🏈 Notre Dame Advances to Natty, Texas vs. Ohio State Preview + NFL Wild Card Weekend!

Happy Friday, Blitzers!

We made it through the first full week of the New Year, congrats! Our reward is a full weekend of playoff action with some NBA and NHL sprinkled in. So put your feet up and enjoy, you deserve it. Let’s Blitz!

WTF Stat: Here are Penn States receiving stats from last night:

Notice anything odd? Penn State WRs didn’t catch one ball all night.

🏈  Notre Dame advances to the National Championship after a thrilling 27-24 victory over Penn State in the Orange Bowl, thanks to a late interception and a field goal as time expired. With 33 seconds remaining, Notre Dame’s Christian Gray intercepted a pass from Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, setting up a 41-yard game-winning field goal by Mitch Jeter. The game, which featured three ties and three lead changes, saw Notre Dame come back from a 10-0 deficit. QB Riley Leonard, who was briefly checked for a concussion, led the Irish with 223 passing yards and a key 54-yard touchdown (which included making two DBs fall over). RB Jeremiyah Love had only 45 yards on the night but had probably the best 2-yard TD run ever. Notre Dame will now face the winner of the Texas-Ohio State semifinal on January 20.

🏈 The Las Vegas Raiders have fired general manager Tom Telesco after just one season. This follows the team's decision to dismiss head coach Antonio Pierce two days earlier. Telesco, who was hired in January 2024, had a challenging season with the Raiders, who finished 4-13, largely due to an unsettled quarterback situation and significant injuries.

🏈 Georgia quarterback Carson Beck has entered the NCAA transfer portal, reversing his earlier decision to declare for the NFL draft. Beck is reportedly considering Miami as the likely destination, but he plans to evaluate all potential options to find the best situation.

🏈 The Baltimore Ravens have ruled out Pro Bowl WR Zay Flowers for their wild-card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a knee injury sustained during the regular-season finale. Flowers led the team with 74 catches for 1,059 yards.

🏈 The NFL has moved the Monday wild-card playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, due to the ongoing wildfires in Southern California.

Thursday Night Playoffs - Cotton Bowl - Texas vs. Ohio State

#5 Texas vs. #8 Ohio State - Friday 7:30 PM (ESPN)

Preview: It’s clear that Ohio State stopped messing around. After losing to Michigan, the Buckeyes have been on a tear. They barely broke a sweat against Tennessee (frauds) and followed it up with a dominant performance against the No. 1 seeded Oregon Ducks. It’s like they remembered that they have the most talented team in the country. Meanwhile, Texas should have lost to Arizona State. Whether they took the foot off the gas pedal after launching out to an early lead or not, the Sun Devils lost that game, Texas didn’t win it. Ohio State has all the momentum going into this game against a Texas team that struggles at times on offense.

Key Matchup: Ohio State’s D-Line vs. Texas’ O-Line - The Longhorns like to run the football to set up the pass. QB Quinn Ewers clearly isn’t the guy we all thought he was before the season. If the Buckeyes defensive line can keep the Longhorns in passing situations on 2nd and 3rd and long situations it will be a long day for Texas. However, if Texas can control the game with the run and keep Ohio State’s offense off the field, this game will be close.

The Pick: Ohio State -6 - too much focused talent for the Buckeyes. They hit the ground running and throwing. WR Jeremiah Smith becomes a national heartthrob for the next three years.

NFL Wild Card Weekend

LA Chargers (11-6) at Houston (10-7) - Saturday 4:30 PM (CBS)

The View: The Texans had an interesting season this year. Interesting in the fact that they only had one quality win all season long. They played six of the playoff teams this year and only beat Buffalo. On the flipside, you can almost say the same thing about the Chargers. The only playoff team they beat were the Broncos…twice. The difference is, the Chargers actually hung with quality teams while the Texans looked like a deer in headlights. It comes down to who would you rather have? Herbert or Stroud? I’m thinking Herbert.

