter-in-law Carley McCord, a TV journalist, was among five people killed in a plane crash as she was heading to the Peach Bowl semifinal.
Burrow didn't find out until after the game when the ESPN television crew unwittingly broke the news to him. The quarterback finished with 493 passing yards and seven touchdowns.
Justin Jefferson caught 14 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns. It didn't even matter that Biletnikoff Award winner Ja'Marr Chase had just two catches and star running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire posted only two carries. Thaddeus Moss and Terrace Marshall Jr. picked up the slack.
6. Trevor Lawrence, Justyn Ross Connection Thumps Bama in 2019
5 of 10
In our first (but certainly not last) installment of Alabama vs. Clemson, we'll look at Trevor Lawrence's title-winning game, which occurred at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Jan. 7, 2019.
Unlike the other two times these powerhouses have met in the national championship, this one was no contest. As a matter of fact, the No. 2 Tigers won 44-16.
Head coach Dabo Swinney discussed Clemson's performance with the media after the game:
"I mean, our guys had the eye of the tiger, but I'm so proud, and then for our seniors to be able to go out 15-0 and truly be the best ever—there was a lot of talk about best ever all year long. We were never in that conversation. But tonight, there's no doubt. First 15-0 team, to beat Notre Dame and to beat Alabama to do it, this team won 13 games by 20 points or more and led by an unbelievable group of seniors, amazing group."
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovaila tossed two costly interceptions, and the top-ranked Crimson Tide couldn't break free against a dominant defensive front seven. A team averaging 47.2 points per game didn't score at all in the final 44 minutes.
Lawrence, a true freshman, finished with 347 passing yards and three touchdowns. It stung even more because Lawrence connected with Justyn Ross—the one who got away from the state in recruiting—for 153 yards and a touchdown on six catches.
It was a youth movement against a veteran crew. Nick Saban's business-like approach against Swinney's family environment.
The finale of the Clemson-Alabama story is far from being written, but the latest installment was a blowout Tigers win.
5. Alabama Introduces Air Assault to Top Clemson in 2016
6 of 10
If you love redemption stories, Alabama's Jake Coker's is among the best in college football over the past few years.
You won't find him on the list of likeliest Crimson Tide football heroes, but for a two-game stretch on the biggest stage of the sport in 2016, the Florida State transfer from Mobile, Alabama, provided plenty of heroics, culminating in a 45-40 win over Clemson in the national title game.
Everybody knew about Derrick Henry heading into the playoff; he won the Heisman Trophy, after all. And he certainly wasn't absent in the win over Clemson, piling up 158 yards on 36 carries and scoring three touchdowns.
But it was Coker's heroics that perhaps made the difference.
Heading into the semifinal game against No. 3 Michigan State, the game manager had eclipsed 250 yards just once throughout the season. But he torched the Spartans for 286 yards and a pair of scores on 25-of-30 passing in a 38-0 win.
Then against Clemson, he completed 16 of 25 passes for a career-high 335 yards and two touchdowns, both to tight end O.J. Howard, who had 208 receiving yards.
"When you win a national championship with Alabama, that's about all you can ask for," Coker said, according to B/R's Christopher Walsh. "That's the top for me. I couldn’t be more proud."
Though he was sacked five times, Coker persevered. In doing so, he helped pave the way for the high-octane Alabama offenses that would follow under the tutelage of coordinators Lane Kiffin, Mike Locksley and Steve Sarkisian.
4. Ezekiel Elliott's Surge to Stardom in the Inaugural CFP in 2015
7 of 10
Ezekiel Elliott is one of the best college football running backs to ever play.
But around the end of the 2014 regular season, he was a budding star sophomore who had yet to turn into a megastar phenom. Entering the Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin, he'd posted six games with 100-plus rushing yards that year, but he saved the big numbers for the biggest moments.
In a 59-0 thumping of the Badgers, Elliott busted out for 220 yards and a pair of touchdowns. That was just an appetizer.
While Cardale Jones got many of the headlines in Ohio State's 42-35 upset of No. 1 Alabama in the semifinal because he put on a show in just his second career start after replacing J.T. Barrett (who had replaced Braxton Miller), Elliott was the best player on the field.
He torched the Tide for 230 yards on 20 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns to propel the Buckeyes to the first-ever College Football Playoff final against Oregon. Then he one-upped himself against the Ducks.
An Oregon team that forced Florida State into five turnovers had no answer for Elliott. Urban Meyer continued to feed him, and he rushed for 246 yards on 36 carries and scored four touchdowns in a 42-20 win.
"A monster," Meyer said when describing Elliott's performance, according to the Washington Post's Chuck Culpepper.
