College Football Playoff: Doug Flutie shares thoughts on Orange Bowl semifinal
The College Football Playoff is back for a second year, and former Boston College QB Doug Flutie spoke to Saturday Blitz about the Orange Bowl semifinal game.
Related Story: Orange Bowl: Clemson vs Oklahoma Preview, Predictions
In an Orange Bowl game that will feature two of the nation’s top running, scrambling quarterbacks, it only makes sense to get some thoughts on the game from one of the greatest scrambling quarterbacks to play the game, former Boston College star, Doug Flutie.
The Orange Bowl is one of this year’s national semifinal games, and will pit the No. 1 Clemson Tigers against the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners, with Deshaun Watson and Baker Mayfield under center respectively.
Flutie is a fan of the playoffs, and of how the 4-team semifinals have been set up, and like many, he thinks expansion could happen but could also present some problems.
“I like having a final four in the playoff scenario, and the ability to keep the tradition of the bowl games within that format is something that was important to me,” Flutie told me.
“As far as expanding it – going to 8 or 16 teams – for the fans it would be phenomenal. From a player standpoint or from a university standpoint it’s very difficult, because you’re basically taking three or more bowl trips, trying to get alumni to travel, and all the expenses that are incurred with those trips.
Sep 5, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Former NFL quarterback and television announcer Doug Flutie. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
“But with the way it’s going right now and how popular the four team playoff is, at some point down the road I see people trying to expand it.”
It was at this point Flutie began to reminisce about the glory days and how much the game has changed.
“It’s amazing. I mean, we played 11 regular season games and there weren’t a ton of bowl games, so the elite did get to play in a bowl game – a twelfth game,” He said.
“Now it’s a 12-game regular season, a conference championship game, a bowl game and now a playoff, so you could end up playing 16 games. But, the more they play the more money these schools make, so they’re pushing it. Maybe that’s why we get so many injuries nowadays.”
While we were strolling down memory lane, I asked Flutie what some of the changes in the game that have happened since his playing days were things he felt made college football better. The answers weren’t surprising – spread offenses, zone-read plays, and the better monitoring of head-related injuries by the officials and the schools.
“I was under center almost 100 percent of the time,” Flutie said. “The only time I was in the shotgun was during 2-minute drills.
“The spread game in general – the ability to run the football and throw these little screens when they don’t cover people down – all that is stuff, for me, that would have spread the field and created even more running lanes for me to take off with the football.”
That’s not a scary thought at all, Doug.
What doesn’t he like? “All the substitutions”, which Flutie thinks is just an attempt to slow down offenses.
I asked the former All-American quarterback about this year’s Orange Bowl and about what he sees from both teams – and in particular, these two quarterbacks – coming into this crucial game.
“I’m a little partial towards Watson,” the 1984 Heisman Trophy winner told me. “With Mayfield, everyone that I’ve talked to, they say ‘Oh yeah, he scrambles around like you used to’. He’s very good and he’s done an unbelievable job this year. But I’m kind of a Deshaun Watson guy. He’s explosive when he puts the ball under his arm and takes off running, and he can throw the ball.
“He carries this team, he’s a mature young kid, I had the chance to meet him at the Heisman ceremony…and I’m just very impressed with the way he handles himself and how mature he is. I don’t think there’s anything he can’t handle, so I just lean towards him.”
Dec 5, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
I mentioned Baker Mayfield’s journey to Oklahoma, the lack of scholarship offers and his being a walk-on at the program, and how that can be a motivating factor in this game.
“I was that type of kid. I did get a scholarship offer from Boston College, but that was my only Division I offer,” Flute said. “That stuff motivates you on a daily basis – proving people wrong. You passed on me, this person told me I couldn’t play, that person said I wasn’t good enough.
“What that does is keeps you motivated day in and day out. You always feel like you have something to prove. There’s no doubt that [Mayfield] will be prepared and he’ll be putting his best foot forward at all times. You’ll get his best, there’s no doubt.”
In discussing maturity and putting your best foot forward, we of course had to talk about the three Clemson players – freshman wide receiver Deon Cain, senior kicker Ammon Lakip and junior tight end Jay Jay McCullough – who were all suspended for the game for violations of team rules. How big of a problem or distraction would this be for Clemson?
“I don’t see it as a major factor,” Flutie paused for a second. “I think coaches have to deal with it in the media. The players just get so locked in and they move forward.
“But, you’re talking about a kid (Cain) who was their second leading receiver being out, and I’m sure there were a handful of plays that are specifically for him, and he got the reps on those during the week. Now during the game, you’ll have to have another kid taking those routes.
“It’s happened early enough that you can work on it during walk-throughs, but if you miss one completion during the course of a game, that can affect the game.”
Besides being a national semifinal game en route to a possible national championship, this year’s Capital One Orange Bowl game is also going to have an affect on the Capital One Cup – a competition between all Division I schools for scholarship money based on championships in all sports.
The winner of the College Football National Championship will grab 60 points for their school in the standings. Right now, Clemson sits third in the men’s division with 36 points. Oklahoma isn’t even in the top 20, so a win here and in the big title game could vault the Sooners to the top of the standings.
More saturday blitz: 10 Biggest Disappointments of 2015 Season
Flutie gave me his pick for the game, but I’ll keep that one under wraps.
You can check out the Orange Bowl from Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fl., live at 4pm on Dec. 31 on ESPN or streaming live on the ESPN app on your mobile device.