James Madison reaches the playoff, Oregon delivers a harsh reality check
If you like upsets and Cinderellas in the NCAA basketball tournament, you should like the possibility of that happening in the College Football Playoff, too. Malik Benson caught two of those scores and Jeremiah McClellan and Jamari Johnson had the others. But the dominance continued into the second half, where JMU had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown and Oregon had over 50 points before the third quarter was over. Alonza Barnett tosses to Nick DeGennaro in the flat and he jitterbugs down the sideline for a 47-yard TD. 4 Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. Well, at least James Madison can say it made the College Football Playoff. The Dukes offense held its own all night and its point total wasn’t an outlier. Dante Moore completes another deep bomb, this one for 45 yards to Malik Benson. Two Group of Five teams are not going to make the playoff again. If those rules were in effect in 2025, Notre Dame would be in the playoff instead of Miami, and Duke would be in the playoff instead of JMU. 5 Oregon had No. College football’s leaders signed off on the format and both Tulane and James Madison earned berths in the postseason fair and square. and Jordon Davison had over 60 yards with just five carries apiece. Oregon made it clear from the start that the Ducks could control the line of scrimmage and were much faster sideline to sideline than JMU’s defense. That had to be cathartic for players, fans and everyone involved in the coaching drama that played out a few weeks ago. Is there enough time to make this a game with 10:26 to play? Not every game is competitive. Let’s get this out of the way. Blowouts happen. That doesn’t do much to cut into the massive deficit. 1 seed. While schools like Texas Tech and Ole Miss can reshape their rosters in a single offseason and make the CFP thanks to wealthy donors, teams outside the power conferences are more and more serving like farm teams for power conference schools. The INT late in the first half is the only real blemish on a surgical first half for the Oregon QB:
Throwin’ DARTS 🎯
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— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) December 21, 2025
Utter domination by the Ducks. Can the Dukes get anything going in the second half? Teams like Michigan State and Ohio State got shut out in the semifinals in the four-team format. The Dukes convert the turnover into points, with a 38-yard field goal in the final seconds of the first half. But those blowouts make the massive upsets all the more special. If Notre Dame is in the top 12 in the final rankings, the Irish are in too. Those five drives totaled 21 plays. JMU has the ball to start the second half, and it’s already moved beyond midfield. But that’s even foolish. Oregon finishes the decisive win, even if JMU made it more respectable with some late scores. Why? After all, we’re not that far removed from mass consternation about blowouts in the first round of the four-team playoff. Lacotta Dipre scores from the 2 and the Dukes continue to keep punching. 12 James Madison beaten from the start in a 51-34 win. And giving teams outside the power conferences a shot to pull an upset is worth the cost of a blowout or two in the first round. That means JMU will cover the 20.5-point spread. Those five drives totaled 34 points. The scoring streak only ended after Dante Moore threw an interception on a deflected pass at the end of the first half. The Ducks move onto the quarterfinals, where they will face No. Oregon scored touchdowns on its first five drives of the game. By that point, it was time for the Ducks to pull every significant player and prepare to face No. If you want to blame anyone, blame the ACC for being so bad in 2025 that a five-loss team won the conference title. as reported by an agreement signed by conference commissioners and Notre Dame, the four power conference champions are guaranteed to be in the field no matter where they are in the rankings in 2026. It’s been a while since we’ve seen an Oregon score, like an entire two drives. Notre Dame got a sweetener too. The Dukes are at least showing some fight here. Dante Moore hits Dakorien Moore for a 46-yard TD. Dukes in scoring position. The Ducks found a different way to get to the end zone. Justin Eaglin intercepts Dante Moore, who floated a pass toward the sideline near the goal line. They can’t be stopped. Because, well, that’s about all the Dukes want to remember from Saturday night. New coach Pete Golding guided Ole Miss to a blowout win over Tulane in their playoff game. Here’s what the bracket looks like after the first round is complete.
QB Alonza Barnett punches it in on 4th and 1 on a keeper, and that play is significant for SOME. Alonza Barnett drops a 24-yard dime to George Pettaway. The way the Dukes — and Tulane — were blown out on Saturday night is not an indictment of the 12-team playoff format or a sign that teams from the Sun Belt or any other Group of Five conference don’t belong in the College Football Playoff. Just look at JMU. 1 Indiana — took the job with the Hoosiers after the 2023 season, 13 players followed him from JMU to Bloomington. And Oregon, which led 34-6 over the Dukes at halftime on Saturday night, trailed 34-8 after two quarters of the Rose Bowl a season ago as the No. But they didn’t — and JMU kept playing hard. As the third quarter ended, Oregon was averaging over 10 yards a carry as both Dierre Hill Jr. The College Football Playoff format is changing again in 2026, even if the 12-team bracket stays intact. The Dukes finally find the end zone. Blake Purchase blocked JMU’s punt attempt and Jayden Limar scooped it up and ran 15 yards for the TD. But the Dukes did exactly what they needed to do to make the playoff this season in a college football world that’s growing a wider and wider chasm between the haves and have-nots every year. As current JMU coach Bob Chesney heads to UCLA for 2026, it’s likely that some of the players on this JMU team will follow him to the West Coast. The Dukes’ defense was overmatched, overpowered and overrun. When former coach Curt Cignetti — now the coach of No. That’s one way to slow down the Ducks’ offense. Eaglin returned it 61 yards and drew an unsportsmanlike penalty. No. JMU’s Elijah Culp picks off Dante Moore to give the Dukes a much-needed positive play near the end of the first half. 4 Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. Moore finished with four touchdown passes and two interceptions along with a rushing touchdown. The 12 years of the College Football Playoff have shown that. And as long as non-power conference teams get the chance to play for the national title, an upset will happen sooner rather than later. That’s 5 TDs on 5 drives for the Ducks. Atticus Sappington knocks a 48-yard field goal through to get the Ducks above the 50 mark.
