Penn State’s Beaver Stadium has been hosting college football games since it first opened in 1960. However, subfreezing mid-December temperatures presented challenges that required a multimillion-dollar winterization of Happy Valley’s massive football cathedral as it prepares to host the first-ever on-campus College Football Playoff game.
“We spent $4.5 million for this moment,” Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft said in a conversation with CBS Sports.
Such is life for three of the four sites north of the Mason-Dixon Line hosting first-round games in the College Football Playoff this week. Cold weather and potential snow are forecast in State College, Pennsylvania, where the university usually shuts down the stadium in December, turning off the water and applying electrical heat tape to pipes to prevent breaks and leaks in the offseason.
“If not [for the changes], there would have been a lot of flushing toilets to keep the water running,” Kraft said with a laugh. “It would have been someone’s job to run around the building flushing toilets.”
Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas have spent the better part of 18 months preparing to host the first round of on-campus games in playoff history. The logistical challenges have been massive. Most fans tuning into the games this weekend will never realize how much preparation was needed for this moment.
“I don’t want to jinx anything, but we’ve been very impressed with how ready, willing and able the campuses have been,” said Brett Daniels, the CFP’s senior director of communications and branding. “We thought there might be more concerns, questions, pushback on things, but we spent the last year working closely with the schools and the conferences to build a general plan that made sense.”
College Football Playoff payouts
$3 million to cover expenses for each team in each round
$4 million for each of the 12 teams that makes the College Football Playoff
$4 million for each of the 8 teams that makes the College Football Playoff quarterfinals
$6 million for each of the 4 teams that makes the College Football Playoff semifinals
$6 million for each of the 2 teams that makes the College Football Playoff National Championship Game
Casting a wide net
During the four-team playoff’s history, the CFP worked and consulted on six bowl games that rotated as semifinal hosts, but this wasn’t as substantial as advising and planning 11 games in the new 12-team playoff.
First-round games on campuses presented a more daunting challenge. After all, any of the 134 teams in the FBS could reach the new 12-team field, meaning any school could also host an on-campus game. Eighteen months ago, the CFP held meetings and hired consultants to make a plan for a potential playoff game on all 134 campuses.
They met every two to three weeks, developing plans for team charters, buses and hotel space. Campuses unfamiliar with big games had to determine how to host massive TV compounds for ESPN. Visitor locker rooms, already small by design, had to be prepared to host full rosters of 120 or more players, which meant auxiliary spaces had to be secured for overflowing coaching staffs and players.
No detail was overlooked, Daniels said. They also discussed whether to present trophies to winners in the first round, but that idea was quickly nixed.
The CFP circulated hosting manuals to schools in the summer. In the spring, they sent surveys to all 134 schools, with a due date of Sept. 1. Every campus was required to develop a “snow and ice plan” and provide locker room space with heating and air. The CFP used those surveys to build a database.
Kansas and Northwestern could not host on-campus games because of ongoing stadium projects. At one time, Miami faced a scheduling issue with a soccer match at Hard Rock Stadium and the NFL’s Miami Dolphins hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. But the soccer event was canceled, alleviating concerns.
Graduation ceremonies also complicated hotel situations, as thousands descended on small college towns, eating up hotel rooms and clogging roads. Penn State rescheduled its graduation ceremonies at the nearby Bryce Jordan Center from Saturday to Sunday and many universities made similar changes a year ago in preparation.
“It’s (a) learning and building the plane as you fly type of thing in many ways,” said Kerry Kenny, chief operating officer at the Big Ten, which will host two playoff games this weekend. “But credit to the CFP for doing the due diligence on the front end.”
The CFP hired Collegiate Sports Travel, a widely used agency that determines the best hotel spaces for visiting teams in all 134 college towns. They signed contracts with hotels in or near each of the 134 sites and started releasing rooms as early as September and October as teams were eliminated from playoff contention.
Home teams are charged with booking hotel space for their tea, while the CFP arranges it for visiting teams and staff.
“We certainly didn’t want to hold rooms in places we weren’t going, because we may need to go back there in a year or two, and we want to make sure we stay on good terms with everybody,” Daniels said.
The process was long and tedious.
Thankfully, the first CFP Rankings in early November helped narrow the logistical team’s focus. Daniels said their meetings shrank to roughly 30 teams, then 25, following the second batch of rankings on Nov. 12.
There was one small fly in the ointment: Boise State.
“That was one of our bigger challenges,” Daniels said.
For a short window of time, it appeared possible Boise State could host a first-round game. That presented scheduling issues with the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, hosted by Boise State, on Dec. 23. The CFP, ESPN and Boise State discussed contingencies for hotel space and the possibility of rescheduling the Dec. 23 bowl game. Hosting a playoff game two or three days before another bowl game was impractical. Hotel space was difficult to secure, and Boise State’s facilities were booked, which are required to allow participating teams in the Potato Bowl access for three practices before their game.
“There weren’t a lot of [rescheduling] options and [Christmas Eve] was looking like it would be the most practical,” said Danielle Brazil, executive director of the Potato Bowl.
Ultimately, Boise State received a first-round bye and the bowl game remained on Dec. 23. No. 3 Boise State will play the winner of SMU-Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
On-campus College Football Playoff games
Date & time (ET)
Teams
Stadium
Year opened
Capacity
Broadcast channel
Friday, Dec. 20, 8 p.m.
Indiana at Notre Dame
Notre Dame Stadium
1930
77,622
ABC/ESPN
Saturday, Dec. 21, noon
SMU at Penn State
Beaver Stadium
1960
106,572
TNT/Max
Saturday, Dec. 21, 4 p.m.
Clemson at Texas
DKR–Texas Memorial Stadium
1924
100,119
TNT/Max
Saturday, Dec. 21, 8 p.m.
Tennessee at Ohio State
Ohio Stadium
1922
102,780
ABC/ESPN
The mad dash
Administrators at the 12 playoff schools have racked up frequent flyer miles this week, visiting first-round sites and potential bowl locations for the second and third rounds.
For Clemson, that means visiting Texas, the Peach Bowl and the Cotton Bowl to help plan travel and get ahead of potential logistical challenges for game days in those facilities. There’s also coordinating ticket opportunities for fans through the CFP, which runs ticketing for all playoff games.
It’s a mad dash for something that may never happen.
“We have to win and keep going, but we also have to plan for that game at the moment and then pass the preparations ahead,” Clemson athletic director Graham Neff said. “It’s been hard to manage the demand we have had and how we’ve worked to be really comprehensive with that, with students and our donors.”
Neff sighs and smiles.
“But happy to be there.”
The CFP controlling prices means double or triple the amount season-ticket holders usually pay at sites like Texas. The 12,000 students provided access to tickets were charged an additional $25, said Drew Martin, Texas’ executive senior associate athletics director in charge of external affairs.
Home playoff teams garner $4 million in payments from the CFP to their conferences. Schools run and retain concession sales.
Visiting teams are allotted only 3,500 tickets, including band and cheer teams. That has forced many traveling fans to seek tickets elswhere.
Rabid Tennessee fans discovered a pre-sale code for their first-round game against the Buckeyes on Ticketmaster, the official ticketing partner of the CFP. They gobbled up tickets, prompting Ohio State athletics director Ross Bjork to challenge Buckeyes fans during a radio appearance last week.
“Don’t sell your tickets,” the AD said. “Tennessee fans, they’re rabid fans. They are going to invade The ‘Shoe. So let’s make sure we don’t have as much orange in there as people think.”
The secondary market has been flooded with buyers from Tennessee, who were responsible for 41% of tickets sold compared to 24% sold to buyers from Ohio, according to numbers provided Tuesday night to CBS Sports by ticket reseller SeatGeek. Tennessee purchasers have outpaced Ohio buyers at 37% compared to 34% on StubHub.
Tennessee-Ohio State is also the best-selling playoff game on the secondary market, according to StubHub, with tickets selling at an average of $395. That ranks behind Indiana-Notre Dame at an incredible $800 per ticket on average.
