There is one thing that just doesn't sit right with me.
As you noted, Ohio State's quarterback (he was third string, but he was third of five on the roster, so it's not like a hapless NFL third-stringer) was only in three games. The playoff system adds a dimension of endurance in that you have to play 15 games in a season. So you have a guy like Jones who comes in, much more rested than the rest of his opposition, and picks them all apart in three straight games. (College players are notorious for hitting a wall after about 12 or 13 weeks; that's why rookies have such a hard time.) That doesn't seem to be a very sporting way of going about it from my perspective—it's almost as if the Buckeyes brought in a ringer. Granted they pretty much had to do it that way given the injury, but it still seems to corrupt the whole playoff process. Ohio State was not the same team with Jones at the helm that they were for much of the season.
Oh, come on! Jones was already on the bench. He's a Cleveland kid who wanted to play with the Buckeyes. The only way to have your 'corruption' scenario play out would be to have Barrett break his leg deliberately so that Jones could come in and play.
Ridiculous.
He had NO experience coming in, so 'rested and refreshed" doesn't cut it at all. He should have been at a disadvantage because he was new, not at an advantage.
And he was playing against a Heisman trophy winner, for heaven's sake. Mariota is a brilliant player, and Jones as green as they get (though obviously gifted). And what about Elliot? He's certainly not "rested."
The idea that Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes are corrupt enough to concoct what you think is "unfair" is hogwash.
What the Buckeyes did last night was remarkable........ pure and simple. They dominated with their offensive line. Their defense stopped one of the best college football players out there, and they earned the National Championship fair and square.
(And pretty much everyone ELSE recognizes that fact).
