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College Football Playoff first-round winners and losers include ACC, Kalen DeBoer

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College Football Playoff first-round winners and losers include ACC, Kalen DeBoer


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  • Miami upset Texas A&M in a defensive battle, securing a significant win for the ACC in the College Football Playoff.
  • Alabama overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat Oklahoma, setting up a Rose Bowl matchup against No. 1 Indiana.
  • Oregon and Mississippi easily defeated their Group of Five opponents to advance to the quarterfinals.

No. 9 Alabama finally solved Brent Venables and No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 10 Miami won a defensive slugfest at No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 5 Oregon and No. 6 Mississippi had no trouble against the Group of Five to round out the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

While the Crimson Tide took the all-SEC matchup, then win by the Hurricanes in College Station is a feather in the cap for the ACC after the conference was nearly left out of the tournament entirely. In the end, Miami did what Notre Dame could not and beat the Aggies — and on the road, no less.

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The two upsets in the opening round came after all four favorites held serve to open last year’s 12-team playoff debut.

As a gift for beating the Sooners, the Crimson Tide will face off in the Rose Bowl against No. 1 Indiana. Over in the Cotton Bowl, No. 2 Ohio State will take on Miami. The Sugar Bowl will feature another SEC rematch with the Rebels taking on No. 3 Georgia, while No. 4 Texas Tech will face Oregon in the Orange Bowl.

Before heading to the quarterfinals, let’s break down why the ACC and Oklahoma lead the biggest winners and losers from the opening round:

Winners

The ACC

We touched on why this win means so much to the ACC: Duke won the conference with five losses and James Madison cruised to the Sun Belt title after Miami remained behind Notre Dame in the penultimate playoff rankings. There was a strong possibility the conference would not have a single team in the 12-team bracket. Still, the Hurricanes were a late and controversial addition to the field despite topping the Irish during the regular season. While not changing the fact the ACC was the weakest of the Power Four leagues during the regular season, to have Miami become the first team to beat A&M in College Station this year should be a huge confidence booster for the conference.

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Miami

Miami ran for 175 yards on 6.3 yards per carry and was the tougher and more physical team in its 10-3 rock fight against A&M. Nearly every inch of the yardage belonged to running back Mark Fletcher Jr., who had 172 yards on 17 carries, including a 56-yard scamper during a fourth-quarter touchdown drive that broke a 3-3 tie. Defensively, the Hurricanes gave up 4.3 yards per play and delivered three key takeaways, including an interception in the end zone with 24 seconds left to seal the win. There’s still plenty to work on: Miami’s passing game sputtered, though Carson Beck did avoid any giveaways, and the kicking game made just one of four field goals. That won’t cut it against the Buckeyes.

Kalen DeBoer

It’s extremely easy to think about how the Alabama fan base would’ve turned on DeBoer had the Tide not tied for the largest comeback in playoff history by digging out of a 17-0 deficit in the second quarter. Another loss to Oklahoma might’ve even been enough to convince DeBoer to at least take a look at the Michigan opening, given the chance for a reboot in the Big Ten. But after missing the playoff entirely last year, DeBoer and Alabama nailed down a much-needed postseason win and can begin evaluating the nation’s only unbeaten team in the Hoosiers.

Oregon and Mississippi

Neither team broke a sweat, unless you count the roughly quarter-long span against Tulane where the Rebels treaded water after jumping out to an early lead. The Rebels’ owned the second half of a 41-10 win against the Green Wave while Oregon was all over James Madison from the start of a 51-34 romp. As expected, the feel-good underdog stories the Green Wave and Dukes brought to the table didn’t quite translate when lined up across from two of the most talented teams in the Power Four. For the first time in the 12-team era, we’ll see how playing a Group of Five team in the opening round prepares the winner for a top-four opponent in the quarterfinals.

Pete Golding

So far, so good for the new Rebels coach. Making his debut in the opening round against Tulane, Golding pushed the right buttons out of the gate to help Ole Miss spring out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. While things stagnated through the first half, with Ole Miss ahead 17-3, halftime adjustments sparked a 27-0 run coming out of the break to put the Green Wave away. A bigger test awaits in New Orleans.

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Losers

The Group of Five

Don’t blame Tulane and James Madison. The Green Wave earned the automatic Group of Five berth baked into the playoff format. JMU benefited from Duke’s ACC championship, since the selection committee couldn’t possibly put a five-loss team in the bracket. But the two teams were extremely uncompetitive against dramatically more talented Power Four competition, losing to the Rebels and Ducks by a combined 48 points.

Oklahoma

This was a slow-motion train wreck from the point Oklahoma took a 17-0 lead about four minutes into the second quarter. From there, miscues and self-enforced errors doomed the Sooners, none bigger than punter Grayson Miller’s fumble and John Mateer’s interception in the second quarter that allowed the Crimson Tide to tie the game heading into halftime. All year long, Oklahoma’s blueprint was to create turnovers to boost an average offense. But the Sooners made the crucial errors to pave the way for Alabama’s comeback and lacked the offensive explosiveness to regain momentum after the Tide took control in the second half. It was still a significant rebound year for Oklahoma and Venables against one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Texas A&M

A&M outgained Miami, gave up just only three third-down conversions and 12 first downs, had a clear edge in time of possession, was penalized for only 15 yards and held Beck and the Hurricanes’ passing game in check — but still lost as a result of three turnovers and an inability to win the battle on the line of scrimmage. While Fletcher carried Miami’s offense, A&M managed just 89 yards on 35 carries and was held without a rushing touchdown for the first time all season.



