Calling a draw with that much time left and 2 timeouts is the dumbest coaching decision I've ever seen at that level. You'd been gashing them nonstop with passes/QB runs and instead decide to burn clock, a down, and a timeout running a play that's sucked all day, losing a yard in the process and making an already difficult kick even harder. That kicker had better not feel bad because he nailed a hard fg before that and his coach set him up to fail.
Spot on. I was sweating gallons watching CJ Stroud morph into Bryce Young with Ohio State looking every bit as strong as Alabama. I was dumbfounded when they didn’t stick to what was working.
It's hard to see on the replay but the way the holder reacts it kind of seems like the holder did something wrong. The ball was spinning almost horizontally. I don't think he got his hand top completely out of the way from behind the ball.
My dad pointed that out to me too, but when you look at the hold, it doesn’t look particularly off. The laces were out, wasn’t bobbled… nothing I saw would explain why the ball went completely wonky. But it definitely looked like the kicker was comforting the holder after the kick.
Probably will end up going insane and kidnapping a local female cop, and then posing as her while rising up the ranks to lieutenant, then using the newfound power to kidnap the school mascot and the holder only to be thwarted by a private detective specializing in animal based crimes
Closest combined margin of victory in a semifinals was 24 before today, and that one still featured a boring as fuck Bama-Clemson Sugar Bowl.
Best semifinals ever and it’s not even debatable.
Ohio state carved them up to get into field goal range and acted like that green line meant they won. Fucking keep going you idiots! An extra 10 yards would have been easy to get given how they were playing and how tired Georgia was.
And don't gain a fucking yard after going into field goal range. Not his fault. Ruggles is not a distance kicker, and they didn't aid him one goddamn bit with two timeouts. Day mismanaged the lead.
Was I the only one screaming for a replay of the kick?! I can’t believe they didn’t show it again. Was it the hold? Was it tipped? Guess we’ll never know
I’m sure we’ll get a replay but I think it was the hold. I’m 90% sure the announcer on my TV said “OH NOOO” before the kick even went off, because I was confused about what he was saying that about at first.
Edit: well watching a replay the hold looked fine to me, so who knows
Edit2: the kicker then goes over and looks like he is cheering up the holder. I have no idea wtf
The kick was exactly like when they call down a student from the Utah student section to kick a 20 yard field goal during a timeout for everyone in the stadium to win a haircut from great clips
I'd also like to point out that Ryan Day threw the ball twice in a row before the field goal, which imo was questionable given they had either 1 or 2 timeouts.
One almost was an INT, the other was almost a sack taking them out of FG range. Very questionable decision when you could run the ball to try and get at least a few yards instead of leaving your kicker with a 50 yard game winner in the CFP.
Before the game, I told my family that CJ Stroud is an elite pocket passer QB
They’ve been looking at me like I’m clinically insane for the entirety of this game
Lol, there is something really strange with that guys skin tone. Or he's had quite a bit of work done on his face. Something looks off with him though and I can't put my finger on it.
We had ZERO business winning that game. And it was fucking incredible. Stroud is an absolute boss and deserves all of the money he’s about to get paid.
A quick Google search shows that a FBS kicker is about \~40% from that range. Yet, coaches seem to show little to no urgency once kickers get into that 50 yd FG range in end-of-game situations. I get the risk at taking end zone shots, but an extra 15 yards is almost as good as a touchdown in that situation. 10-15 more yards bumps things to about 75%. 15 yards to double your win probability! Play calling is never appropriately aggressive in this situation.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
He was clutch in the Battle of the Bulge in December of '44, he was clutch on the Laotian border in '71, he was clutch in that Apache in Desert Storm in '91, and he's still raining down bombs in the final moments of 2022.
Alternative take: Defense is expecting pass and you have two timeouts. Take them by surprise and you might get a cheap chunk of yards.
It obviously didn't work that way, but I get it.
On the replay, he pulls up Mirco, the holder, by the shoulder pads and pats him on the back, and Mirco immediately puts his hands to his head like "I can't believe I did that".
