The College Football Playoff’s first round averaged 9.9 million viewers across multiple networks, marking a 7% drop from last year. A key factor was the final…
UNDATED (AP) — The College Football Playoff’s first round averaged 9.9 million viewers across multiple networks, marking a 7% drop from last year. A key factor was the final game between James Madison and Oregon airing on TNT, TBS, and truTV instead of ABC and ESPN. It also faced competition from an NFL game. The Chicago Bears’ victory over the Green Bay Packers drew 21.3 million viewers, overshadowing Oregon’s win, which attracted 4.4 million. Alabama’s comeback victory over Oklahoma was the most-watched CFP game, averaging 14.9 million viewers. ESPN sublicenses some CFP games to other networks, impacting viewership.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock has retired, ending a coaching career after four-plus decades. He announced his decision on Tuesday. Heacock was known for a 3-3-5 scheme with the Cyclones. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award that recognizes college football’s top assistant coach in 2017 and was nominated for it from 2022-25. He was a top assistant on Matt Campbell’s staff at Iowa State for 10 seasons and at Toledo for two seasons. Campbell left Iowa State earlier this month to lead Penn State’s program. Heacock was 60-44 as coach at Youngstown State from 2001 to 2009.
UNDATED (AP) — Jacob Rodriguez was sleeping on the floor of his brother’s apartment when he first got to Texas Tech as a walk-on in the spring of 2022. That was after a season as a quarterback at Virginia. The QB-turned-linebacker is now an AP All-American with a collection of trophies for national defensive player of the year awards. The fourth-ranked Red Raiders play No. 5 Oregon in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day. Rodriguez finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He won the Bednarik and Nagurski awards as the top defensive player, and the Butkus as the top linebacker.
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