Alabama and Clemson's Monday night tilt was the longest college football championship game since 1998. Many saw it as an instant classic rivaling Texas–Southern California in the 2006 Rose Bowl.
Ratings, however, disappointed. This led to a flurry of takes this week about "how to fix college football." Ideas ranged from practical ideas like removing the time stoppage after first downs to pipe dreams like reducing commercials.
But Gene Smith would apparently disagree with the notion games should be shortened. Here's what he once told CBS Sports reporter Dennis Dodd:
Who beyond media cares about game length?