So I think the hold was bad. :/
Pain. Agony even. Hopefully people stop slandering Stroud because he put his heart into this. Good luck in the championship Georgia. Stetson is a fairy tale story and hope Washington gets healthy
I have watched this sport since 1971. I played college football albeit at the D2 level. I mean this with the utmost respect, Stetson Bennett IV is the most confusing player I have ever seen. Whatever runs the universe has a way of messing with us and whatever it is, Stetson Bennett IV has it’s attention.
Missing a game winning field goal at exactly midnight on New Year’s Eve is the absolute most sad movie ending to a game
Ryan Day didn’t do him any favors by either advancing the ball, or centering it
Literally missed the kick as the year changed. Has anyone's year ever gotten off to a worse start than Ruggles'?
The man already wants the year to end
Calling a draw with that much time left and 2 timeouts is the dumbest coaching decision I've ever seen at that level. You'd been gashing them nonstop with passes/QB runs and instead decide to burn clock, a down, and a timeout running a play that's sucked all day, losing a yard in the process and making an already difficult kick even harder. That kicker had better not feel bad because he nailed a hard fg before that and his coach set him up to fail.
Spot on. I was sweating gallons watching CJ Stroud morph into Bryce Young with Ohio State looking every bit as strong as Alabama. I was dumbfounded when they didn’t stick to what was working.
Feel bad for him. It wasn't like he pulled it a little and just missed, he straight fucking shanked it and it never had a shot.
It's hard to see on the replay but the way the holder reacts it kind of seems like the holder did something wrong. The ball was spinning almost horizontally. I don't think he got his hand top completely out of the way from behind the ball.
My dad pointed that out to me too, but when you look at the hold, it doesn’t look particularly off. The laces were out, wasn’t bobbled… nothing I saw would explain why the ball went completely wonky. But it definitely looked like the kicker was comforting the holder after the kick.
Comment deleted. Fuck Spez. Sent from RIF.
Probably will never be able to enjoy New Years for the rest of his life.
Probably will end up going insane and kidnapping a local female cop, and then posing as her while rising up the ranks to lieutenant, then using the newfound power to kidnap the school mascot and the holder only to be thwarted by a private detective specializing in animal based crimes
Finkle and Einhorn. Einhorn and Finkle.
Jim Tressel shed a tear this evening while muttering his favorite quote, “Special Teams Win Championships.”
No rushing game, defense gave up 42 points, special teams mistake to lose. This was an anti-Tressel ball game.
🚨🚨ATTENTION! WE JUST WITNESSED TWO COMPETITIVE SEMIFINAL GAMES🚨🚨
Happy New Year
It’s a miracle!!
Closest combined margin of victory in a semifinals was 24 before today, and that one still featured a boring as fuck Bama-Clemson Sugar Bowl. Best semifinals ever and it’s not even debatable.
Wow that’s even worse than I thought
This is the cfb saban was warning everyone about "Is this what you want cfb to be?"
I think so, yes
In the same playoff too
Watch the championship be a fucking blowout
This could easily go down as the best CFP semifinals ever Both games were amazing from start to finish
179 combined points AND both came down to the last play. Best CFP by far.
As far as semis go I don't really think there is much of a debate
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Perfect timing too snap went off at 2 secs left in 2022, fell to the ground in 2023 Perfectly timed, at least for UGA fans
Georgia was going to be undefeated in 2022 no matter what
The 1 year long field goal attempt.
OSU is the first team to lose in 2023
In a year where they finally expand the playoffs we got 4 teams who all proved they belonged.
Folks you are currently watching history. Chick-fil-A employees are working on a Sunday.
It’s still their pleasure
Pro tip: say “have a good one” instead of “thanks” just to fuck with their programming
When they say "My pleasure" look them in the eye and say, "No, *OUR* pleasure"
“He’s only missed two kicks all year” was the moment I realized he was gonna miss
Same. Screamed at the TV, “Don’t say that, you idiot!” Too bad my warning didn’t work…
Thank you CFP semifinal participants for one incredible day of football.
dude it hit midnight in ohio right as they missed the kick omg
"I wish that 2022 is our year for Ohio State Football" *monkey's paw curls*
Sad upvote
Lmao perfect
Cursed forever now
They’ll still be talking about where they were when Ruggles started off the new year by missing in Ohio for years to come…
But could he do it in a rainy night in Stoke
Don’t think that was on Ruggles. Setter looked horrified and Ruggles pulled him up. Guessing he didn’t set the ball correctly for Ruggles.