At Texas, season-ticket holders had until Dec. 10 to request tickets for the first round and potential games in the quarterfinals (Peach Bowl), semifinals (Cotton Bowl) and the national championship (Atlanta).
“Right now, there’s more demand for the semifinal game in Arlington than there is for the quarterfinal game in Atlanta,” Martin told Horns247 in an interview about the logistics for Texas’ CFP run.
Penn State could travel across the country to the Fiesta Bowl for the quarterfinals and then to the Orange Bowl in Miami.
“Our fans are fired up, but we’ll see at the end of this,” Kraft said. “My question is, are people going to travel? If we’re fortunate enough to continue to win, how much are our fans going to be able to travel on a week’s notice? I’m anxious to see that.”
There is no shortage of unexpected challenges in the new 12-team CFP. For example, Notre Dame’s cozy broadcasting relationship with NBC — which dates back to 1991 — has made the logistics of televising home games a ho-hum routine for the school and network.
That changed this week when ESPN’s massive television trucks, dozens of crew and on-air talent arrived in South Bend, Indiana. ESPN hasn’t broadcast from Notre Dame Stadium since 1990, when the No. 1 Irish lost 24-21 to No. 18 Penn State on Nov. 17.
Nothing will look all that different to the casual viewer, save for ESPN’s on-screen graphics and a different commentary team (Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath and Katie George). Behind the scenes, the event planning among first-time partners started on the ground floor. For starters, where does ESPN park its TV trucks?
Stadium operations are also different on the four campuses. The campuses run operations as a regular home game, but it’s also a CFP event, which means sponsorship signs have been removed from the stadium.
Ticketing is digital to streamline the process, but Penn State uses paper tickets for parking. Fans needed overnighted tickets via mail this week, which meant a quick turnaround for Penn State’s printers.
All home teams are required to broadcast a pregame intro video for the visiting team, much like at a neutral-site postseason game, which will surely elicit boos from the home crowds. The CFP will emblazon its interlocking football logo with “First Round” text between the hashmarks on the 25-yard lines. CFP banners will be visible along the walls at field level and at the base of field goal uprights. Ribbon boards will flash CFP insignia. Players’ jerseys will include a “First Round” patch.
Adding lettering and logos to the field is a historical event for bare-bone fields such as Notre Dame. Not since an ACC logo appeared on the field during the pandemic season in 2020 has a marker been placed there.
Smartly, the end zones on campuses will not be altered.
“We decided to leave those alone,” Daniels said. “We know there’s a lot of tradition at a lot of these campuses.”
TNT sublicensed two games from Saturday’s first-round matchups: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State and No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas. ESPN crews will staff the event, and on-air personalities will commentate from the booth, making for what will essentially be an ESPN broadcast on TNT and Max.
Like a duck paddling ferociously underneath the surface of a pond, those watching from home may not notice just how much work was required to make everything run and look like a normal game day.
“It’s just another home game for us,” shrugged Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte. “Nothing’s really changed.”
David Hale, ESPN Staff WriterDec 1, 2024, 01:45 AM ET
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College football reporter.
Joined ESPN in 2012.
Graduate of the University of Delaware.
We all have baggage. It’s the cost we pay for choices made, experiences endured, a life lived. For some, it might be the girl who got away. Maybe it’s the job they didn’t get. Or perhaps it’s the time you pretended to pee like a dog in the end zone during an Egg Bowl. The point is, to live life to its fullest is to understand that regret is part of the package.
The good news, however, is there is always a chance to do better, to set down that baggage and find something approaching redemption.
That’s what Saturday was supposed to be about for Ryan Day, Mario Cristobal and Dabo Swinney. Week 14 was going to be a redemption story. Instead, the college football gods delivered misery.
Well, unless you’re a Michigan fan. Then it was all comedy.
A quick accounting of where things began Saturday.
It had been 1,442 days since Clemson made a College Football Playoff, but with a win against South Carolina, the Tigers would’ve been poised to squeeze into the first 12-team postseason and erase years of doubts about Swinney’s ability to win in the modern era of college football.
It had been 1,828 days since Ohio State beat Michigan, but on Saturday, the odds were stacked so heavily in the Buckeyes’ favor, any other result was unfathomable. This was an Ohio State roster as talented as any in program history and a Michigan team put together with duct tape and glue sticks.
It had been 7,672 days since Miami won a conference championship. But the Hurricanes spent this season as the class of the ACC, finally living up to the immense expectations that have followed the program since its glory years, even if Miami has spent the past 20 years as college football’s version of U2 — still releasing new work, but effectively just a nostalgia act.
It’s tough to say how many days it had been since Cristobal properly handled a late-game scenario since you can’t divide by zero.
Week 14 didn’t promise to erase every blemish, forgive every sin or rewrite history for anyone, but it offered a bridge to somewhere better, some new timeline in which Day isn’t defined by a single game each year against his rival, Swinney isn’t lamented as an old man yelling at clouds and someone under the age of 40 can remember a time in which Miami mattered.
And on Saturday, Ohio State, Clemson and Miami saw those bridges and opted to light a flamethrower.
It’s hard to say exactly where things went wrong for Day and the Buckeyes in an excruciating 13-10 loss to Michigan. The slow starts have been a signature of 2024, the result of a team that knows it’s good enough to flip a switch or, perhaps, a result of so many noon kickoffs that even Gus Johnson’s voice started to go awry.
It’s certainly not on Day that Will Howard threw two brutal interceptions, that Jayden Fielding missed two short kicks or that Sherrone Moore opened his desk drawer Saturday morning to find a manila envelope marked, “For Your Eyes Only, Love and Kisses, C. Stalions.” But Day knew the stakes before the season began, and Ohio State spent enough money on this roster to finish third in the American League East, and Michigan was missing two potential first-round NFL draft picks, and it still didn’t matter. The Wolverines managed just 62 yards passing, threw two interceptions, had three different drives inside the Ohio State 5 that didn’t end in touchdowns and still won. There are no logical explanations for this, so it’s fair then to move to the next closest thing: Day is a Michigan sleeper cell installed as head coach in Columbus just to infuriate the Ohio State faithful in some sort of elaborate “Manchurian Candidate” scenario.
Regardless, the game ended with a loss, with a brawl, with police intervening and pepper-spraying players, but no amount of mace could burn away the images of the Wolverines celebrating on Ohio State’s field in what may well be the most devastating loss in the rivalry’s history.
Michigan players on the sideline after the altercation between Ohio State and Michigan pic.twitter.com/m5tdgIOma4
At Clemson, there’s similar frustration with a coach who has won enough to have a long leash, but has also climbed far enough out on a limb to endure the slings and arrows of fans and pundits and the occasional radio caller with some valid points but limited self-awareness.
Clemson has had so many chances in 2024. After being blown out in the opener against Georgia, the tide turned back in the Tigers’ favor amid a six-game winning streak. After a home loss to Louisville, the Tigers clawed their way back up the rankings, thanks in large part to attrition ahead of them, and found themselves as the first team out entering Saturday’s game, with a chance for a signature win — it would’ve been Clemson’s only decent win this year — against red-hot South Carolina. The playoff was within sight, but only if you could see past the imposing figure of LaNorris Sellers.
Clemson led by four with less than two minutes to play, but the Tigers’ defense never had an answer for Sellers. He threw for 164 yards, ran for 166 and scored twice, including a 20-yard run on a third-and-16 with just 1:08 to play to give the Gamecocks a 17-14 lead.
The Tigers had their shot to win — or at least send the game to overtime — but Cade Klubnik’s checkdown throw with 16 seconds left nicked off Phil Mafah’s hands and was picked off by Demetrius Knight Jr.
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0:42
South Carolina comes up with game-sealing INT vs. Clemson
South Carolina corrals the tipped pass and secures possession to seal its win over Clemson.
This marks the second time in three years Clemson had a realistic shot at the playoff, only to lose late to rival South Carolina.
Afterward, Shane Beamer gushed over the play of his quarterback and the resurgence of his team, which was 3-3 in mid-October but is now arguably the hottest team in the country. Beamer insisted South Carolina was a playoff team, and it may well be, but the decision by the committee won’t be easy. South Carolina entered the week ranked behind Alabama and Ole Miss, both of whom won in Week 14 to move to 9-3, and both of whom have head-to-head wins over the Gamecocks.
Perhaps ironically, it’s Clemson that remains in control of its own playoff destiny after Saturday’s disaster, and the Tigers can thank Cristobal for that.
All Miami had to do Saturday was knock off Syracuse, and it could punch its ticket — to the ACC title game and to the College Football Playoff. The Hurricanes even jumped out to a 21-0 lead, which should’ve been an insurmountable margin with Cam Ward on their side.
And yet, this is Miami — a program that flirts with disaster like it has had a half-dozen shots of Fireball and defeat is waiting tables at the Waffle House.
Syracuse turned its 21-0 deficit into a 35-28 lead entering the fourth quarter before Miami fought back to tie the game. But the Canes’ defense has been a red flag all year, and on Saturday, it had no answers for Kyle McCord, who threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns (and didn’t lose to Michigan).
McCord engineered a nine-play touchdown drive to put Syracuse up 42-35, but that still afforded Ward and the Canes more than nine minutes to match.
All of that should’ve just been prelude to another Miami win, because Ward was once again exceptional. And yet, this is Miami, where playoff hopes spend too much time on South Beach and wake up looking like the Pop Tarts Bowl.
Ward engineered a 13-play drive, setting up Miami with a first-and-goal at the Syracuse 8, but then things went haywire. An unsportsmanlike penalty pushed the Canes back, and a Ward completion and scramble set up a fourth-and-goal at the 15.
That left Cristobal with a decision: Put the game in the hands of the best quarterback to ever wear a Miami uniform or, with 3:42 remaining, kick a field goal and leave it up to your defense that has served as a maître d’ for Syracuse receivers the entire game.
Cristobal chose pain.
The rest was entirely predictable. Syracuse picked up three first downs and ran out the clock to move to 9-3, a playoff team in its own right had it not imploded against a woeful Stanford team back in September. Miami ceded its spot in the ACC championship to Clemson, may have lost its spot in the College Football Playoff and reminded the world that, even when U2 gives you its new album for free, it’s best to just go ahead and delete it and move on with your life.
And so Week 14 ended without redemption for those most in need of a second act. It ended with Clemson flubbing its best hopes, then being handed another just because the football gods enjoy seeing Swinney’s optimism squashed. It ended with Miami closer to its past than it had been in decades, yet still so far from those glory years that the world rolls its eyes every time the conversation comes up again. And it ended with Ohio State fighting Michigan, handing its conference title shot to Penn State and catching strays from Texas.
Members of the 2021 Ohio State recruiting class to beat Michigan:
The college football gods can be cruel, and while redemption is always within our reach, days like Saturday also remind us that our reach often exceeds our grasp, and redemption slips through our fingers for a backbreaking interception far more easily than we care to imagine.
Maybe Ohio State still makes the playoff and goes on a run.
Maybe Miami does the same.
Maybe Clemson takes its good fortune to be in the ACC title game and turns that into a playoff berth of its own.
Maybe.
So we’ll carry the baggage a little further, in spite of all the grief and hurt and anguish. Even if redemption remains painfully beyond our grasp, the price of admission is still worth it.
Jump to: Irish finish strong | Texas reaches SECCG Rivalry watch | Ducks dynasty Cyclones in Big 12 title game | Pack go bowling Herd win | Trends Heisman five |Under the radar
Irish finish strong
Jadarian Price came on in relief of an injured Jeremiyah Love and finished with 111 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, while Xavier Watts (100 yards) and Christian Gray (99) each had long pick-sixes in the fourth quarter to lead Notre Dame to a 49-35 win over USC that should lock up a home game in the opening round of the playoff for the Irish.
play
0:50
Notre Dame’s defense steps up for two massive pick-sixes
Notre Dame’s defense returns a 99-yard pick-six and a 100-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter.
USC finishes the regular season at 6-6, and it has now lost 11 of its past 19 games — a track record that would’ve meant past coaches needed an Uber home from the airport tarmac. USC QBs had 12 interceptions this season, one more than the Trojans accounted for in Lincoln Riley’s first two seasons there combined. Notre Dame has also now won six of the past seven games in the rivalry.
On the victorious side, the Irish have now won 10 straight after a disastrous loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2 that seems more like some sort of Tyrone Willingham-era fever dream in retrospect. Notre Dame has averaged 44 points and nearly 240 rushing yards per game during that stretch.
Horns ride to SECCG
After 13 years, the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry is back. Someone should let the Aggies know.
Quinn Ewers threw for 218 yards and a touchdown, Quintrevion Wisner ran for 186, and the Texas defense dominated in a 17-7 win over the Aggies that punches the Longhorns’ ticket to a rematch with Georgia in the SEC championship game.
The game had many of the familiar tones of the old rivalry, from the raucous Aggie Yell on Friday night to the traditional Texas fan ride into the game atop a bull while holding a dog. (Don’t get us started on Austin traffic. It’s a circus.)
Still, it had to be a frustrating outcome for the Aggies, who had a chance to draw to within one score late, but opted to go for it on fourth down at the Texas 1, only to be stuffed.
Texas is like the rich, successful high school friend who comes into town for a visit and guilts you into inviting him to a party, only for all your friends to love him while you sit in the corner eating Cheetos. After 14 years in the SEC, Texas A&M still hasn’t made a conference championship game, while Texas is now headed to Atlanta in Year 1. Still, Cheetos are delicious.
The bigger question for the Longhorns now is whether they’ve figured out any way to block Georgia’s pass rush since the Bulldogs eviscerated the Horns’ front in a 30-15 UGA win on Oct. 19. Even with a loss, Texas likely hosts a home game in Round 1 of the playoff, but it would be a blow for championship hopes to lose for a second time to Georgia.
Rivalry watch
Florida State has been arguing for weeks to throw out the records, but it’s not until Week 14 that we can officially do it. It was rivalry week, which meant major drama and offseason bragging rights across the country. Here’s how it played out.
Clean Old-Fashioned Hate
What was at stake: Georgia had a 30-game home winning streak on the line and appeared poised to make the 12-team playoff with a win. Georgia Tech was looking to remind anyone outside metro Atlanta it still had a football program.
Controversies: Officials appeared to miss a number of key calls that helped Georgia, including a possible red zone fumble, a possible tipped ball that would’ve negated a critical defensive pass interference flag, a possible targeting on a Haynes King fumble that likely cost Tech the game, an egregious hold before a Georgia overtime score and Kirby Smart’s unconventional use of a Ford F-350 at fullback. Perhaps worst of all, by the time the teams had finished with eight overtimes, The Varsity was closed and the Jackets couldn’t get chili dogs like Brent Key had promised if everybody tried their best.
End result: The two QBs were electric, with King throwing for 303 yards, rushing for 110 and accounting for five touchdowns. Carson Beck topped 300 yards of offense, and he tossed five touchdowns. Ultimately, it came down to 2-point tries, as Georgia cashed in on a Nate Frazier run in the eighth overtime session to secure a 44-42 win. The game underscores why college football should revisit its OT rules, which require dueling 2-point tries after the second frame. Instead, we recommend 2-point tries in the third OT, a pie eating contest in the fourth, a rock-paper-scissors competition between the coaches at midfield for the fifth, the QBs taking turns attempting to explain the ending of “Inception” in the sixth, Jimbo Fisher’s nephew wrestling each team’s recruiting coordinator in the seventh, and then it moves to a best-of-three “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” with full “my mother” addendums in use.
Iron Bowl
What was at stake: Alabama hoped to keep its playoff hopes alive with a win. Auburn hoped to secure a bowl bid with a win. Finebaum callers hoped to call for everyone to be fired on both sides.
Controversies: Alabama won, but if this was its statement to the committee, it was hardly an emphatic one. The Tide turned the ball over four times — though Auburn turned those takeaways into just six points — meaning the committee will have to dive back into the secret file marked “How to explain why you’re putting Alabama into the playoff again this time” before releasing the final rankings next weekend.
End result: Jalen Milroe accounted for 360 yards and three rushing touchdowns, and the Tide D held Jarquez Hunter to just 56 yards in the 28-14 win, their fifth straight in the Iron Bowl. The win helps take some heat off Kalen DeBoer, who has suffered some ignominious losses in his debut season. Auburn, on the other hand, has now finished with a losing record in four straight years (and hasn’t won more than six since 2019), something Hugh Freeze chalked up to an unfortunate combination of his players doing dumb things and him being too good at his job to properly connect with players who can’t appreciate his genius.
Territorial Cup
What was at stake: Arizona State could secure a trip to the Big 12 title game with a win (with a little assistance elsewhere), while Arizona could attempt to prevent this game being played and instead just show highlights of last season.
Controversies: In true “Anchorman” fashion, things escalated quickly: Arizona State scored 49, Sam Leavitt threw three touchdowns, and the Sun Devils murdered the rivalry with a trident.
End result: Kenny Dillingham has as good a claim for coach of the year as anyone in the country after turning this program around so quickly. The 49-7 win was a resounding finish to a 10-2 season, and while the committee has yet to truly appreciate the Sun Devils’ résumé, it’s more than worth consideration with or without the conference championship. Arizona State’s two losses came by a combined 18 points. One came without its starting QB. It has three wins over ranked (at game time) opponents. It has won five straight. It’s hard to argue there are 12 teams playing better football today than the Sun Devils.
Egg Bowl
What was at stake: Ole Miss still had flickering playoff hopes if enough chaos happened higher in the rankings. Mississippi State was hoping to avoid a winless season in the SEC. The good news for the Bulldogs, though, is they could still finish with eight quality losses to remain on the committee’s radar.
Controversies: No coach took the field riding an ATV, and no players celebrated a touchdown by mimicking a dog introducing itself to a fire hydrant. Seriously, if no one’s going to give the opposing kicker a wedgie after an extra point, why even bother playing this rivalry game?
End result: Mississippi State led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter, but the Bulldogs couldn’t find any offense beyond that. Ulysses Bentley IV ran for 136 yards and a score, and Ole Miss survived 26-14. A month ago, it would’ve been inconceivable Lane Kiffin wasn’t either taking the Florida job or prepping for the playoff on Dec. 1. Instead, he’ll just be doing what so many of us will be doing this week: resodding his lawn after Charlie Weis Jr.’s ill-fated attempt to deep-fry a turkey.
Governor’s Cup
What was at stake: Louisville was looking to snap a five-game losing streak against Kentucky while also securing the position of “second ACC team that blew a shot at the playoff by losing to Stanford.”
Controversies: Ale 8 is a mediocre ginger ale. There, we said it.
End result: Isaac Brown led the charge with 178 rushing yards and a pair of scores in the Cards’ 41-14 win. One of the nation’s top freshmen, Brown ends the regular season with 1,074 rushing yards, 12 total touchdowns, nearly 1,500 all-purpose yards and a solid fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks.
Florida-FSU
What was at stake: Florida could finish with seven wins and a rivalry win for the first time since 2021. Florida State was hoping that maybe this whole season was just a dream and it would wake up to find a healthy Jordan Travis ready to take on the Gators in November 2023.
Controversies: After demoralizing Florida State on the field, Florida tried to mark its territory, much to Mike Norvell’s displeasure.
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0:49
Norvell initially snubs Napier’s handshake as FSU-Florida get into it
FSU coach Mike Norvell initially avoids shaking Florida coach Billy Napier’s hand after the Gators plant their flag in the middle of the Seminoles’ logo at the game’s conclusion.
End result: Florida State’s season began 100 days ago, 4,000 miles across the Atlantic with a top-10 ranking and big expectations. Florida’s season began a week later with an emphatic loss to Miami and an assumption that head coach Billy Napier would be fired. What a difference a college football season makes. Florida’s defense held FSU to just 239 yards and won 31-11 behind two touchdowns from DJ Lagway. The Gators finished the regular season 7-5 with Napier’s job secured for 2025. Florida State can now turn its attention back to its real passion: lawsuits.
Fremont Cannon
What was at stake: UNLV’s faint playoff hopes still flickered, with a win putting the Rebels into the Mountain West championship game. Also the winner got tickets to see Cher at the Bellagio.
Controversies: Remember when UNLV’s quarterback quit because he wanted money the school hadn’t paid and then UNLV just inserted another quarterback who was much better? The lesson: The house always wins.
End result: Hajj-Malik Williams threw for 168 and ran for 135, accounting for three touchdowns in the 38-14 win over Nevada. The Rebels are now 10-2 with a rematch against Boise State pending and a playoff berth on the line.
The Commonwealth Cup
What was at stake: Both teams would be bowl-bound with a win and also get access to the loser’s beach house in Virginia Beach. It’s three blocks off the beach, but there’s a corn hole set in the back storage shed.
Controversies: Virginia Tech was playing without its top two quarterbacks, while Virginia was playing without any real hopes of ever getting the upper hand in this rivalry.
End result: Pop Watson threw for 254 yards and tallied two touchdowns while Bhayshul Tuten ran for 124 yards and two scores in Virginia Tech’s 37-17 win. The Hokies will go bowling and won the Commonwealth Cup for the 23rd time in the past 25 tries, but they also feel sort of like that meme of the guy ignoring his girlfriend to look at another girl who might look a lot like Shane Beamer.
Old Oaken Bucket
What was at stake: Indiana needed the win to effectively lock up its place in the College Football Playoff. Purdue was hopeful to make the game worth skipping a “MythBusters” marathon in order to play.
Controversies: Indiana is poised to make the playoff, despite Purdue somehow being only the fourth-worst team the Hoosiers have played this year, just ahead of Charlotte and just behind the Muncie Boy Scout Troop No. 214.
End result: Kurtis Rourke threw for 349 yards and six touchdowns, while Purdue threw for 54 yards and two interceptions. This would be embarrassing for Purdue if everyone wasn’t already focused on basketball season.
Battle on the Bayou
What was at stake: Louisiana could lock up a 10-win season and a berth in the Sun Belt championship, while Louisiana-Monroe needed a win to get bowl eligible. Also, the loser has to let Louisiana Tech crash on their couch this offseason.
Controversies: Why does Louisiana get to drop the Lafayette and just go by the state name, but ULM has to keep the Monroe? This game should really decide who gets to be “Louisiana” each year and the other school has to go by ULM or ULL.
End result: Zylan Perry rushed for 150 yards and two scores, and the Ragin’ Cajuns’ D picked off three passes in a 37-23 win. For ULM, it’s a frustrating finish to a season that started with the Warhawks at 5-1 but ended on a six-game losing streak.
Ducks dynasty
The No. 1 team in the country may also be the least interesting at this point.
Oregon won again Saturday, 49-21 against Washington, to finish the regular season at 12-0. Yawn.
Since their dramatic 32-31 win over Ohio State on Oct. 12, the Ducks have basically been the work-from-home guy who was told he had to start going into the office again. They show up, swipe their badge, grab a coffee, say hello to Denise in accounts receivable, Dillon Gabriel throws a couple touchdowns, then they’re home in time for “The View.”
So it was Saturday, with Gabriel accounting for three touchdowns, Jordan James running for 99 yards and the defense holding Washington to 244 yards while racking up 10 sacks and 16 tackles for loss. The 10 sacks in this game were more than rival Oregon State has all season, which should be a fun fact for Ducks fans to bring up with Beavers fans this holiday season.
Oregon now gets Penn State in the Big Ten title game, a result of Ohio State’s implosion against Michigan.
The Nittany Lions had no trouble with Maryland, earning a dominant 44-7 win capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock that riled Mike Locksley.
It may have been a bit of showmanship by Penn State, but on the other hand, if James Franklin had blindfolded his QB, handed him a football, spun him around a dozen times and sent him on his way, he still might’ve scored on this Maryland defense.
The question now is whether Penn State can give Oregon a real game after the Ducks have won five of their past six by at least 20 points. Franklin’s record in big games against top-10 opponents is probably something someone should look up before the game. There might be a story there.
