How the 2019 CFB Playoff changed everything

There is a different look to the quarterbacking field in this year’s College Football Playoff, but you shouldn’t be surprised if this turns into the new normal.

Three of the four quarterbacks, who also happen to be a trio of the highest-profile players in the college game, have shared a common journey to this point, one which saw their careers kickstarted by losing a battle.

QB competitions are not quite the same anymore. The loser is no longer consigned to the certainty of backup duties well clear of the spotlight. The transfer portal’s explosion since its October 2018 debut has allowed signal callers who don’t work out in one location to seek refuge in another.

Sometimes it doesn’t click for them there, either. But sometimes pastures new lead to a dream marriage, with dramatic results.

Joe Burrow, Justin Fields and Jalen Hurts are three of the most overwhelming examples of transfer success that you could find — and with apologies to Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, there is a strong chance that one of them is being lauded as a national champion within the next couple of weeks.

Things could scarcely be going better for them now, but each previously faced the struggle of being told by a former program that they were not its No. 1 guy.

Burrow, of LSU, became the third straight transfer to win the Heisman Trophy when he collected the accolade earlier this month.

From backup to Heisman Trophy winner?@CoachUrbanMeyer, @JoelKlatt and @MattLeinartQB take an in-depth look at how @LSUFootball QB @Joe_Burrow10 developed throughout his college career and give some advice to all young athletes out there. ? pic.twitter.com/YsJtOcHLaH

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 21, 2019

“I think that’s kind of been the story of the college football season, with three of the Heisman finalists being transfers and having long roads and battling through adversity,” Burrow said this week.

Burrow spent three years at Ohio State but was unable to lock down the starting job. After graduating early, he took his talent to Baton Rouge and put together a season for the ages.

Ahead of Saturday’s semifinal against Oklahoma at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Burrow has thrown for 48 touchdowns, racked up 4,715 yards and managed a 77.9 completion percentage.

Across the three transfer QBs starting in the CFB Playoff this weekend, there are some interlocking strands. Burrow’s departure from Ohio State opened up space in the pecking order Fields was able to benefit from, having left Georgia to join up with the Buckeyes.

Fields faced the possibility of being stuck behind incumbent Jake Fromm in the QB standings at Georgia, but did not have to sit out a year after successfully arguing his case with the NCAA.

He has slotted in seamlessly as Ohio State compiled a 13-0 record this season, one matched by this weekend’s opponent, Clemson. Fields quickly earned the respect of his new teammates with his toughness and resiliency, regularly standing tall in the pocket and taking heavy shots.

“He showed what he was made of,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “A lot of guys took notice of that.”

Of the three, it is perhaps Oklahoma’s Hurts who has had the most remarkable ride, having been the starter for Alabama in the 2017 National Championship Game before being benched in favor of Tua Tagovailoa, who engineered a late revival and threw the game-winning touchdown.

⏰ PREDICTION TIME ⏰@CoachUrbanMeyer, @joelklatt and @MattLeinartQB make their CFP Semifinal picks ?⬇️ pic.twitter.com/EOJhi3QER1

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 21, 2019

Tagovailoa’s precocious talents quickly made it clear there was little future in Tuscaloosa for Hurts, who was able to use the portal to his advantage and find a prime landing spot. Hurts has improved both his overall abilities and his NFL prospects since linking with the Sooners, and this weekend he will become the first player to start for two different teams in the CFB Playoff.

“Everyone has a bit of uniqueness in their own journey,” Hurts said, when asked about the comparisons between himself and Burrow as transfers.

Previously, only four transfers had begun a Playoff game at quarterback, but don’t expect this year’s haul of three to be an outlier. The portal allows greater flexibility than ever before, and the success of Burrow, Fields, Hurts and others, will surely convince many more second stringers to look for a better alternative.

“I don’t think it’s going to change, you know what I’m saying?” LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger told Sports Illustrated. “That’s the good and bad of it. You’re sitting there as a coach and you have players on your team that’s going to enter the transfer portal. It affects your depth and everything else, but you also get a chance to sign some great players and they come to your school, just like Joe did. It made a difference in our team.”

It made a difference for LSU, indeed. FOX Bet currently has them pegged at +125 favorites to win the national championship, followed by Clemson at +215 to repeat, Ohio State at +240 and Oklahoma as +1300 underdogs.

Unless Lawrence leads Clemson to back-to-back titles, we will have a transfer QB as a national champion. Each of the three left their former universities without animosity — for example, there will be plenty of Crimson Tide fans wishing Hurts well on Saturday.

It is part of the college football culture now. And if you like seeing people capitalize on second chances, you’ve come to the right place.

Clemson or Ohio State?

LSU or Oklahoma?@ColinCowherd & @JoelKlatt preview Saturday’s College Football playoff: pic.twitter.com/g4rZsVzytM

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 27, 2019