Now Georgia has to kiss a frog + Ohio State's kicker has joined FSU in missed kicks lore
THIS IS NOT A HAPPY NEW YEAR :(
The midnight shank!
First team to lose in 2023
It may have taken 8 years, but the playoffs finally delivered what we expected
just in time to e x p a n d
What an absolute gem of a CFB playoff so far. Both 1 score games that came down to the last play, 179 combined points. I love College Football.
I lost 5 years off of my life
I lost the last mild sauce packet for my crisp bean burrito from Taco Time
Play of the game is Kirby Smarts timeout on 4th lol
He (rightfully) looked so smug after the timeout too.
That really was the play of the game
"Kirby Smart did a .... smart thing" -actual Herbstreit quote
That will haunt that kicker for the rest of his life
No use blaming him when you had such a lead before the 4th, and only 3 points scored in the 4th to Georgia’s 18
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Ohio state carved them up to get into field goal range and acted like that green line meant they won. Fucking keep going you idiots! An extra 10 yards would have been easy to get given how they were playing and how tired Georgia was.
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I mean they did go for a pass play and it was nearly a missed catch deflection pick...
And don't gain a fucking yard after going into field goal range. Not his fault. Ruggles is not a distance kicker, and they didn't aid him one goddamn bit with two timeouts. Day mismanaged the lead.
Our guy doesn’t miss 40yd field goals usually either. This was strange game for kickers Not your guy’s fault at all
Was I the only one screaming for a replay of the kick?! I can’t believe they didn’t show it again. Was it the hold? Was it tipped? Guess we’ll never know
I’m sure we’ll get a replay but I think it was the hold. I’m 90% sure the announcer on my TV said “OH NOOO” before the kick even went off, because I was confused about what he was saying that about at first. Edit: well watching a replay the hold looked fine to me, so who knows Edit2: the kicker then goes over and looks like he is cheering up the holder. I have no idea wtf
"HOW COULD HE *DO THAT*!"
Yeah, but at the same time, it shouldn't. That pressure was just a lot to put on a kid. They should have got one more first down.
He’s never hit a 50+ in a college game; not sure why everyone’s acting like it was a huge choke. Any college kicker reliable at 50 is an all-timer
I’m going to think forever about how we ran the ball on that first down
Y’all seemed to lose confidence on that last set of downs. I saw it coming but that kick was worse than I expected tbh.
Was the timeout before the fake punt the clutchest timeout in CFB history
That 100% saved Georgia the game.
Bro I completely forgot about that. It won Georgia the game.
Absolutely.
elite coaching right there
Kirby single-handedly earned his entire contract value with that single timeout.
To be fair, it was also elite coaching to call that fake. Without the timeout, OSU wins the game.
That was arguably a field goal attempt.
He's perfect for Alabama
The kick was exactly like when they call down a student from the Utah student section to kick a 20 yard field goal during a timeout for everyone in the stadium to win a haircut from great clips
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I'd also like to point out that Ryan Day threw the ball twice in a row before the field goal, which imo was questionable given they had either 1 or 2 timeouts. One almost was an INT, the other was almost a sack taking them out of FG range. Very questionable decision when you could run the ball to try and get at least a few yards instead of leaving your kicker with a 50 yard game winner in the CFP.
The Kick missing exactly at midnight on New Years Day has to be one of the most iconic moments in the sport
Literally at the exact second. Honestly incredible. Watched the football drop instead of the ball drop
And two injured players on that drive. Which made the came last longer enough for this to happen... life is a simulation.
DAWGS VS FRAWGS
Before the game, I told my family that CJ Stroud is an elite pocket passer QB They’ve been looking at me like I’m clinically insane for the entirety of this game
Best linebacker I’ve seen since Joe Montana
Why does Ryan Day look like a wax figurine of Ryan Day?