It's impossible to pick just one of Elliott's back-to-back showings in the playoff, as they were equally important to No. 4 Ohio State's title run as the underdog.
Other than Burrow's, Elliott's two-game playoff performance may be the best ever.
3. Joe Burrow Closing His All-Time Great Year with a Heisman and a Natty in 2020
8 of 10
The only thing missing from Joe Burrow's 2020 College Football Playoff performance was heroics. He was simply too incredible for there to be close games.
Instead, LSU's signal-caller finished arguably the best single season ever for a college quarterback by torching Oklahoma in the semifinals and then embarrassing a Clemson secondary full of NFL talent in the national championship game.
The Ohio State transfer won the Heisman and then the title by completing 31 of 49 passes for 463 yards and five touchdowns. He connected with wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase for 221 yards and two scores, but he distributed the ball to four other pass-catchers and added a score on the ground.
Those numbers weren't quite as good as his annihilation of the Sooners (29-of-39 passing for 493 yards and eight total TDs), but Clemson was a much better team.
The Cincinnati Bengals went on to select Burrow first overall in the 2020 NFL draft, and he looked like a franchise quarterback before suffering a torn ACL.
"I don't know about the whole hero thing," Burrow told The Advocate's Brooks Kubena. "But I know this national championship will be remembered for a long time in Louisiana. To do it in New Orleans is even more special. This is going to be remembered for a long time."
LSU turned an 11-point halftime lead into a 42-25 win even though Clemson had a defense that featured defensive back/linebacker Isaiah Simmons and defensive backs A.J. Terrell, Tanner Muse and K'Von Wallace.
It boiled down to LSU having Burrow.
2. Tua Tagovailoa's Coming-Out Party in 2018
9 of 10
The first two performances on the list could be interchangeable. The only reason this one finished second is because it only encompassed one half.
But, man, what a half it was.
Everybody who followed college football knew about Alabama freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who'd performed well at times in relief of starter Jalen Hurts while patiently waiting his turn in Tuscaloosa.
With Georgia leading SEC foe Alabama 13-0 at halftime, UA coach Nick Saban inserted Tagovailoa into the game for a struggling Hurts. Tua never looked back, leading the Tide on a fantastic comeback while throwing for 166 yards and three touchdowns against one interception.
The last scoring toss came on a 41-yard strike to then-fellow freshman DeVonta Smith for a walk-off 26-23 win after UGA had kicked a go-ahead field goal to start overtime.
Tagovailoa actually put Alabama in position to win twice, but Andy Pappanastos missed a 36-yard field goal that would have claimed the victory in regulation. Tagovailoa inexplicably took a 16-yard sack on Alabama's first overtime play before launching the deep ball to Smith.
"I just thought we had to throw the ball, and I felt he could do it better, and he did," Saban told the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). "He did a good job, made some plays in the passing game. Just a great win. I'm so happy for Alabama fans. Great for our players. Unbelievable."
It was perhaps the biggest "welcome to college football" moment in recent memory, and Tagovailoa went on to have a brilliant yet injury-plagued career for the Tide before being selected No. 5 overall by the Miami Dolphins in April's draft.
1. Deshaun Watson's Epic Ending Gives Clemson 1st Title in 35 Years
10 of 10
Following the 2015 season, Clemson came close to winning its first title under Dabo Swinney but couldn't figure out how to stop Alabama.
It looked like it would happen again the following year, but star quarterback Deshaun Watson put the Tigers on his shoulders and willed his team to victory against the No. 1 Crimson Tide. A last-second touchdown to a wide-open Hunter Renfrow propelled Clemson to a 35-31 win for the program's first national title since 1981.
But Watson's pass didn't make his performance the greatest in College Football Playoff history; it was his entire game.
He made the leap from top prospect to great college quarterback to legend under Swinney, and his final game was arguably his best. He completed 36 of 56 passes for 420 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 43 yards and a score.
He was sacked four times by one of the most talented defenses ever assembled, with the unit featuring defensive lineman Jonathan Allen and linebacker Reuben Foster, among others. But he kept flinging darts and earned the nation's respect.
"Unfortunately, I hate to say it, but Deshaun Watson is probably the most mentally tough player I've ever played against," Allen told Pro Football Talk Live leading up to the NFL draft. "... He's by far the best player I've ever played. When I hear reporters say he's a mid- or late-round guy, it blows my mind. I see him as a top-five pick. ... He's the real deal."
The Houston Texans selected Watson 12th overall in 2017, and a sterling NFL career has followed.
All stats courtesy of CFBStats.com and Sports Reference. Recruiting rankings via 247Sports' composite rankings unless otherwise noted.
Follow Brad Shepard on Twitter at @Brad_Shepard.
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
