CFB Blitz: Takeaways from the playoff quarterfinals

College Football Blitz recaps the most important developments from the College Football Playoff quarterfinal games and examines their significance moving forward.

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Ole Miss | Georgia | Indiana | Alabama | Oregon | Texas Tech | Miami | Ohio State

It's Trinidad's world

The biggest star of the College Football Playoff spent last season performing in a home stadium that has a capacity of 6,200. You might've found more people in the beer line at halftime of the Sugar Bowl on Thursday. There are plenty of takeaways from the four CFP quarterfinals played over the past 24 hours, but perhaps the biggest is that it's Trinidad Chambliss' world and the rest of us are just living in it.

The Division II transfer from Ferris State spent damn-near four hours driving Georgia nuts, running all over New Orleans avoiding would-be tacklers to make one wild play after another. Now, Chambliss came to Oxford as a highly-accomplished player who won last year's Division II national title. However, Valdosta State ain't exactly packed with future NFL defenders.

At one point, Chambliss completed 13 straight passes to help Ole Miss take a 10-point lead with just over seven minutes to play. Not all were of the high-wire variety, as Chambliss dissected the Bulldogs' secondary with some brilliant touch and velocity throughout. His final completion was the most important - a 40-yard dime on third-and-5 in the dying seconds to set up the game-winning field goal.

Of course, it's impossible to talk about Ole Miss without mentioning Lane Kiffin. And while he's public enemy No. 1 in Oxford, he did play a large role in bringing aboard the transfers that dominate the Rebels' roster. But this is no longer his team, and Pete Golding deserves his flowers for a number of halftime adjustments that helped slow down the Georgia offense.

Oh, and for those wondering, Kiffin was not in attendance at the game despite rumors earlier in the week that he would be watching live. Instead, he took in the LSU women's basketball home game against Kentucky - a contest that resulted in the Tigers' first loss of the season. He did, however, weigh in with congratulations after the contest.

Enjoy the night, Ole Miss fans.

Georgia finally burned by defense

As the calendar flips to 2026, we live in a college football reality that is far different than the one we opened 2025 with. Indiana is unquestionably the top team in the sport, a Pete Golding-led team is off to the semifinal, and Georgia's title hopes finally crashed and burned due to an overmatched ... defense?

The Bulldogs defense has been an NFL factory under Kirby Smart's watch, but there's no question it cost them a spot in the semifinal this season. Georgia simply could not stop Chambliss and Ole Miss when it needed to, with a nonexistent pass rush once again showing up at the worst possible time. The defense entered Thursday's game with only 20 sacks on the season, sitting an astonishing 106th in the country. That's exactly where they will stay after registering zero on Chambliss.

Given plenty of time to operate, Chambliss torched Georgia for a career-high 362 yards passing on the night. In eight quarters of action this season, the Bulldogs failed to sack Chambliss once and allowed 625 yards passing.

Georgia can hang its head high for yet another second-half comeback - something it excelled at this year. This Sugar Bowl will be remembered as an all-timer with both teams providing the game of the 2025 CFP thus far. However, changes will need to be made on Smart's defense if Georgia wants to return to elite status at the top of the college football world.

The new Saban lives in Indiana

One team on the Rose Bowl field Thursday operated with machine-like precision in dominating its opponent, in the manner we grew accustomed to seeing when Nick Saban was coaching. The other team was Alabama.

Kalen DeBoer might run the Crimson Tide program now, but Curt Cignetti spent four years serving on Saban's initial staff in Tuscaloosa. In perhaps the greatest compliment we can give a coach, Cignetti's Hoosiers look very Saban-esque in the way they tactically pick apart their opponent with mistake-free football.

Only the saddest 28-yard field goal in Alabama history kept this from being a shutout by Indiana. The 38-3 final score now stands alone as the worst bowl loss ever suffered by the Crimson Tide.

Discipline was synonymous with Saban's Alabama teams. That's something Indiana has in spades, ranking second in the country with 29 yards in penalties a game. Unwilling to give the Crimson Tide any freebies, the Hoosiers saw just one flag Thursday.