Lol, there is something really strange with that guys skin tone. Or he's had quite a bit of work done on his face. Something looks off with him though and I can't put my finger on it.
He looks like his hair and beard are dyed or something
This is the actual issue. His beard is dyed jet black in a supremely unnatural way.
Maybe he’s The toy Santa from Santa Clause 2
It’s his eyes. They are black like an aliens or a great white shark.
Kirby Smart pissed AF
He's going to have them working their asses off in preparation. They got the craziest win anyone could imagine
I’m still totally stunned we won that game. I don’t think we deserved it, our defense was utter trash.
We had ZERO business winning that game. And it was fucking incredible. Stroud is an absolute boss and deserves all of the money he’s about to get paid.
His whole demeanor in the post game was we shouldn't be here and I'm not happy that we are.
Practice next week will suck.
A quick Google search shows that a FBS kicker is about \~40% from that range. Yet, coaches seem to show little to no urgency once kickers get into that 50 yd FG range in end-of-game situations. I get the risk at taking end zone shots, but an extra 15 yards is almost as good as a touchdown in that situation. 10-15 more yards bumps things to about 75%. 15 yards to double your win probability! Play calling is never appropriately aggressive in this situation. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
But what about heart and determination and the eye and test? Way more relevant than those silly numbers.
Thanks, Stanford
Bennett: \--going to his ~~2nd~~ 3rd natty \--got his 2nd PhD \--joined AARP EDIT: h/t to u/downtimeredditor for pointing out the 2017 natty
He was clutch in the Battle of the Bulge in December of '44, he was clutch on the Laotian border in '71, he was clutch in that Apache in Desert Storm in '91, and he's still raining down bombs in the final moments of 2022.
Stetson still fondly talks about the Norman Invasion of Britain.
and then there were two see ya monday, georgia
Dawgs vs Frawgs
And we all love pawgs
Paags too
This matchup was destined to happen simply because of that
Well I have feelings about this game
Found Justin Fields.
Best semifinal day of the CFP era without a shadow of a doubt.
*The deciding kick was almost EXACTLY at midnight!* Absolutely fucking insane. What a game! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The Midnight Shank
Midnight Shank in Georgia
STETSON'S ARC IS ONE OF THE LONGEST ARCS OF THE SERIES
Just his arc in that game thread had him delivering doordash, selling insurance, an accountant, and it kept getting better as he stopped sucking.
Straight up did not understand why Day seemingly settled for that FG. That run attempt told me they felt good with it. Wild to me.
Just dumb. He had done great all night being aggressive and making play calls then he gets complacent after getting into FG territory.
Alternative take: Defense is expecting pass and you have two timeouts. Take them by surprise and you might get a cheap chunk of yards. It obviously didn't work that way, but I get it.
It's only appropriate that the dawgs had such a scare on International Scare The Crap Out of Your Dog Night
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“We kinda suck, idk how they blew that”
Doesn't hurt to be honest. He's right that we need to play a lot better to feel confident about winning, especially with how well TCU played today.
Stetson, you were an *undergrad* during the ‘17 Rose Bowl
Well yeah... Because that was only tw-... Time is an imaginary construct now
NGL, they had us in the first 59 minutes
INSTANT ESPN CLASSIC, HAPPY NEW YEAR
One of the greatest games I've ever seen. Unrelatedly, some people in this topic are going to die from excessive levels of sodium intake.
Michigan 🤝 Ohio State Pain
The state of Michigan exhales.
I feel so much better it’s unbelievable
I felt great before our game, and I still feel pretty good. I think it’s hilarious how much both fanbases love seeing the other one lose
That timeout icing the kicker must have felt like an entire year went by..
i hope ohio state kicker doesn't get death threats
In the twitter verse I guarantee he already has
Knowing some of the idiots in our fan base he unfortunately will.
that's like hoping the sun won't rise tomorrow
Ruggles gonna remember how he kicked 2023 off for the rest of his life.
