College Football Playoff Grades: Ohio State earns A+, Georgia gets 'C-' on quarterfinal report card

No team that won the conference championship game advanced to the semifinals College football In the playoffs, the No. 5-8 teams each kept their postseason runs alive after failing to earn first-round byes. Theories will abound as to how Texas, Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame benefited from hosting first-round games while their quarterfinal opponents sat at home for another week without playing.

But each situation must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Texas was almost a two-touchdown favorite in the win over Arizona State, and Penn State played a Group of Five opponent in Boise State. As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes simply appear to have caught fire at the right time.

While you could certainly argue that Georgia looked rusty in the 23-14 loss to Notre Dame, that excuse rings hollow for the Bulldogs, who had similar sloppy moments at times during the regular season. Ultimately, the quarterfinals left two Big Ten teams, an SEC representative and an independent Notre Dame.

Before we turn our attention to the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl, here are the numbers for each participant in the CFP Quarterfinals.

State of Ohio

Result: 41-21 win over (1) Oregon

Ohio State looked like one of the best college football teams of the 21st century during the first half of Oregon's 41-21 Rose Bowl eviction. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 34-0 lead as they dominated all facets of the game en route to avenging a regular season loss to the Ducks. Will Howard threw the football in spectacular fashion again after a breakout performance against Tennessee in the first round, and the running back tandem of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins did their part with a combined 179 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. The Buckeyes sacked Oregon's Dillon Gabriel eight times and produced 13 tackles for loss while forcing the Ducks to go three-and-out on four of their first six possessions. It was an authoritative performance that left little ambiguity as to why the Buckeyes are now the betting favorite to win the national title.Grade: A+

Oregon

Result: 41-21 loss to (8) Ohio State

Oregon's Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State was a system failure that maddeningly ended a previously perfect season for the Big Ten champions. The Ducks had no answers for the Buckeyes on either side of the ball while trailing 34-0. Although they pulled away to make the final score respectable, there was nothing here that even resembled a moral victory. It was a blow of the highest order on college football's most historic postseason stage. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel's final stats looked respectable, but he was woefully ineffective in the first half and got no support from the run game. Defensively, the Ducks looked slow and ill-prepared against Ohio State, pounding against the Buckeyes' passing attack from the start. It was a great season, but a loss of this magnitude made for a rotten ending.Grade: F

Texas

Result: 39-31 win over (4) Arizona State

Texas sputtered offensively for most of regulation after a rushing touchdown on its opening possession, and its inability to sustain drives led to a huge lead in possession for Arizona State. A loaded Texas defense routinely came up with critical, drive-ending plays but then struggled to finish in regulation. Typically reliable kicker Bert Auburn also missed two field goals in the final 2 minutes. Without a 75-yard punt return from Silas Bolden in the first quarter, which helped the Longhorns build some separation, the game would have taken on a very different look. The Longhorns still haven't proven they can beat a top-10 caliber team — Arizona State and Clemson finished outside the top 10 in the latest CFP rankings — and there was nothing from the Peach Bowl to indicate that Texas is red could beat. hot state of Ohio.Grade: C+

State of Arizona

Result: 39-31 loss to (5) Texas

Why did Arizona State come out of the Peach Bowl with a better grade than Texas despite losing the game? Well, the Sun Devils closed as a 13.5-point underdog, trailed 24-8 in the fourth quarter, and still managed to force the extremely talented Longhorns into double overtime. It was a courageous, raw and creative performance that embodied the culture that allowed the Sun Devils to go from 3rd to 9th in 2023 and win the Big 12 in coach Kenny Dillingham's second season. Cam Skattebo capped his career with a legendary, all-around performance, and quarterback Sam Leavitt repeatedly extended plays and drives to keep the Texas defense on the field. The Sun Devils' secondary ultimately proved a little too vulnerable, but the team represented itself well on the big stage. Grade: B+

Penn State

Result: 31-14 win over (3) Boise State

Penn State's physical defense limited Boise State star running back Ashton Jeanty to just 3.5 yards per carry. Although Jeanty surpassed the 100-yard mark, it cost him 30 carries, and the Nittany Lions routinely stopped him at or near the line of scrimmage. Penn State running back Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton responded by combining for 221 yards on 29 attempts. But the Nittany Lions certainly weren't one-dimensional. Although Drew Allar completed only 13 of 25 passes, he threw three touchdowns. He cooled off considerably after a hot start, but Allar's early series of completions made Boise State respect the pass. Things got interesting in the third quarter when Boise State cut the deficit to 17-14, but Penn State turned a bow and put the Broncos away from there with a solid but not outright dominant performance.Quality: A-

Boise State

Result: 31-14 loss to (6) Penn State

Boise State took the lead early, falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter before rallying to make things interesting. But ultimately, the Broncos couldn't put the needle in a match, leaving the CFP's lone Group of Five representative with a razor-thin margin for error. Boise missed both field goal attempts, was penalized 13 times, fumbled for promising possession in the first quarter and threw three interceptions with its backs against the wall in the fourth quarter. The Broncos had no answer for Penn State's rushing attack and allowed the Nittany Lions to take control of the game early with a handful of explosive passing plays. With star Ashton Jeanty unable to generate consistent yardage and the Broncos playing from the back, quarterback Maddux Madsen was forced to play a form of hero ball. He attempted 35 passes – his second-highest total of the season – and it's no surprise that a game with that momentum came against a resilient but physically outclassed Broncos team.Grade: C+

Our Lady

Result: 23-10 win over (2) Georgia

Notre Dame produced its own luck in a 23-10 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia by recovering two costly UGA fumbles and returning a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. Defensively, the Irish exposed Georgia's offensive line by producing four sacks and limiting running back Trevor Etienne to just 38 yards rushing on 11 carries. An unsung hero was kicker Mitch Jeter, who made three field goals from between 44 and 48 yards as part of an outstanding special teams performance. The Irish were unspectacular offensively, averaging just 4 yards per play and not generating drives of more than 49 yards. But their rushing attack did just enough.Grade: B+

Georgia

Result: 23-10 loss to (7) Notre Dame

How redshirt sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton would perform in his first career start was the most obvious concern for Georgia entering the Sugar Bowl. He turned out to be perfectly fine. It was the rest of the Bulldogs who were no-shows in a 23-10 loss to Notre Dame. The offensive line was torched, receiver Dillon Bell took a terrible drop, the play-calling was uninspired and the defense produced just one tackle for loss. Oh, and the special teams gave up a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half. A 2-0 deficit in turnover margin also helped seal UGA's fate, as the Bulldogs suffered their third loss in a season for the first time since 2018. Grade: C-