Count Chris Simms among those college football fans who couldn’t stay awake to see the thrilling end of the Texas-Washington College Football Playoff semifinal.
Simms, a Texas alum who played quarterback in Austin from 1999 to 2002, appeared on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Friday and was presumably going to provide some analysis of the CFP games. However, Simms quickly admitted that he had little to say about the Longhorns’ matchup with the Huskies because he fell asleep toward the end of the game.
“The f------ game is on too late,” Simms said. “I missed the end of the game. I fell asleep. I didn’t mean to; I didn’t make a conscious effort. But between it being New Year’s [Eve] the night before and then the game doesn’t start until 9 p.m., and then college games last forever, as we know, I fell asleep somewhere it was 34–21.”
“The f*cking game was on too late. I missed the end of the game. I fell asleep.”
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) January 5, 2024
- Former Texas Longhorns Quarterback, @CSimmsQB admits that he fell asleep during the College Football Playoff. He also questions the late game play calling from high-paid coaches. #HookEm… pic.twitter.com/iTuTgwumva
Simms’s gripe echoed a sentiment from many fans who either couldn’t stay awake that late or had to turn off the game because they had to work the next morning. Texas and Washington didn’t kick off until 9 p.m. ET because the first semifinal between Michigan and Alabama ran long and eventually went into overtime. The second game couldn’t start until the first one finished.
ESPN could have started the Rose Bowl earlier on New Year’s Day. Most people were off for the holiday and ratings presumably wouldn’t have suffered. But Rose Bowl officials insist on kicking off around 5 p.m. ET so that spectators in the stadium and TV audiences view the iconic sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains.
That sunset is a beautiful visual for one of college football’s showcase games. Yet should the overall sport and its fans potentially suffer because of it?
