Tony Barnhart
By Tony Barnhart
After 50 years in the media business this much I can say is true.
At least for me:
I don’t pull for great teams or great players or great games.
I pull for great stories.
I got into this business because I wanted the opportunity to tell
great stories.
As we approach the semifinals of the College Football Playoff on
Thursday and Friday I have to say that this is potentially the best
collection of playoff stories I have ever seen. For example:
--Indiana is the nation’s only undefeated team and is coming off
a 38-3 beat down of Alabama in the Rose Bowl. Friday’s Peach
Bowl with Oregon is easily the biggest football game in the history
of Indiana's program. And you know what? The Hoosiers aren’t
doing it with smoke and mirrors. As Alabama painfully found out,
these guys are really that good and are extremely well coached.
--Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is 48-7 as a head coach. He
worked for Kirby Smart at Georgia and Nick Saban at Alabama
and has a quarterback (Dante Moore) who can absolutely play
with the high-profile guys like Fernando Mendoza (Indiana),
Carson Beck (Miami), and Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss),
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--It has been 24 years since Miami played in a game of this
magnitude, beating Nebraska for the championship in 2001.
The following year the Hurricanes lost in the national
championship to Ohio State. The Hurricanes never thought they
would have to wait this long to get another shot. And here it is.
These guys are physical and fast and their sideline will be a
Who’s Who of Miami football. In games like this the toughest guy
usually prevails. And from where I sit, that’s the Hurricanes.
But when it comes to a great story, how can you not love Ole
Miss, who plays Miami Thursday night in the Fiesta Bowl? The
Rebels, who lost only one game (to Georgia 39-34) in the regular
season have a chance to play for their first national
championship since 1962 under the great John Vaught. With Hall
of Fame players like Archie Manning, Bruiser Kinnard, Charley
Connerly, Terrence Metcalf and Patrick Willis there is a lot of
great Ole Miss football history.
The Rebels are making their march through history without their
coach (Lane Kiffin) who decided to become the head coach at
LSU. They have patched together a coaching staff and elevated
OC Pete Golding to be the head guy. The Ole Miss players love
Golding and have shown it in two CFP victories.
The Rebels have a quarterback (Trinidad Chambliss) who literally
came from nowhere (Ferris State).
He was magnificent against Georgia in the quarterfinals. When
the two teams met earlier this season in Athens, the Bulldogs
wore out the Rebels. But on Jan. 1 Chambliss would not let it
happen. Given his ability to run and keep plays alive, it was
Georgia who got tired.
If Ole Miss wins it all it will go down as one of the greatest
underdog stories in the history of college football. Our sport
doesn’t not lend itself to provide the true Cinderella. More often
than not the biggest, fastest, strongest team seems to come out
of top.
But this team is different. It is clear that amid all of the confusion
in Oxford, where the adults kept trying to screw things up for the
kids, these players have bonded.
This is THEIR team.
It’s not Lane Kiffin’s team. Kiffin did not attend the Georgia game
in New Orleans. And we don’t know if he’ll show up on Thursday
in the Fiesta Bowl
I would say that Kiffin would be better off at home watching film of
his future team.
“All he (Kiffin) is trying to do is steal our shine,” defensive tackle
Zavian Harris told CBS.com “We have something for him.”
This is THEIR team and now they have a chance to plant a flag
that will never be moved.
Kiffin has already collected $500,000 in bonuses for two playoff
wins paid by LSU, his current employer. If Ole Miss wins two more
playoff games Kiffin will get a cool $1 million in bonuses.
But this is not his team.
This is THEIR team.
And I’ll promise you this: If Ole Miss beats Miami and advances to
the CFP championship game on Jan. 19, you’ll see the greatest
celebration of all time in The Grove –the prime gathering place on
game day-and on The Square in Oxford.
But here’s the best story of all.
Ole Miss has always dreamed about being in this situation: Two
wins away from a national championship. They’ve watched over
the years as Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, Florida and
Tennessee all won national championships. And now that Texas
and Texas A&M are in the SEC, it is only going to be more difficult
to pick up that precious piece of hardware.
And all this time the Ole Miss fans have asked: “Why not us?”
“Why can’t we put together a team that could win it all? Why can’t
we hire the right coach and give him the resources he needs to
win it all. If Indiana can do it why can’t WE do it?
The Ole Miss fans got a taste of it when Hugh Freeze beat
Alabama in back-to-back years (2014-2015). By 2017 he was
gone due to some off-the-field issues.
They have come close but were never quite good enough.
After waiting so long they ask, is it finally our time?
That’s drama, folks. That is a great story.
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