Sweet 16: Hypothetical 16-team College Football Playoff
By Brad Weiss
The Sweet 16 starts with the No. 1 seed Alabama Crimson Tide taking on No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers. While West Virginia put up a solid regular season, finishing with ten wins against two losses, they failed to win games against their better competition. Taking on the Crimson Tide proved to be too much of a challenge, as Alabama’s elite defense held the Mountaineers to only ten points in the game.
Quarterback Skyler Howard was able to move the ball early against Alabama, who came into the game taking the Mountaineers a bit lightly. Howard hit wide receiver Shelton Gibson for a 14-yard score to give the Mountaineers an early 7-0 lead, but it was all Alabama after that. The Crimson Tide ran off 21 straight points to end the first half, with running back Bo Scarbrough punching it in twice from inside the five-yard line.
In the second half, Howard struggled with the turnovers, as star cornerback Marlon Humphrey took an interception to the house to give the Crimson Tide a 28-7 lead as the teams entered the final quarter. A Mike Molina field goal cut the lead to 28-10 early in the fourth, but Clemson shut the Mountaineers out the rest of the way. Scarbrough finished the game with 125 yards and two touchdowns, but the defense was the story on this night, as they picked off Howard twice and sacked him six times in the dominant victory.