2019 Big 15 Championship

The 2019 **Big 15 Championship** is a college football game that was played on December 7th, 2019. The game featured the 11-1 **Oroborous State Serpents** and the 12-0 **Northern Perry Knights.** The game was important for being the 1st Big 15 championship and would help decide who would make the inaugural Division 1.5 College Football Playoff. The Serpents won the game 51-48, and advanced to the College Football Playoff. The game was held at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH

## The Teams

### Northern Perry

Northern Perry's first game against Southern Oregon was a 38-0 victory that brought them to #25 in the poll. They then beat Slinton, Yooper Tech, and Carolina to be 4-0 entering their matchup against #6 Oroborous State. In that game, they upset the Serpents 43-36. They then went on to win every game that season, including a game against the #10 Odessa State Lumberjacks squad that was undefeated at the time in week 7. Northern Perry enters the Big 15 Championship ranked #1, at 12-0 (7-0).

### Oroborous State

Oroborous State started off their year right with 4 wins over #4 LAU, #16 Darrensville, South Minnesota, and Gatlinburg. This led them to be ranked #6 in the nation. They then played #17 Northern Perry, who beat the 43-36 in a tough night game at Triple Nickel Stadium. After this loss, Oroborous State went on a 7-game winning streak, including wins over #2 Oroborous and #7 Southern Michigan State. They clinched the Big 15 West with their final game of the regular season against the 11-0 Oroborous Swordsmen. They enter the Big 15 Championship ranked #7, at 11-1 (6-1)

## Game Summary

### 1st Quarter

* Northern Perry TD (14:33) Receiving TD (NPU 7-0)
* Oroborous State TD (7:56) Receiving TD (TIE 7-0)
* Northern Perry TD (2:00) Receiving TD (NPU 14-7)

### 2nd Quarter

* Northern Perry TD (12:27) Receiving TD (NPU 21-7)
* Oroborous State TD (8:11) Rushing TD (NPU 21-14)
* Oroborous State FG (0:01) 51-yards (NPU 21-17)

### 3rd Quarter

* Northern Perry TD (13:11) Receiving TD (NPU 28-17)
* Northern Perry FG (8:14) 28-yards (NPU 31-17)
* Oroborous State TD (4:55) Receiving TD (NPU 31-24)
* Oroborous State TD (2:14) Receiving TD (TIED 31-31)

### 4th Quarter

* Northern Perry TD (3:14) Receiving TD (NPU 38-31)
* Oroborous State TD (0:01) Receiving TD (TIE 38-38)

### Overtime 1

* Oroborous State Receiving TD (OSU 45-38)
* Northern Perry Receiving TD (TIE 45-45)
* Northern Perry 34-yard FG (NPU 48-45)
* Oroborous State Receiving TD (OSU 51-48)

Oroborous State, after not leading the entire time in regulation, wins the game in overtime on a 15-yard receiving touchdown from QB Jackson Manson to WR Owen Harrison. With the win, the Serpents improve to 12-1 (7-1) on the season and have beaten every team on their schedule. Meanwhile, Northern Perry is eliminated from College Football Playoff contention with the loss, as there are 3 undefeated conference champions along with the Serpents, who are going to be ranked ahead because of their conference championships.

## Aftermath

### Northern Perry

Northern Perry ended up going to play the 11-2 (6-1) #10 **LAU Attack** in the ***2019 Bud Light Bowl.*** They beat the Attack 51-49 in an instant classic bowl game. After being down 49-17 in the 3rd quarter, the Knights put up a show to rally and beat the Attack. In the final seconds, being down 49-45, they scored a game-winning touchdown on a 38-yard touchdown pass from QB Tom Sawvon. They finished #3 in the final poll and were 13-1 (7-1)

### Oroborous State

As Big 15 champions, the Serpents were granted an appearance as the #4 seed in the inaugural College Football playoff. They were given the opportunity to play the #1 Crillside Climbers in the ***2019 Heartland Bowl.*** The Serpents won this game 16-10 after shutting down Crillside's offense for 3 quarters and allowing 10 points in the 4th quarter. Despite being up 16-0 after 3, the game appeared to be Crillside's when their receiver Derek Snyder caught a wide-open ball in the end-zone. To Oroborous State's avail, however, there was a false start on Crillside, giving Oroborous State the game. After this game, they faced the 14-0 Salty Utah Burmos from the Big West Sports Conference, who had beaten #3 Texas V&M in the ***2019 Snow Bowl.*** Oroborous State won the game 44-38 to become the first champions of the Division 1.5 College Football Playoff.