Excellence on third downs can often be traced back to coaching and attention to detail, and Indiana was dominant in that scenario versus Alabama. The defense held the Tide to a ridiculous 3-for-13 on third- and fourth-down conversions, constantly ending drives and forcing a tired Alabama defense back on the field. On the other side of the ball, the nation's top third-down offense was once again surgical, going 9-for-14 in those situations.

Perhaps the biggest tribute to Saban is Cignetti's sideline demeanor. For most of the blowout, he resembled an incredibly frustrated high school principal on his way to suspend the same student for the third time this semester. Cignetti isn't content just to beat you: He wants to crush your will to compete and then do it over and over again.

Alabama mystique is dead

Cignetti was asked this week how he prevents his players from getting distracted or overwhelmed by Alabama's history. His answer put the idea of the Crimson Tide mystique on life support, and the Hoosiers essentially pulled the plug Thursday.

"Our guys just know what they've seen on tape," Cignetti said - and what the Hoosiers saw on tape was a football team that simply did not measure up to them in any facet of the game. It still feels strange to say Indiana is a better football team than Alabama in 2026, but that's wearing off with every passing minute.

In truth, we probably should have seen this coming. Take away the helmets involved and the Hoosiers should have been favored by much more than a touchdown in this game. While Alabama had a solid stretch early in the season, it's rarely looked the part of a playoff contender in the last two months. Other than the furious comeback versus Oklahoma in the opening round, dominance has left Tuscaloosa.

The last six FBS games for the Crimson Tide have produced the following results:

• Needed two touchdowns in final 2:16 to beat 4-8 South Carolina
• 11-point home win in LSU's first game after firing Brian Kelly
• Home loss to Oklahoma
• Beat 5-7 Auburn on late fourth-quarter TD
• Lost 28-7 to Georgia in SEC title game
• Came back from 17-0 deficit to beat Oklahoma on road

Ty Simpson was a Heisman contender throughout the first two months of the season. He was benched in the third quarter Thursday with the team down 24-0.

Without even the rumor of a running game, the only way the Tide could move the ball this year was Simpson playing out of his mind. When he wasn't able to do that, they got outgained 407-193 and suffered one of the most embarrassing losses in program history.

Although Alabama message boards will likely fire DeBoer by midnight, the school shouldn't do it. He's one of the finer coaches in the country, and the Tide are still a really good football team. However, the mythical status that existed under Saban is gone; nobody fears the Tide anymore.

Big brother Oregon

"Look, it's OK to win, but at least let them make a few nice plays."

Older brothers everywhere have heard that speech from their parents before heading into the backyard with a younger sibling. Dan Lanning could have said something similar to Oregon before the Orange Bowl, because that reflects what unfolded.

The 23-0 final might as well have been 73-0. That's how helpless Texas Tech seemed to get anything going on offense. Oregon posted seven tackles for loss and four sacks on just 62 Red Raiders plays in the win. Need visual proof? Here's Matayo Uiagalelei doing the honors to put this one out of reach.

The Ducks' defense was the question mark entering the Orange Bowl - which is natural when James Madison hangs 34 points on you at home and puts up over 500 yards of total offense. Consider that question answered, emphatically, with the third shutout in CFP history.

While Oregon's offense didn't cover itself in glory with its red-zone performance, it did enough to chew up plenty of possessions and keep an exhausted Texas Tech defense on the field. The Ducks held the ball for an eye-popping 17 more minutes than the Red Raiders in the game, with six separate drives lasting at least seven plays.

If that isn't a big brother reminding the younger sibling who runs the house, I don't know what is.

Schedule propped up Tech's offense

Football coaches spend every year pounding the mantra "defense wins championships" into their teams. However, they usually leave out the caveat: "unless your offense is completely useless." And that's another way to describe Texas Tech versus Oregon.

The Red Raiders' defense is as advertised, with an outrageously talented line. It could dominate any conference thanks to its ferocious pass rush. As for the offense? An asterisk should be attached to any of the Red Raiders' offensive stats thanks to a defense-optional Big 12 schedule.