Cyclones land title game berth
Iowa State is headed to the Big 12 championship game, possibly due to a 29-21 win over Kansas State on Saturday but likely because people are out to get Deion Sanders.
Rocco Becht accounted for three touchdowns in the win over the Wildcats, and combined with BYU’s 30-18 victory over Houston, the Cyclones locked up a shot to play Arizona State for what is almost certainly the league’s only playoff bid.
That leaves Coach Prime and the Colorado on the outside looking in, which is a real slap in the face. First, voters snubbed Travis Hunter for the Thorpe Award and suggest Ashton Jeanty could still win the Heisman. Then they refused to give Hunter a second Michelin star despite his exquisite take on a deconstructed duck confit. And now this. When will the bias end?
Pack go bowling
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1:18
Tempers flare as NC State attempts to plant flag following win over UNC
The end of NC State vs. North Carolina devolves into chaos as NC State players take offense to a Tar Heel player throwing their flag onto the ground.
Hollywood Smothers ran for two touchdowns, including a 2-yarder with 25 seconds to play to secure a 35-30 win over North Carolina — NC State’s fourth straight in the rivalry — and bowl eligibility for the Wolfpack.
Jacolby Criswell’s 47-yard touchdown throw to Omarion Hampton with 1:51 to play had given UNC a late lead, but the Wolfpack engineered a six-play, 75-yard drive for the win. Hampton finished with 185 rushing yards, 78 receiving yards and a pair of scores, putting the finishing touches on a season that would’ve had him in Heisman consideration if he played for anyone better than North Carolina.
This was the possible farewell for Mack Brown, too. In his second tenure with the Heels, the school announced he would not be retained for 2025. This came after he threatened to quit after a miserable loss to JMU this season, then insisted he’d return earlier this week. Now, Brown will retire to a life of quiet solitude, where he’ll work on his memoirs and tend to his garden until a ragtag bunch of UNC boosters arrive at his door in the year 2039, insisting he come out of retirement for one last job, at which time Brown will tip back his cowboy hat, stare off into the middle distance, take a swig from a bottle with a skull on the label and, in a gravelly, world-weary voice, announce, “I’m in.”
Herd rumbles past JMU
Marshall was down 17-0 at halftime, but roared back for a 35-33 win over James Madison to claim sole possession of the Sun Belt East.
Marshall managed just 261 yards in the game, 121 fewer than JMU, and the Dukes had an 11-minute edge in time of possession, but James Madison’s missed two-point try in the second overtime period proved to be the difference.
Marshall’s lone conference loss came by a point to Georgia Southern, but it also lost to Virginia Tech, which is pretty embarrassing.
The Thundering Herd will face Louisiana in the Sun Belt title game — though it won’t be until some time Sunday when computer composite rankings are tabulated before anyone knows who’s the home team, since the two teams didn’t play each other. The lack of a tie-breaker determined by a series of “Yo mama” jokes feels like a real missed opportunity for the Sun Belt.
Regular-season vibe shifts
We’ve reached the end of the regular season, and while each week has featured some seismic shifts in the college football landscape, some trends have simmered just beneath the surface. We’re looking back on those subtle, but significant, trend lines as we put a bow on 2024.
Trending down: The Group of 5
Week 14 began with the Group of 5 in position not only to steal a first-round playoff bye from the Big 12, but perhaps swipe a second playoff bid, too. Tulane checked in ranked ahead of all Big 12 teams except for Arizona State, but a trio of brutal turnovers deep in Memphis territory scuttled those playoff dreams. The Tigers topped the Green Wave 34-24, effectively ceding the Group of 5’s playoff bid to the Mountain West.
Ultimately, that the Group of 5 missed out on a statement opportunity to swipe a bid from the Big 12 should come as no surprise. The rich continue to get richer in college football, and the line of demarcation has never been wider. Despite San José State’s win over Stanford on Friday, the non-autonomy schools finished with a woeful 9-88 record against the Power 4 in the regular season — easily the Group of 5’s worst performance in decades.
Indeed, look back at the 2004-2013 era, just before the demise of the Big East, and teams outside the BCS conferences upended the big boys more than 22% of the time. From 2014 through 2021 — post realignment but before the effects of NIL and the portal were fully felt — these teams still won 20% of the time. Over the past three years though, the non-power schools have just a .153 win percentage against the Power 4/5.
Trending up: Buying your way into a conference
Turns out, coming in at a serious discount wasn’t such a bad move for schools desperate to find greener pastures in 2024.
Oregon will enter championship weekend as the No. 1 overall team in the country, despite getting only about 40 cents on the dollar to play in the Big Ten, and SMU now looks like as close to a sure playoff team as the ACC is capable of producing after effectively electing to play in the ACC for free.
The Mustangs knocked off fellow bargain-bin addition Cal, 38-6, on Saturday. Kevin Jennings threw for 225 yards and two scores, and Brashard Smith accounted for 134 yards from scrimmage and a pair of touchdowns.
SMU is now poised to win an ACC title in its first year, while Miami — conference championship free since 2003! — watches, and it’s happened in large part because of Miami transfers like Smith, Jahfari Harvey and Elijah Roberts.
And if Miami fans all weren’t already in their 16th straight hour of listening to house music at a club off A-1A, that might really bother some people.
Trending up: Big 12 hot seats
A month into the season, the hottest seat in the Big 12 was at Baylor, where Dave Aranda’s Bears were 2-4. But Baylor has now won six straight after Saturday’s 45-17 thumping of Kansas. QB Sawyer Robertson has blossomed into a star, tossing four TDs in the win. He has made 66% of his throws with 17 touchdown passes, 4 picks and nearly 1,600 yards passing during the win streak.
Aranda’s job is safe, but other coaches are now feeling the heat.
After UCF turned the ball over four times in a 28-14 loss to Utah, Gus Malzahn saw the writing on the wall and jumped ship to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State. Mixing Malzahn’s QB history with Florida State’s run of awful QB play by anyone not named Jordan Travis really sets the stage for transfer Thomas Castellanos to lead the country with 106 interceptions next year in Tallahassee.
Meanwhile, West Virginia’s Neal Brown and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy didn’t exactly end the 2024 season with fireworks.
Gundy’s Cowboys were steamrolled by Colorado 52-0 on Friday, finishing the season 0-9 in Big 12 play. Gundy is an institution at Oklahoma State, and he’s the country’s second-longest-serving head coach, but this season’s implosion might be enough to convince both sides it’s time for a fresh start — like going to the barbershop and finally trimming away an out-of-style haircut and trying something completely new.
Brown was on the hot seat entering 2023, but West Virginia finished a surprising 9-4, seemingly ending any speculation over Brown’s job security. But this season has been a bit of a step back, with an ugly loss to rival Pitt and a 52-15 trouncing in Saturday’s game against Texas Tech. West Virginia will go to a bowl, but the expectations were much higher this season.
And then there’s Scott Satterfield at Cincinnati. The Bearcats fell to TCU 20-13 on Saturday, their fifth straight loss to finish 5-7 after a 5-2 start to the year. Cincinnati is now 8-16 under Satterfield, including a 4-14 mark in conference play.
On the other hand, all could return and be in the Big 12 title game in 2025 because the entire conference is basically just like playing roulette at 4 a.m. at a riverboat casino in Shreveport. There is no logic to what’s happening, anyone can win big and everyone is sort of embarrassed to be there.
Trending down: Goalpost theft
Perhaps the most entertaining trend of the season has been fans celebrating with the theft of goalposts — from Georgia Tech fans bringing the goalposts to a campus pond, to Arizona State tearing down the goalposts, putting them back up when officials added time back onto the clock, then bringing them down again only to learn there’s no bodies of water in the desert in which to deposit them.
But it was Tennessee and Vanderbilt who did the goalpost celebrations best in 2024.
Absolutely dying at the police helicopter night vision of the Vandy goal posts going into the river… the kids tumbling over each ledge 💀 pic.twitter.com/KoXmOnBTc7
On Saturday, the two met with plenty on the line. Tennessee needed a win to all but lock up a playoff berth. Vandy needed a win to ensure a winning season for the first time since 2013.