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Oklahoma City police investigating early morning shooting

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Oklahoma City police investigating early morning shooting


Oklahoma City police are investigating an early morning shooting that left one man injured in northeast Oklahoma City.

Around 3 a.m. on Thursday, emergency crews were called to a reported shooting near Kelley and Wilshire Blvd.

Investigators say the shooting occurred between a couple inside the home, adding that the woman shot the man.

However, police say they are trying to determine if the shooting was accidental.

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The victim was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

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The woman has been taken into custody for questioning, but it is unknown if she will face charges just yet.



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North Carolina, Oklahoma advance to the Men’s College World Series finals

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North Carolina, Oklahoma advance to the Men’s College World Series finals


Oklahoma is just three outs away from steamrolling through the right side of the bracket and knocking out Georgia to reach the championship finals.

To prepare, let’s take a look at what arms we should expect for the Sooners just like we did for the North Carolina earlier.

The Sooners have leaned heavily on their freshmen pitching trio in Cord Rager, Xander Mercurius and Nick Wesloski throughout Omaha. The first two went at least seven innings, while Wesloski tossed 5.2 innings on Wednesday. Even though they used relievers LJ Mercurius and Jackson Cleveland in the first two games, neither pitched more than two innings nor allowed a run. 

If LJ, who entered for Wesloski on Wednesday, finishes the game, he will have gone 3.1 innings.

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That sets up Oklahoma very well to matchup with UNC, which went 3-0 and also hasn’t used many arms up to this point. 

If OU does win, expect Rager, Xander Mercurius and Cleveland to be ready to go. Rager, who hasn’t pitched since their first round game against Alabama on Saturday, June 13, would have a full week of rest.



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Rep. Kevin Hern wins Oklahoma GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, governor’s race heads to runoff

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Rep. Kevin Hern wins Oklahoma GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, governor’s race heads to runoff


U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern easily won Oklahoma’s GOP nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, and the race for a new governor in the deeply conservative state began with Republicans Gentner Drummond and Mark Mazzei advancing to a runoff.

In a primary that again tested President Donald Trump’s status as Republican Party kingmaker, both Hern and Mazzei carried his endorsement in their bids to win open races for two of Oklahoma’s biggest offices. With nearly all the votes counted, Drummond, the state’s attorney general, was narrowly ahead of Mazzei, a former state senator.

The primary had Republicans picking their preferred successor to outgoing Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and a nominee for the Senate seat once held by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Democrats haven’t won a Senate seat in Oklahoma since 1990.

Hern’s most serious potential GOP rivals stayed out of the Senate race after Trump endorsed him even before Mullin was confirmed as a replacement for fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Hern received more than 50% of the primary vote to avoid a runoff.

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He struck a somewhat bipartisan tone in speaking with reporters after winning big, touting his experience as a House member working on issues such as trade and energy. He promised to represent conservative principles and “Oklahoma ideologies” in the Senate and noted he already has relationships with senators.

“We have a lot of friends in a lot of different states, including blue states,” Hern said.

READ MORE: Live Results: Oklahoma midterm primaries

Trump endorsed Mazzei last month in a hotly contested race that also had other major candidates, including former Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall and Chip Keating, a former state public safety director who is the son of a two-term governor.

Drummond told reporters at his watch party that he had expected a runoff after Trump endorsed Mazzei and suggested that Trump could reconsider his endorsement of Mazzei, saying, “who knows?”

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“Mr. Mazzei got a bump, but now he’s got to earn the rest,” Drummond said.

Trump repeated his endorsement of Mazzei on his Truth Social platform on Monday. Mazzei told supporters Tuesday night, “All I can say is, ‘Wow.’

“Eighteen months ago when we started this adventure, no one thought this was possible,” he said. “The political insiders said we had no chance. We started at zero, but who in here actually had faith we could get the job done and get in the runoff? You did.”

Mazzei also boosted his campaign with personal funds — nearly $10.9 million, or almost 95% of the $11.5 million he raised, according to campaign finance reports. Drummond put $2.5 million from his own pocket in raising about $7.2 million. Together, Drummond, Mazzei, Keating and McCall contributed $22.5 million of their own funds to their campaigns, or 72% of their combined fundraising of more than $31 million.

READ MORE: Oklahoma begins choosing a new U.S. senator and governor in crowded primary

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The winner of the GOP runoff will face Oklahoma House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday by a wide margin.

In a solidly Republican state, the races for two of Oklahoma’s biggest offices set off a political scramble. To replace Mullin in the Senate through this year, Stitt appointed Republican Alan Armstrong, an energy executive, but state law prohibited him from seeking a full term.

In November, Hern will face the winner of a Democratic runoff between N’Kiyla Thomas, a nurse and community activist, and Jim Priest, an attorney and minister.

The governor’s race is open because Stitt is finishing his second four-year term and cannot serve a third under the state constitution. Trump has seemed eager for him to go.

As head of the National Governors Association, Stitt drew Trump’s ire earlier this year over a dispute over invitations to White House events at the group’s annual meeting. The fallout led to Trump attacking Stitt on social media as a “RINO,” meaning Republican in Name Only.

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