Look through Texas Tech's opponents and you'll uncover a stat that could have foretold Thursday's performance. The Red Raiders didn't play a single top-30 defense all year en route to scoring 42.5 points per game - good for second in the country. Their offense relied on explosive plays, ranking second nationally in plays over 20 yards.

That worked during the season, but Oregon ain't taking the field in a Big 12 game anytime soon. Pit the Red Raiders against the Ducks' fifth-ranked defense and you get what we saw in the Orange Bowl.

Texas Tech was aggressive in the transfer portal to build up both sides of the line. It paid off, delivering the first CFP appearance in program history. This year, the Red Raiders should focus on the skill positions, with a clear upgrade needed at quarterback and receiver to take them to the next level.

Miami the bully on the CFP block

While most college football fans over the age of 35 associate "The U" with the best collection of skill-position talent we've ever seen, peak Miami dominated the trenches en route to punishing the rest of the sport. It took Mario Cristobal a few years to build up the lines in south Florida, but that is once again the case with Miami.

"We talked about it. Our guys talked a lot about being a physical, violent bunch," Cristobal said on the ESPN broadcast after Miami's 24-14 upset win over Ohio State on Wednesday.

It took Miami's defense exactly three plays to show violence would be a theme for the night, with Akheem Mesidor sacking Julian Sayin on the Buckeyes' third play of the game. The Hurricanes ultimately brought down the Ohio State quarterback five times on the night.

Only five teams allowed fewer sacks this season than the Buckeyes - and two of those programs (Army and Navy) actively avoid throwing the ball. However, there aren't many Mesidors or Rueben Bains on the Ohio State schedule, and that duo owned the trenches throughout.

Now sometimes the bully gets punched in the mouth, and the Buckeyes did hit back early in the second half. After being held scoreless in the opening frame for the first time since 2016, two touchdowns brought Ohio State within three.

However, the bully stood tallest in the biggest moment.

Full of momentum and holding the ball down three in the fourth, most would have bet on the Ohio State machine to keep churning and put up more points. The opposite occurred. A sack, a forced holding penalty, and another tackle for loss forced Ohio State to punt the ball back to Miami with just under 6 minutes to play.

The Hurricanes' finishing punch was perhaps the most impressive - a 10-play, 70-yard drive that featured eight running plays and 52 yards on the ground. The payoff: a touchdown in the final minute to make the final margin 10 points.

Day's rust hurts Buckeyes

Middle-aged men across the country returned home during the Christmas holidays, fired up the old Xbox in their parents' basement to play CFB, and immediately realized they're no longer the brilliant play-caller they used to be.

Ryan Day experienced that phenomenon in the opening half of the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday against Miami, only his struggles unfolded in front of millions of viewers instead of just your tipsy Uncle Paul and his two teenage sons.

Day announced earlier in the week that he would take over play-calling duties from Brian Hartline, with the offensive coordinator also juggling the job responsibilities of South Florida head coach after his hire earlier in December. He's no stranger to calling plays in Columbus, having done so in his first five years as head coach for the Buckeyes. However, he relinquished those duties to Chip Kelly last season and promptly won the national title. We'll let you decide if that is merely a coincidence or a direct result of the decision.

The offense certainly looked like it was led by a man who hadn't called plays since 2023 as the Hurricanes did whatever they wanted to the Buckeyes' line and made life hell for Sayin.

Miami's vaunted pass-rush lived in the backfield early, resulting in an eye-popping drive chart for the mighty Ohio State offense: five drives that went just 87 yards on 18 plays and resulted in four punts. The only drive that didn't end in a punt actually went even worse, with a lengthy pick-6 on a telegraphed wide-receiver screen resulting in the biggest Buckeyes' deficit since 2022.

Day and the offense figured things out a bit as the game went on, notably going to 12 personnel with two tight ends on the field for much of the second half. That resulted in Sayin getting plenty of protection and leading two lengthy touchdown drives. The final stat line was a respectable 332 total yards of offense at a 5.6-yard clip. However, you cannot give a team with a dominant pass-rush a 14-point head start - whether or not you have Jeremiah Smith.