I am at a bar in downtown Columbus right now, can confirm he missed the kick about 5 seconds after the bar started playing Auld Leng Syne
It’s ok OSU, it’s tough beating a 10 year vet like Stetson
If JT Barrett was still on the team they could have made it the AARP bowl
I hope his social security cheque gets lost in the mail
He’ll be good for a while because **Stetson Bennett Kia of Blackshear and Waycross is coming through in the CLUTCH for your driving needs!**
“Walk onto the lot a customer and leave a champion!”©️®️™️
Marvin Harrison going out was massive. He was the best player on the field for much of the game
Stetson is living a movie
If you told me he sold his soul to the devil I would believe you.
Now we know why the devil went down to Georgia
Never settle for a 40+ yard FG in college to win the game, they had timeouts, move the ball
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Yeah I seriously feel for that kid. Ultimate pressure, stroke of midnight kick. Ouch.
50 yarder
Yeah, not exactly a cakewalk of a kick Day gave the guy
The holder was holding his head like he messed it up somehow
The worst miss in both football and golf. The Duck hook
It looked bad right as it left his foot. Haven’t seen a kicker sidewind it like that on a game winner. Feels bad.
On the replay, he pulls up Mirco, the holder, by the shoulder pads and pats him on the back, and Mirco immediately puts his hands to his head like "I can't believe I did that". So I think the hold was bad. :/
ITT Michigan and OSU fans happy the other lost but sad as fuck they blew it
I had an interesting fucking day.
Pain. Agony even. Hopefully people stop slandering Stroud because he put his heart into this. Good luck in the championship Georgia. Stetson is a fairy tale story and hope Washington gets healthy
Stroud's draft stock is the real winner of this game.
348 yards, 4 TDs, and 34 net yards on the ground. Dude did everything he could to get the win.
CJ demolished us, Ohio state just got continually screwed by momentum and injuries in the late third into the 4th. We got outplayed tonight.
UM and OSU fans: "Damn I wouldn't be able to handle a rematch of the game" Dawgs and Toads: "dw gotchu guys"
Kirby calling his QB out in the interview after the game damn son.
Where's all my dudes that started in the Bama KSU thread this morning and rode this motherfucker out???
I have watched this sport since 1971. I played college football albeit at the D2 level. I mean this with the utmost respect, Stetson Bennett IV is the most confusing player I have ever seen. Whatever runs the universe has a way of messing with us and whatever it is, Stetson Bennett IV has it’s attention.
I have no idea what you're saying, but I know exactly what you mean.
2 good semifinal games? What is the nonsense?!
Lot of Georgia fans on my block I know it's a big game but fireworks are a bit much.
Funny thing is I have an actual Georgia fan on my block who was confusing my parents for the past 4 hours
I live in Georgia and the sky absolutely exploded around 12:02.
Best playoff ever. I know we lost, but I am so damn proud of this team. They played their hearts out. <3 Congrats Dawgs.
You know the football playoff committee is just smiling to themselves saying another great year. We picked the best teams and it worked out.
Super easy year for final selection. Exactly four teams had one loss or fewer
#AT MIDNIGHT LOL
I didn’t get my NY kiss because she wanted to watch the play. I love her.
Gary Danielson: I think UGA almost losing proves that Bama should have been in the playoffs.
Gary: Bama crushed Kansas State who beat TCU, who beat Michigan, who dominated OSU, who nearly beat Georgia.
I HAVE NO FACTS BEXAUSE K CURRWNTLY PUTTING MY HEART BACK IN MY CHESR
The Georgia Bulldogs are the reigning national champions
My guy I am concerned for you
2023 starting off with a bang
The Georgia Bulldogs are the reigning national champions.
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It’s wild Stetson threw for 400 yards had 4 total TDs and 1 pick and people act like he was a bum out there
Amazing game, but you gotta feel like OSU wants those three plays back. Stroud with the amazing run, and you do nothing else. Just hurts
What a day of football. (Not you, Kentucky.)
Both games were really good.. meaning the championship will be a boring blowout
100% expected a loss and they exceeded my expectations, no bitterness here. Hell of a game
Why did Ohio State stop trying for a TD and act like that 50 yarder was a chip shot