The Commodores jumped out to the early lead, but it was the Vols who celebrated when it was over. Nico Iamaleava threw four touchdowns, Dylan Sampson ran for 178 yards and Tennessee overcame an early deficit with a 36-23 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Tennessee, which was in a do-or-die situation entering Week 14, now may be poised to host a playoff game after losses by Ohio State and Miami.
Sadly, Vols fans did not tear down the goalposts to celebrate the likely playoff bid, as making a big thing of beating Vanderbilt is like bragging about knowing all the words to “Shake It Off.” It’s nothing to be proud of, and it’s definitely going to hurt your reputation with the other dads. And no, this is not a personal story, so stop asking.
Holding steady: Big Ten tradition
This was supposed to be the year the Big Ten finally evolved into a conference with modern offenses. Wisconsin and Purdue had Air Raid coordinators, Penn State brought in Andy Kotelnicki to rejuvenate its attack, four teams arrived from the Pac-12 and Iowa installed a new game plan to replace Brian Ferentz’s playbook that was just 23 pages repeating the sentence, “What if punts?”
So, how’d it go?
Well, safe to say somewhere Ferentz is reenacting the Leo DiCaprio meme from “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood,” pointing at his TV and yelling, “What if punts!”
On Friday, Iowa won its eighth game of the season — one fewer than it had a year ago with Ferentz calling plays, in spite of scoring 120 more points — by beating Nebraska 13-10 with just five first downs and 164 total yards.
Iowa completed eight passes, averaged 1.9 yards per rush, and may have paused the third quarter for a group nap time, and yet it still won because this is what the Big Ten is all about. Oh, and also because Nebraska accepted the Big Ten’s terms and conditions without reading them and didn’t realize it’s now permanently barred from winning a close game. The loss was the Huskers’ 23rd by a TD or less in the past four seasons.
As for the rest of the league?
Those Air Raid coordinators at Wisconsin and Purdue were both fired. The new Pac-12 teams all averaged fewer points per game in conference play in 2024 than 2023 and, cumulatively, averaged 10 fewer points per game in Big Ten play than they had in the Pac-12 in 2023. Penn State is headed to the Big Ten title game, but still failed to score an offensive TD against Ohio State and finished the regular season with 46 fewer points than it had last year.
And all of these numbers add up to this: It’s not Ryan Day’s fault. This league just hates teams that try to score.
Trending down: Postgame routines
This season, we learned that Syracuse coach Fran Brown punishes himself after losses by refusing to shower because, as he noted, “washing is for winners.”
We also learned that Oklahoma coach Brent Venables celebrated his win over Alabama by spending $94 at Taco Bell, an amount that we hope also included the colonoscopy.
Sure, this forces us to ask several big questions.
For one, had Syracuse lost to Miami on Saturday, would Brown have gone shower-free until the bowl game? Luckily, he didn’t need to answer that, as Syracuse prevailed 42-38 over Miami, moving to 9-3 in Brown’s first season as head coach. Had it not been for a brutal loss to Stanford, the Orange would have an intriguing playoff résumé, including two wins over ranked opponents and a trip to the ACC title game in the offing.
Another: How much is too much money to spend at Taco Bell? Clearly $94 is too much, as the excessive beefy bean burritos had Venables off his game Saturday in Oklahoma’s 37-17 loss to LSU. After the game, Venables announced he would punish himself for the performance by consuming $1.99 worth of food from Arby’s.
Trending up: Stadium naming rights
Before the season kicked off, Pitbull bought the naming rights to Florida International’s home field, changing from its former name, “No, no, This is FIU; You’re Looking for FAU’s Stadium; Yeah, It’s About an Hour North, Just Take the Turnpike to 95 to Exit 48” Field.
Turns out, it was a wise investment for Mr. 305. FIU toppled Middle Tennessee 35-24 on Saturday, moving to 4-2 on the year at Pitbull Stadium, while finishing 0-6 on the road.
With this in mind, Kent State will be selling stadium naming rights to its stadium to its most iconic local musicians, Devo. Next season the Golden Flashes helmets will all just be those weird red Mayan-temple-shaped hats from the “Whip It” video.
Heisman five
The biggest question is whether more than two players need an invite to New York at this point. It’s a two-man race, and only one of them is going to get one last shot to impress voters before the award is handed out.
1. Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty
Four players have rushed for more yards in a season than Jeanty. Three of them won the Heisman. The one who didn’t — UCF’s Kevin Smith in 2007 — was the lone member of that list from outside the Power 5. If that’s the line of demarcation for Jeanty, that’s a shame. He went for 192 yards and three touchdowns against the No. 1 team in the country, so any suggestion that his numbers are the result of a weak schedule seem absurd. His worst game of the season came against his FCS opponent when he got just 11 carries. He has nine games of 150 yards or more. He has scored 29 touchdowns. He has Boise State not just poised for the playoff, but a first-round bye. No, he doesn’t also play cornerback, but he’d probably be pretty good at it if he did.
2. Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter
After Friday’s 52-0 win against Oklahoma State, Deion Sanders said Hunter was the clear favorite to win the Heisman, and anyone who argued differently had an agenda. He has some valid points. Hunter finished Friday with 10 catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns, plus an interception, a tackle and two PBUs. What Hunter has done this season is otherworldly, something that has never been done in college football history. But he has played three defenses ranked among the top 50 in adjusted EPA per game this year (18 catches, 191 yards, no touchdowns) and faced just one opponent who was top 30 in passing EPA (Baylor). If we’re holding schedule against Jeanty, we should do the same for Hunter.
3. Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo
Skattebo finished Saturday’s blowout of Arizona with 21 carries for 177 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 1,866 scrimmage yards and 19 touchdowns this season. In the playoff era, the only other power conference player with 1,300 rush yards, 400 receiving yards and 19 total touchdowns in their first 12 games was Dalvin Cook in 2016. And because Skattebo missed a game, he’s actually done than in 11.
4. Miami QB Cam Ward
For much of the past month, Ward has been playing the Ralph Nader role in the two-man race for the Heisman between Jeanty and Hunter. Saturday’s loss to Syracuse probably dropped him to full Green Party status though. The long odds are hardly fair. Ward has been exceptional this season, and he was excellent again in Week 14, throwing for 349 yards and two scores, and if Cristobal had given him a shot on fourth-and-goal, he might’ve added another genuine Heisman moment to his résumé. Instead, he’ll probably getting an invite to New York, a dinner at Sbarro and a chance to watch Jeanty or Hunter accept the hardware.
5. South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers
Sellers is 245 pounds of utter physics-defying ridiculousness, and he showed it again and again Saturday against Clemson, running for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner.
Afterward, Shane Beamer insisted Sellers was “the best player in the country” and should be on anyone’s Heisman list. So, we’re obliging. But it’s not just bluster either. Take a look at this comparison.
Past seven games: Ward: 5-2, 82.0 Total QBR, 66% completions, 20 touchdowns, three picks, 2,372 total yards Sellers: 6-1, 80.5 Total QBR, 68% completions, 19 touchdowns, four picks, 2,174 total yards
His entrance into the discussion was a bit too late to win the Heisman, but he has made the season a heck of a lot more fun for the past two months.
Under-the-radar play of the week
Maalik Murphy screwed up the final play of regulation in Duke’s game against Wake Forest, but he and receiver Jordan Moore improvised a bit, turning a 5-yard route into a game-winning 39-yard touchdown with no time left on the clock, upending Wake Forest 23-17.
The Blue Devils finished the game with five sacks and 11 tackles for loss, another stellar day for what has blossomed into one of the most aggressive defenses in the country.
Duke finishes the regular season 9-3 with four wins vs. teams inside the state of North Carolina (Elon, UNC, NC State and Wake) in Manny Diaz’s first season in Durham.
And if Cooper Flagg mentions any of this in his next news conference, Duke fans will be very excited to learn about it for the first time.