Pick: Chargers -3

Pittsburgh (10-7) at Baltimore (12-5) - Saturday 8:00 PM (Prime(UGH))

The View: Ok, hear me out. The spread on this game is bananas. 9.5 points for a division game? That’s a little much. The Steelers beat the Ravens at home on November 17, but then lost by 17 at Baltimore. So maybe Vegas is leaning more towards the December 21st game, but still, this is an AFC North slugfest in the playoffs. Let’s add in the fact that QB Lamar Jackson just hasn’t been very good in the playoffs. He’s 2-4. That doesn’t inspire confidence. I think the Ravens win, but the Steelers cover.

Pick: Steelers +9.5

Denver (10-7) at Buffalo (13-4) - 1:00 PM (CBS)

The View: The Broncos are one of the best stories in the NFL. No one. NO ONE saw these dudes making the playoffs with QB Bo Nix at the helm. Yet here they are. Unfortunately for them, they have to travel to Buffalo to tangle with the 13-4 Buffalo Bills. Buffalo resting starters and losing to the Pats…not the vibes you want going into the playoffs, but the Bills are just better than the Broncos. Better QB, better skill players, better coaching, defense is probably a push, but regardless, QB Josh Allen is not losing at home against Denver. They put the upstarts in their place and move on.

Pick: Bills -8

Green Bay (11-6) at Philadelphia (14-3) - Sunday 4:30 PM (FOX)

The View: A rematch of the Brazil game! The Eagles won that game and then went on to have a better season. Unlike last year, the Eagles didn’t crumble down the stretch, and vibes are solid in the City of Brotherly love going into the playoffs. Meanwhile, Green Bay played their starters against the Bears to avoid playing the Eagles and what happened? QB Jordan Love hurt his elbow and they lost. You know what we call that in the business? Sucks to suck. A hampered Jordan Love against the Eagles is no bueno and the Eagles win going away.

Pick: Eagles -4.5

Washington (12-5) at Tampa Bay (10-7) - Sunday 8:00 PM (NBC)

The View: Truly fascinating that the Bucs are favored in this game. I mean…why? The Commanders enter the game with a better record and Tampa almost played their way out of a playoff spot. Trust me, I love QB Baker Magic, but the Commanders have won their last five games. QB Jayden Daniels has been a revelation and the Tampa Bay defense is bad. The Commanders will find a way to win this game.

Pick: Commanders +3

NBA Top Games

Warriors 107, Pistons 104: Buddy Hield scored 19 points to help the Golden State Warriors secure a 107-104 victory. The Warriors had a commanding 18-point lead at one point, but Detroit came storming back, but it wasn’t enough as Malik Beasley missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Warriors won despite a rough shooting night from Stephen Curry, who went 5-of-21 overall and missed 12 of 14 3-pointers.

Rockets 119, Grizzlies 115: Alperen Sengun scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, leading the Houston Rockets to a 119-115 win. The victory extended Houston’s winning streak to three games and helped them maintain second place in the Western Conference, 1.5 games ahead of Memphis.

Timberwolves 104, Magic 89: Julius Randle led the Timberwolves with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Anthony Edwards contributed 21 points and seven assists. Naz Reid added 16 points off the bench, and Rudy Gobert had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

See full NBA scoreboard NBA here and standings here.

NHL Top Games

Hurricanes 6, Maples Leafs 3: Jordan Staal scored a hat trick, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 victory. Eric Robinson, Jackson Blake, and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves for his first home win since December 17.

Avalanche 6, Wild 1: The Avalanche cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Wild, powered by strong performances from Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Logan O'Connor, who each registered a goal and an assist. Colorado extended its strong recent form, improving to 8-1-1 in its past 10 games.

Rangers 3, Devils 2: Sam Carrick scored an overtime goal to lift the Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Devils. Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves in the win, his first since returning from a four-game injury absence.

See full scoreboard here and standings here.

Couldn’t turn this into a trivia question but wanted to share!

On this day in 1982, San Francisco 49ers beat Dallas Cowboys, 28-27 thanks to "The Catch". Dwight Clark makes a fingertip catch in the back of the endzone with 58 seconds remaining. Joe Montana and the 49ers go on to win Super Bowl XVI.

See the video breakdown here.

Yesterday’s Trivia Time Answer

Which QB has the most yards passing in NCAA Division I history?

C) Case Keenum - Keenum leads the way with 19,217 yards. Gabriel had a chance to pass him had the Ducks been able to advance further into the playoffs. Here is the top 10: