An exciting regular season of upsets and thrillers set the stage for this weekend’s Conference Championship Games. With College Football Playoff spots on the line and a chance at the Heisman Trophy up for grabs, Friday and Saturday’s action exceeded expectations. Let’s dive into the winners and losers from the conference championship games.
Winner: Cam Skattebo, RB, Arizona State Sun Devils
The second-best running back in college football put on an absolute clinic for contact balance in the Big 12 Championship Game. In the first half alone against Iowa State, Skattebo rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. He also became the first Arizona State Sun Devils player with 2,000 scrimmage yards in a season. Skattebo broke tackles with ease, turning would-be short runs into 40-plus-yard gains. The vision, contact balance, swagger and ability to fight for extra yards led to probably one of the best individual performances from the college football bowl games.
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Loser: Abu Sama II, RB, Iowa State Cyclones
Sophomore running back Abu Sama III showed some promise this season, coming up big in wins over Kansas State, Central Florida and Houston. However, Saturday’s performance in the Big 12 Championship Game will haunt him all offseason. The Des Moines native averaged just 3.4 yards per carry on 8 touches and he lost two fumbles, one of which led to an Arizona State touchdown three plays later. Just a brutal game for the sophomore, but also hopefully a learning experience for 2025.
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Winner: Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State Broncos
Ashton Jeanty deserves to win the Heisman Trophy. The star running back has carried the Boise State Broncos to 12 wins this season, delivering one of the best seasons we’ve seen from a back. In Friday’s Mountain West Championship Game win over LSU, Jeanty delivered his sixth 200-yard performance of the season, finishing with 223 scrimmage yards. Jeanty enters the College Football Playoff with the sixth-most rushing touchdowns (29) and the fourth-most rushing yards (2,497) in a single season. If all of this doesn’t warrant the Heisman, it’s hard to think a running back will ever win again.
Loser: Hajj-Malik Williams, QB, UNLV Rebels
Hajj-Malik Williams deserves immense credit for stepping in as the UNLV Rebels quarterback after starter Matthew Sluka left the team in late September. For as good of a run as he had, though, it all came undone in the Mountain West Championship Game. Williams took 6 sacks, threw an interception and finished with an abysmal 27.2 ESPN QBR and a 46.4 percent completion rate. To make matters worse, all his bad plays allowed Boise State to constantly troll the Rebels’ quarterback for not knowing where Boise is located on a map.
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Winner: Bryson Daily, QB, Army Black Knights
Quarterback Bryson Daily was one of the most underrated players in college football this season. The senior signal-caller provided more evidence of that in the American Athletic Championship Game. With Army coming in as the underdog, Daily immediately turned this thing into a blowout with three first-half touchdowns to give Army a 21-0 lead. He then delivered the Black Knights’ fourth touchdown midway through the third quarter, single-handedly outscoring Tulane 287. Incredibly, Daily only attempted 2 passes in the 35-14 win. Daily exits the conference championship games with the eighth-most rushing yards in college football (1,480) and he tied Jeanty with 29 rushing scores.
Loser: Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head coach
The college football schedule is, unfortunately, designed in a way where successful programs can get the rug pulled out from them. While a majority of the focus on that is players entering the transfer portal, coaches can be just as guilty. Tyson Helton seems to be emerging as a front-runner to take over as the Purdue Boilermakers coach in 2025. The Hilltoppers didn’t look like a team that was prepared for the Conference USA Championship Game, losing 52-12 to Jacksonville State just six days after facing them and winning 19-17. Helton gets to leave for a better program, while the Hilltoppers potentially lose their coach and get blown out in the conference title game.
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Winner: Parker Navarro, QB, Ohio Bobcats
The majority of our winners from the early conference championship games were players who delivered dominant performances on the ground. Ohio Bobcats quarterback Parker Navarro shined with a dual-threat clinic in the MAC Championship Game. Facing Miami (Ohio), Navarro completed 20-of-27 passes with 235 passing yards and tacked on 68 rushing yards for good measure. He also accounted for the Bobcats’ first four touchdowns, leading them to a 28-3 advantage in the third quarter. Just a spectacular showing to give at least one Ohio program a conference title this year.
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Loser: Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns aren’t a championship-caliber team with Quinn Ewers under center. In two games against the Georgia Bulldogs this season, he took 11 sacks and threw 3 interceptions while never completing 59 percent of his passes. He had opportunities in the SEC Championship Game, especially with how well the Longhorns defense played. It just didn’t matter, time and time again he fell short in some critical moments. Texas probably won’t hand the reigns over to Arch Manning in the College Football Playoff, all but guaranteeing this team won’t win a national title.
Winner: Trevor Etienne, RB, Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs needed someone to step up in the SEC Championship Game and Trevor Etienne rose to the occasion. Facing a Texas Longhorns defense that allowed the 10th-fewest rushing yards per game (103.8) and the eighth-lowest yards-per-carry average (3.1), Etienne delivered his best performance of the season. The 5-foot-9 running back found the end zone twice after halftime, including the game-winning score and finished the night with 122 scrimmage yards on 21 touches. This performance alone makes Georgia’s move to land him this past offseason worth it.
Loser: James Franklin, Penn State Nittany Lions
It’s a tradition as old as time, James Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions losing to top-10 teams. The Oregon Ducks dismantled Penn State in the first half in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game, jumping out to a three-score lead before even hitting the midway point of the second quarter. Penn State QB Drew Allar did an incredible job with the rally, but it wasn’t enough. Franklin is now 1-14 against top-five teams and 3-18 against top-10 teams. It’s going to be a short run for the Nittany Lions in the College Football Playoff.
Winner: Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oregon Ducks
Dillon Gabriel won’t win the Heisman Trophy, but the Oregon Ducks quarterback secured the No. 1 seed in the CFP for his team. This is everything the Ducks and Gabriel dreamed of when they connected in the transfer portal, now it’s all come to fruition. Gabriel picked apart one of the best defenses in college football, throwing 3 first-half touchdowns alone against Penn State. Just an outstanding all-around performance for the Ducks, but we’ll highlight Gabriel specifically.