Under-the-radar game of the week
Like “Wicked,” Saturday’s Jacksonville State-Western Kentucky game was just three hours of backstory to set the stage for the more significant sequel.
Unlike “Wicked,” this one actually had an exciting ending (though sadly it didn’t involve Rich Rodriguez belting out “Defying Gravity”).
Caden Veltkamp, whose name sounds like he should be the heir to a family tuna-canning dynasty but is actually the QB at Western Kentucky, led a 10-play, 44-yard drive in the final two minutes, and Lucas Carneiro drilled a 50-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to secure a 19-17 win.
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1:55
Jacksonville State Gamecocks vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: Full Highlights
Jacksonville State Gamecocks vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: Full Highlights
That field goal secured WKU’s spot in the Conference USA title game against … Jacksonville State.
Had Jacksonville State prevailed, Sam Houston State would’ve made the title game. Instead, the Hilltoppers have a shot to win the league for the first time since 2016.
Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010. You can follow him on Twitter at @toddarcher.
Eric Woodyard
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Eric Woodyard
ESPN
Eric Woodyard covers the Detroit Lions for ESPN. He joined ESPN in September 2019 as an NBA reporter dedicated to the Midwest region before switching to his current role in April 2021. The Flint, Mich. native is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has authored/co-authored three books: “Wasted, Ethan’s Talent Search” and “All In: The Kelvin Torbert Story”. He is a proud parent of one son, Ethan. You can follow him on Twitter: @E_Woodyard
Nov 27, 2024, 10:55 AM ET
Thanksgiving Day to sports fans is as much about football as it is about the traditional turkey dinner. From high school football in the morning to watching the afternoon game on TV as dinner starts, this tradition is as old as time. Well, almost as old as time.
The Detroit Lions have played at home on Thanksgiving every year since 1934 — except when games were paused from 1939 to 1944 during World War II. The annual holiday tradition expanded to add a home game for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960s. In 2006, the NFL added a third game with no specific host team to the prime-time window.
The 2024 Thanksgiving Day schedule:
Each of these games will have a halftime performance. This year, country artist Shaboozey will perform in Detroit, country artist Lainey Wilson will sing in Dallas and violinist Lindsey Stirling will take the stage in Green Bay.
So why do the Lions and Cowboys always play at home on Thanksgiving? What does the day look like for the coaches, players, families and fans who put their holiday celebrations on pause to take part? And how many thousands of pounds of food is served at the stadium? We asked NFL Nation reporters Todd Archer and Eric Woodyard to explain the history.
We have also laid out the Thanksgiving stats and numbers you should know, and even took a journey back in time to explore the biggest and best moments on the turkey day stage. (Note: This story was originally posted in November 2021 and has been updated for 2024.)
Jump to a section: Thanksgiving records | By the numbers Best moments in Thanksgiving history
How the Thanksgiving tradition began
The Lions were first up to host games every year: In 1934, Lions owner G.A. Richards scheduled a holiday matchup between the Lions and the Bears. Earlier that year Richards had purchased the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans football team and moved it to the Motor City, renaming it the Detroit Lions. The defending back-to-back world champion Bears beat the Lions 19-16 in front of 26,000 at the University of Detroit Stadium on Nov. 29, 1934.
Now, nine decades later, Thanksgiving football has become a staple in Detroit, with the Lions going 37-45-2 in the annual holiday classic. — Woodyard
Thirty-two years later, the Cowboys joined as a home team: The Cowboys first played on Thanksgiving in 1966, beating the Cleveland Browns 26-14 at the Cotton Bowl. General manager Tex Schramm wanted more national publicity for the Cowboys — this was before they were known as America’s Team — and thought the holiday game made perfect sense. The NFL was a bit worried, however, and guaranteed the Cowboys a certain amount of gate revenue. A crowd of 80,259 showed up and a tradition was born. The Cowboys have played on every Thanksgiving Day since — except in 1975 and 1977.
Why didn’t the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving those two years? Prior to the 1975 season, then-commissioner Pete Rozelle wanted to see if the St. Louis Cardinals could build their popularity under coach Don Coryell, whose teams were nicknamed the Cardiac Kids because of their exciting finishes. So he scheduled them to host Thanksgiving games in 1975 and 1977. The Cardinals lost both games decidedly, and Rozelle went back to Schramm to ask whether the Cowboys would take the Thanksgiving game back.
“It was a dud in St. Louis,” Schramm said in 1988 to the Chicago Tribune. “Pete asked if we’d take it back. I said only if we get it permanently. It’s something you have to build as a tradition. He said, ‘It’s yours forever.’” — Archer
Thanksgiving records
Given how long the series has lasted, it’s not a surprise that the Lions have the most wins and losses on Thanksgiving Day. But two other teams that frequent the holiday tradition are the Bears and Packers.
What’s it like to play on Thanksgiving?
Cowboys guard Zack Martin has grown accustomed to playing games on “Monday Night Football” and “Sunday Night Football,” but there’s something different about playing on Thanksgiving.
Martin grew up in Indianapolis and starred at Notre Dame before the Cowboys made him a first-round pick in 2014, and he would always watch the Lions play the early game and the Cowboys play later on the holiday.
“It may be different to the outside world, but for us I think it’s different because it’s just that tradition that you know the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving,” Martin said. “I didn’t grow up a Cowboys fan, but I always knew they played on Thanksgiving, so coming down here, being part of that is pretty cool.”
After the game, the Martins will eat at AT&T Stadium before returning home to relax. Their traditional Thanksgiving meal comes on Friday.
“For me, [the best part of the game] is just being able to have my family and everyone down for Thanksgiving,” Martin said. “Normally teams would miss that because they’re practicing during the week, but we get to play and then have some time with family and friends.” — Archer
Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is gearing up to play in his fourth NFL Thanksgiving game with the team, though to him the experience is not so unusual because he would always have at least a practice on the holiday in high school.
Still, playing Thanksgiving in the NFL is a big tradition — and one he has embraced.
“We always play on Thanksgiving, but I think it’s kind of nice because if you have a game on Sunday, you’ve got to practice on Thursdays, which kind of runs until 5 o’clock, but if you have a game, we have a game at 12:30, we play and then after that we’re free and we can hang out with family the rest of the day. You don’t have to worry about getting up the next day, so I like the tradition,” St. Brown told ESPN.
“It’s fun and everyone’s tuned in on Thanksgiving. Everyone is watching football. I remember as a kid, watching Thanksgiving football because you’re out eating with friends and then you just throw football on.” — Woodyard
How do players celebrate Thanksgiving?
Celebrations generally don’t happen until the next day, when Lions players can celebrate with their families. Lomas Brown, former Lions Pro Bowl OT (1985-95), says he “couldn’t wait until after the game was over, man.”
“Because look, it wasn’t just that Thursday night, at least for me, I went on an eating binge Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I would put on weight over the holiday because a brother would throw down because you didn’t have no more responsibility after that game until next week. So, it was almost like another little open week, and that’s the way we kind of looked at it, too.” — Woodyard
For the Cowboys, most players with families will also celebrate on Friday. With a late-afternoon kickoff, most of the time players will not get back to their homes until later in the evening, far too late for such a heavy meal. — Archer
Teams give back to community
The Cowboys open the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign kickoff at halftime of every Thanksgiving game. Since 1997, nearly $3 billion has been raised and aiding the Salvation Army is a long-standing priority for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Jerry, along with his daughter Charlotte, have led multiple initiatives year-round with the Salvation Army, from raising money with the 50/50 raffle at games to holiday initiatives that benefit local communities.
In most years, Cowboys players will visit a Salvation Army shelter in Dallas or Fort Worth and feed early Thanksgiving Day meals to those in need, although that practice was put on hold in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic before being restarted in 2022.
In the past, players often were joined by their wives and children. Former tight end Jason Witten had his two sons and two daughters participated in handing out meals during his career with the Cowboys.
“I just try to tell [my kids], ‘Look, you’re going to have an opportunity to give back to people that are less fortunate,’” Witten said a few years ago. “They do it with a happy heart. I think they like seeing those fans and being able to hand out that food.” — Archer
The Lions also give back to the community during Thanksgiving week, distributing 2,500 meal kits with whole turkeys at six different locations throughout Metro Detroit.
