College Football Corner: Virginia’s loss is JMU’s gain

James Madison association celebrates after winning the Sun Belt championship NCAA college football contest against Troy Friday Dec in Harrisonburg Va AP Photo Robert Simmons AP Robert Simmons James Madison club celebrates after winning the Sun Belt championship NCAA college football challenge against Troy Friday Dec in Harrisonburg Va AP Photo Robert Simmons AP Robert Simmons The College Football Playoff field is set after Conference Championship Meeting weekend finalized the field And just like the ACC Championship Championship wasn t set until the final encounter of the regular season the ACC Championship Competition would put the final touches to the -team field While Notre Dame misses the playoff despite winning straight after an - start it was at the expense of one of the teams they lost to Miami was the last at-large company in the field I was surprised the committee went with a rematch of Alabama-Oklahoma in the first round and there are those who felt that the Crimson Tide should have been excluded after their -point SEC Championship Encounter loss to Georgia just like -win BYU was bounced because of their -point loss in the Big Championship Championship to Texas Tech Various will say that Tulane and James Madison don t belong on the same field with the top teams in the nation But this is better than the BCS or a four-team field right James Madison - got Troy s best punch in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Match leading - at intermission But if there s one thing we ve learned this fall it s that JMU owns the second half having outscored opponents - over their last eight regular season games And Friday night they scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to put away Troy - and eventually maneuver into a College Football Playoff spot Football stories Presto s Picks Coaching carousel steals spotlight while JMU and U Va play for postseason Four Downs with the Commanders Bucked by the Broncos College Football Corner Virginia Navy and JMU win while the ACC stands for Perpetually Consider Chaos Duke Do s Wayne Knight rushed for yards and a touchdown on a night where the passing encounter had issues Alonza Barnett III added yards and a number on the ground Sahir West tallied three sacks while posting tackles as the defense held the Trojans to - on third down Duke Don ts Barnett completed of his passes for under yards per completion and tossed an interception The offense converted just - third downs The defense delivered a pair of second quarter hiccups that resulted in touchdowns for Troy The crew committed seven penalties for yards Next Dec at Oregon on TNT in the first round of the College Football Playoff at p m Virginia - would have secured a berth in the College Playoff with a win over Duke in the ACC Championship Championship but allowed the Blue Devils to reach the end zone twice on their first three possessions and trailed - in the fourth quarter A last-second rally knotted things up at with under a minute left in regulation But the Blue Devils would count on a fourth and goal in overtime before intercepting the Cavaliers on their first possession of the extra session in a - loss for Virginia And just like they came from out of nowhere to play for an ACC Championship their once far-fetched dreams of a first ever outright conference title remained just that dreams Cavalier Congrats The defense held the ACC s most of productive passing match to under yards Sixth year senior Harrison Waylee and J Mari Taylor provided a nice one-two punch on the ground by combining for yards and carries Cavalier Concerns Chandler Morris completed just of his passes with yards per attempt and two interceptions including one in overtime The defense took a while to find its legs in the first half allowing two long drives for scores And although Daniel Sparks averaged yards per punt his two touchbacks knocked the net down to per kick Next Dec against - Missouri in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on ABC at p m Navy - did not play this past weekend and faces Army this Saturday in Baltimore The Midshipmen meet Cincinnati - Jan in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl at p m on ESPN Source