Clemson’s Swinney votes Ohio State No. 11 in poll
On his final ballot of the regular season, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney ranked 10 teams more deserving of one of the College Footba ll Playoff spots than his Sugar Bowl opponent, Ohio State.
Swinney voted the Buckeyes 11th in a ballot for the Coaches’ Poll that consisted of this top four: Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Texas A&M.
The 6- 0 Buckeyes drew criticism from coaches around the country because of their incomplete schedule, which required a rules change by the Big Ten to permit Ohio State to play in the conference championship game on Saturday.
Swinney also made his feelings evident in an interview with the “Rich Eisen Show.”
“I think any time you step in between the lines, the game of football, there’s a lot that can happen. A lot,” Swinney said. “I mean, heck, in 2017, we lost to a threewin or four-win Syracuse team and still went to the playoffs. So anything can happen. Guys can get hurt. There’s a lot. So I think the fact that we’re going to have 11 games as well as the SEC teams — I mean, you look at Florida and Texas A&M and Alabama. I mean, these teams are going to have 11 games this year.”
“It’s incredible and I think the Big Ten had the same opportunity and they chose not to play, and I think the only reason they ended up playing is because of the leadership of the SEC and the ACC and the Big 12, and have demonstrated that we can do it and do it in a safe way. So it’s been an unbelievably challenging season, that’s for sure. But I think that the committee’s going to have some tough, tough, tough questions to answer.”
No. 1 Alabama faces No. 4 Notre Dame in the other CFP semifinal on Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl, which will be played at Arlington, Texas, because of COVID-19 issues.
PEOPLES SETS BOWL RUSHING MARK, APP STATE TOPS NORTH TEXAS >> Camerun Peoples and Appalachian State began college football’s virus-impacted bowl season with a record-breaking show at the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Peoples ran for a bowl-record 319 yards and tied another mark with five rushing touchdowns to lead the Mountaineers past North Texas 56-28 in Conway, South Carolina.
North Texas (4-6) of Conference USA fell behind 28-7 and had no answer for Peoples or the App State rushing game, which finished with 508 yards.
ARMY TAKES LIBERTY BOWL SPOT LEFT BY TENNESSEE’S WITHDRAWAL >> Army went from left out of the bowls to replacing Tennessee in the Liberty Bowl on Monday night, hours after the Volunteers withdrew because of COVID-19 test results.
The 9-2 Black Knights were left without a bowl Sunday night after a nearly two-month-long commitment to the Independence Bowl when the Dec. 26 game in Louisiana was called off without an available team to play.
A spot became available Monday when Tennessee became the first team to back out since bowl berths were announced and paused all football activities after receiving the results of Sunday’s testing.
“The test results revealed an increase in positive cases among student-athletes and staff and subsequent contact tracing,” Tennessee said in a statement. “The decision was made in consultation with health officials, the Southeastern Conference and the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.”
The change in opponent was no problem for West Virginia, the other original team in the game scheduled for Dec. 31 in Memphis, Tennessee.
“We’re game! Let’s play ball @ArmyWPFootball,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown wrote on Twitter.
The Volunteers will end their season at 3-7 with losses in seven of their final eight games. They lost 34-13 to No. 5 Texas A&M on Saturday.
Third- year coach Jeremy Pruitt is among those who tested positive. Pruitt said he was informed earlier Monday that he had tested positive and began isolating at home.
“I am experiencing mild symptoms but doing fine,” Pruitt said. “We are obviously disappointed that we will not be able to play in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, but the health and safety of our student-athletes will always remain our top priority.”
BAYLOR QB BREWER ANNOUNCES TRANSFERTOUTAH>> Baylor threeyear starting quarterback Charlie Brewer announced Sunday that he is transferring to Utah. Brewer will be a graduate transfer and eligible to play immediately in 2021.
Brewer passed for 9,700 yards, with 65 touchdowns and 28 interceptions in 44 games (39 starts) for Baylor. Both the yardage and touchdowns rank second in school history behind Robert Griffin III (10,366 yards, 78 TD passes).
Utah also landed another quarterback late Saturday when Texas freshman Ja’Quinden Jackson announced he was transferring to the school. FLORIDA TE PITTS DECLARES FOR DRAFT >> Florida tight end Kyle Pitts declared for the NFL draft and will not participate in a Gators’ bowl game.
Widely projected as a high first-round pick, the 6-foot- 6, 246-pound junior from Philadelphia caught 43 passes for 770 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games this season for Florida (8-3).