Each kit contains approximately 26 pounds of food (turkey, vegetables, stuffing, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, gravy, etc.) and will be distributed to about 56,000 people. Players and other volunteers helped assemble the kits. — Woodyard
What are some season-ticket holder traditions?
There is a tailgating group of more than 100 die-hard Lions fans who gather bright and early at 9 a.m., typically in the parking lot of Detroit’s Eastern Market. Usually, they cook about four turkeys and each signs up to bring a side dish. The dishes are named based on the team the Lions are facing — for example, Bears Stew and Mac-And-Not-Packer-Cheese.
Megan Stefanski, a lifelong Lions fan and longtime season-ticket holder, helps organize the festivities. She makes a five-hour drive from Goetzville, Michigan — located in the Upper Peninsula — to Detroit.
Mark “Pilgrim” Mullins has been a season-ticket holder since 1991 and dresses up yearly as a pilgrim for each Thanksgiving Day game with his daughter, Mandie, accompanying him also in costume.
“We’re known in Detroit as the pilgrims,” he said in 2021. “Matter of fact, I’ve got souvenirs from all my friends this year because it’s my 30th anniversary of actually dressing as the pilgrim.” Each year, he has added to his costume, since the Pontiac Silverdome days and now at Ford Field. He also attends the tailgates with Stefanski.
“That was the whole goal was just to dress like a pilgrim, be festive and get on TV,” Mullins said. “So, the next year comes around and all of the people in my section were like, ‘Hey, big guy, you’re gonna be the pilgrim again?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I guess I should.’” — Woodyard
And how about perhaps the most famous Cowboys season-ticket (or suite) holder, Roger Staubach?
The Hall of Fame quarterback, better known as Captain America, usually holds an annual Turkey Bowl game at AT&T Stadium on the day before Thanksgiving.
How much sway does Staubach have? As he entered The Star in November 2021, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy had to catch his breath in a way as he saw the quarterback.
“That’s Roger Staubach,” McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native, said, turning his attention back to the media. “Man, I’m shook. Just thinking about the old Super Bowls, Steelers and the Cowboys …” — Archer
Team dinners
The night before Thanksgiving is not necessarily a team turkey dinner for the Cowboys, but turkey and all the fixings are available for the players if they want. But a lot of the players stick with their traditional night-before-game meal of either a steak, chicken, fish or pasta. Given how most people feel after wolfing down their turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, it’s probably wise the players don’t gorge themselves like that. — Archer
The Lions don’t have one big team Thanksgiving dinner, as some might think. Some guys would understandably rather eat at home with family. Traditional Thanksgiving fare is typically served to players at the day before the game. — Woodyard
What does Cowboys owner Jerry Jones eat for Thanksgiving?
The Joneses are like most of their players. They have a full Thanksgiving meal on the Friday after the Cowboys game at Jerry’s home in Highland Park. It’s a traditional Thanksgiving meal with dishes whose recipes have been passed down through the years from the mothers of Jerry and Gene Jones.
At the top of the list are the family recipes for duck, dressing and sweet potatoes. — Archer
Thanksgiving dinners at the stadium
For all the Cowboys’ suite holders, as well as those with access to the club areas and the press box at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal is served. — Archer
Here is the breakdown of the food that was served in 2023, according to Legends Hospitality:
16,320 pounds of Cowboys Mac N Cheese
5,410 pounds of ham
212 gallons of heavy whipping cream
252 gallons of cranberry sauce
2,680 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes
13,515 pounds of turkey
5,130 pounds of cornbread for dressing
310 gallons of gravy
425 pounds of pecans for pies
830 pounds of fresh green beans for bowls and hand pies
970 pounds of pumpkin for pies
2,340 pounds of sweet potatoes
260 pounds of greens for salads and sides
At Ford Field in Detroit, the stadium’s culinary hospitality team will get the day started at 3 a.m. ET to ensure everything is ready to go ahead of the 12:30 p.m. kickoff. For fans in the stadium, previous years featured turkey legs, loaded sweet potatoes and bourbon-spiked cider available to purchase. And more extensive Thanksgiving meals are served to suite members. — Woodyard
Here’s a breakdown of food by the pound, according to Levy Restaurants in 2023:
4,100 pounds of turkey
1,800 turkey legs
3,200 pounds of mashed potatoes
110 gallons of gravy
2,200 pounds of stuffing
55 gallons of cranberry sauce
720 pounds of green beans
500 pounds of corn on the cob
3,700 slices of pie
4,000 bloody marys
Thanksgiving by the numbers
1: Number of teams to never play on Thanksgiving Day: Jacksonville Jaguars
4: Winless teams on Thanksgiving: Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Jaguars
6: Most passing touchdowns in a single Thanksgiving game, held by Bob Griese (1977) and Peyton Manning (2004).
6: Thanksgiving Day shutouts since the merger in 1970. There has not been a shutout since the Cowboys shut out the Miami Dolphins in 1999.
8.5: Most career sacks on Thanksgiving, held by former Lions DE Ezekiel Ansah.
11: Most career Thanksgiving receiving touchdowns, held by former Lions WR Calvin Johnson.
18: Most career touchdown passes on Thanksgiving, held by former Cowboys QB Tony Romo and former Lions QB Matthew Stafford.
895: Most career receiving yards on Thanksgiving, held by former Cowboys TE Jason Witten.
1,178: Most career rushing yards on Thanksgiving, held by former Cowboys RB Emmitt Smith. Smith also has the most career rushing touchdowns on Thanksgiving with 13.
3,000: Most career passing yards on Thanksgiving, held by Stafford in 10 career Thanksgiving games.
Thanksgiving’s best moments
1974:
Backup QB Clint Longley took over for a concussed Roger Staubach with the Cowboys trailing Washington 16-3. Longley rallied Dallas by capping off the comeback with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson with 28 seconds left to edge Washington 24-23.
1980:
The Bears rallied from 17-3 down to defeat the Lions 23-17 in overtime behind Dave Williams’ 95-yard kickoff return. It was the first overtime game on turkey day (the OT period was instituted in 1974).
The @ChicagoBears tied the game on the final play of regulation.
Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett inexplicably tried to recover a blocked game-winning field goal attempt. The ball was booted forward by Lett and recovered by the Dolphins at the 2-yard line. Miami connected on its next field goal attempt and won 16-14.
1997:
Barry Sanders and the Lions crushed the Bears 55-20, with Sanders rushing for 167 yards and three touchdowns.
On this day 22 years ago, @BarrySanders rushed for 167 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears on Thanksgiving! 🦃 (Nov. 27, 1997)#CHIvsDET: Thanksgiving Day at 12:30pm ET on FOX pic.twitter.com/dMa0jYGPm3
Vikings rookie Randy Moss had only three catches, but all three went for 50-plus-yard touchdowns in a 46-36 win over the Cowboys. Three catches. Three TDs. 163 yards.
In Indianapolis’ 41-9 win over the Lions, Colts QB Peyton Manning threw six touchdown passes, tied for the most on Thanksgiving Day with Bob Griese (1977).
That time Peyton threw more touchdowns (6) than incompletions (5) on Thanksgiving. (Nov. 25, 2004)
Tom Brady finished with a perfect passer rating. Brady completed 21 of 27 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns in the Patriots’ 45-24 rout of the Lions. The Patriots actually trailed 24-17 midway through the third quarter before Brady threw three touchdown passes — of 79 and 22 yards to Deion Branch, and 16 yards to Wes Welker — in a span of 13 minutes, 30 seconds.
2012:
A play no one will forget. Jets QB Mark Sanchez fumbled the ball after running into a teammate in New York’s 49-19 loss to the Patriots. Also known as the “Butt Fumble.”
Clean Old-Fashioned Hate
Iron Bowl
Territorial Cup
Egg Bowl
Governor’s Cup
Florida-FSU
Fremont Cannon
The Commonwealth Cup
Old Oaken Bucket
Battle on the Bayou
