The 2021 Orange Bowl had everything. It was a shootout. It showcased a potential NFL quarterback. A conference’s dominance was solidified and at the end of the day, the game’s MVP was a freshman. Here are my five takeaways from a game that deserved more.

#1: Freshman steals the show

The Orange Bowl was positioned to be a shootout midway through the fourth quarter. Both No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 13 North Carolina were tied 27-27. Then freshman running back Devon Achane stole the show with a 76-yard rushing touchdown to give the Aggies the lead 34-27 lead. After a defensive stop, Achane scored once again for the final dagger into the heart of the Tar Heels.

During the go-ahead run, Achane nearly tripped over one of his blockers but recovered, broke a tackle and dash down the sideline all the way to the end zone. He finished with 140 yards on 12 carries.

Next to him was sophomore running back Isaiah Spiller, who gained 50 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries to finish the season with 1,036 yards. Their leading receiver was sophomore Ainias Smith with six receptions for 125 yards. This offense is poised for another major run next year.

”I just can’t wait for next season,” said Achane, who was named Orange Bowl MVP.

#2: Sam Howell has NFL potential

Had North Carolina won the game, sophomore quarterback Sam Howell would have been named MVP. Howell threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns after ending his first drive with an interception. Every touchdown he threw changed the lead to North Carolina’s favor.

His most impressive play came on a 75-yard bomb to freshman wide receiver Josh Downs. That alone has him NFL ready.

As is life in football, one or two more drives like that and the Tar Heels would have likely been the winner instead of the Aggies.

“We were so close,” Howell said. “We played a heck of a game out there tonight and just came up short. We were right there.”

Howell has been the quarterback ever since Mack Brown took over as head coach. He has thrown for over 7,000 yards and has tied the UNC career TD passing record of 68. All eyes will be on him next year.

#3: What could’ve been…

North Carolina was the underdog from the start but were made even more so when four of their top playmakers opted out of the bowl game to focus on the upcoming NFL Draft.

Howell went into the biggest game of his life without his two leading rushers, Javonte Williams and Michael Carter, and leading receiver Dyami Brown. UNC was also without their leading tackler, linebacker Chazz Surratt. Given how close the game was, one could only wonder what the result would have been had the Tar Heel offense been at full strength.

“We lost 4,000 yards coming into the game and still had a chance against the No. 5 team to win,” UNC coach Mack Brown said.

#4: SEC earns their reputation

The SEC has always been considered to be the premier conference in college football. Sometimes, the conference has been simply too top heavy with the rest being a bunch of mediocre teams. At one point, it seemed that the ACC has caught up.

This year the SEC earned its reputation. In a chaotic season dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, every team was ruled bowl eligible. This led to the SEC slotting in teams that were sub .500 and would not have played in a bowl game in an otherwise normal season.

And yet, 4-5 Ole Miss beats No. 11 Indiana in the Outback Bowl, 4-6 Kentucky edges No. 23 North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl and 3-7 Mississippi State tops No. 24 Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl. Three ranked teams from three different conferences fell to SEC teams with records that would justify having the coach fired but instead they all reign triumphant.

At the top end, No. 1 Alabama crushed No. 4 Notre Dame and is poised to win the national championship, No. 8 Georgia came back from an 11-point deficit to defeat No. 8 Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl and Texas A&M won the Orange Bowl after a close contest with North Carolina.

An argument has been made that Texas A&M should have been in the College Football Playoff instead of Notre Dame. Head coach Jimbo Fisher was hired at a hefty price to turn the Aggies into a legit SEC contender and it only took him three years to accomplish that.

”I’m just gonna tell you this: We ain’t done yet,” Fisher said.

#5: Another reason to expand the playoff

The hair-splitting between Notre Dame and Texas A&M is really unnecessary when the solution is obvious.

“I think that watching them and watching Notre Dame, they’re so similar that you feel like that we should expand the playoff,” Brown said, “number one, so more guys will continue to play at the end of the year and it’ll help the bowl games. And number two, Texas A&M deserved to be in the playoff, so give them credit for the year that they’ve had. They beat Florida. They lose one game to Alabama, like everybody else that’s played them has lost to them.”

Once again the New Year’s Six bowls were much more compelling than the playoff bowls. The Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Peach Bowl made for great television but the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl were another round of boring blowouts. The only surprise this time is that it was Clemson that was on the receiving end of a Buckeye beat down.

There’s too many bowl games. That much is self evident. It’s also a good way for ESPN to create content and make money, since the network is responsible for 14 bowl games, most of which if not all are populated with Group of Five teams. You know you have reached a limit when one of the bowl games is called the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and the trophy is a freaking jar of mayonnaise.

We all know the bowls that matter; The Rose, the Fiesta, the Peach, the Cotton, the Sugar and the Orange. Bowls so iconic that the sponsorship is irrelevant. The Fiesta could go from Tostitos to Playstation nobody would blink an eye.

If the committee is so resistant to expanding the playoff because it may not feel No. 5-8 is worthy, fine. They should at least be compelled to expand the playoffs to include all of the iconic bowl games so that none of them feel like consolation games.

These days, if the Orange Bowl isn’t included in the path to the national championship, then the two teams are just playing for a glass vase filled with naval oranges from Publix.