College football is one of the wildest, most unpredictable sports in not just America, but the entire world of sports. Every year, there are epic upsets, terrific twists of fate, and more recently, scandalous headlines. 2015 has been a year of ups and downs for a lot of teams. There have been monumental upsets, vacated head coaching jobs and teams trending up or down when no one expected them to. These are the top-ten things that either surprised us, left us scratching our heads, and sometimes a bit of both.
10. The Oregon Collapse
What happened to Oregon this year? Oregon was a preseason top-10 team that had high expectations and aspirations to return to the college football playoff. All-world quarterback Marcus Mariota's departure left a big hole for the Ducks on offense. A wealth of returning talent at the skill positions was poised to form a strong supporting cast for whoever the new signal-caller would be. As it turns out, this wealth of talent was not enough. Oregon's offense has looked hapless at times. The loss of Thomas Tyner, one of college football's most electrifying players from 2014, to shoulder surgery did not seem like it would hinder Oregon's offense too much. Well, Oregon has undoubtedly missed Mariota and Tyner. Oregon lost a close contest to Michigan State in East Lansing. Since that loss, bad quarterback play and a leaky (awful) defense suffered a blowout loss at home to Utah and an overtime loss to Washington State. 5-3 still leaves them a chance to win nine games. Whether or not they will hit their stride remains to be seen. Given the expectations for this team and their recent track record, this is definitely one of the most confusing developments of the season.
9. The American Conference
What was formerly the Big East has been playing as the American Athletic Conference. Most of the conference is made up of schools who definitely do not identify as powerhouse programs. Going into this season, The Naval Academy seemed to be the clear favorite in this conference. As of now, there are two undefeated teams (Memphis and Houston) and two teams with one loss (Temple and Navy). Neither of these four teams has lost a conference game yet. Navy and Temple have both been beaten by Notre Dame this year. Just how good are any of these four teams? Memphis has certainly proved themselves, they beat Ole Miss by 13 when they were a considerable underdog. Houston recently preserved their unblemished record with a 34-0 beat-down of SEC bottom-dweller Vanderbilt. Temple opened the season with a dominating performance over Penn State. All of Navy's six wins are by ten or more points. Their lone loss is on the road to Notre Dame. On November 14, Memphis will travel to Houston for a showdown featuring two (presumably) ranked, (presumably) unbeaten teams. If Memphis wins that game and goes undefeated, will they have an argument to be one of the top-four teams in the second College Football Playoff? They would need a lot of help. But before the season, the thought of a team from the American contending for the playoff was unthinkable.
8. Nebraska's Struggles
All season long, Nebraska has found new ways to lose games. Bo Pelini was fired in the offseason because, despite a solid record, Nebraska felt they could aspire for better. The hire of Mike Riley shocked Oregon State fans as well as fans around the country. Nebraska seemed to have a great hire given Riley's track record of performing decently with nowhere near the resources now available to him at Nebraska. What the Huskers ended up with so far is a 4-6 record. With two games remaining, Nebraska needs to win out just to make a bowl game. Mike Riley's seat has heated up every week this this season and it is possible that even a bowl game may not be able to save his job.
7. The Harbaugh Effect
Michigan is good this year. Very good. It was expected that it would take Jim Harbaugh at least a few years to right the ship in Ann Arbor. Instead, Harbaugh has brought this program back to national relevance. But make no mistake, this is not just his work. Harbaugh hired a fantastic staff of assistants. Most notably, defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin. Durkin served as Will Muschamp's DC at Florida the past few seasons and did fantastic work there. Harbaugh's ability to develop talent and get the most from his players has turned a Michigan program in disarray completely around in his first year. That's a huge accomplishment.
6. No Sleep 'til Pullman
The Washington State Cougars started the season off on a miserable note. As a heavy favorite at home to FCS opponent Portland State, Wazzu came out flat and was upset by Portland State 24-17. This loss had many in the Wazzu community calling for head Coach Mike Leach's job. The Cougars rallied after this loss and now sit at 6-3. What is impressive here is that Washington State is in position to make a bowl game when it looked like they were well on their way to another mediocre season. After a heartbreaking loss at home to Stanford, Washington State finds themselves with some soul searching to do yet again. After nine games, there are not many people who thought Washington State would be 6-3 and sitting in second place in the PAC-12's north division. Safe to say that Mike Leach's seat has cooled down significantly.
5. The SEC East
Georgia and Tennessee were the two popular picks to contend for the SEC East crown before the season began, and with good reason. Georgia started 4-0, including a 52-20 drubbing of South Carolina, which is never an easy game for Georgia. Georgia was set to host Alabama as a significant favorite. Alabama was fresh off of a home loss to Ole Miss and most were claiming the Alabama dynasty to be dead (it is not). Georgia became a very popular pick to beat Alabama and take control of the SEC East. That did not happen. Georgia never recovered from that loss and they now sit at 6-3, very disappointing for Georgia fans who were hoping for a national title.
Tennessee was a dark-horse contender for the SEC East in the preseason. Tennessee simply could not live up to these expectations and currently sit at 5-4. Four close losses to Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama and Arkansas have doomed Tennessee's chances to win the SEC East. Tennessee led late in each of these games, but failed to perform in clutch situations. This team looks to still be another way from being true contenders for the SEC crown.
Florida came into the year with lower expectations than either team. After the catastrophe that was the Will Muschamp Era, Florida fans were ready just to see a competitive team. Competitive might not be the word to describe Jim McElwain's first year. Florida has looked great on both sides of the ball this year on their way to a 8-1 record. Their lone loss is to a good, potentially great, LSU squad by only seven points. Much like Michigan, Florida has surprised many and made tremendous strides in their new coaches' first years.
4. Steve Sarkisian
USC was another team with high preseason expectations. Ranked in the top-10, loaded with talent and potential, and poised to make a run at the PAC-12 championship, it's safe to say USC has not had the year they had envisioned. Head Coach Steve Sarkisian's off-field issues were making headlines. Sarkisian's trouble with alcoholism got him fired at the mid-way point of the season. This headline shocked USC and the college football world collectively. Additionally, it left one of the most prestigious head coaching jobs in college football vacant. The USC job opening is sure to generate a lot of interest and scrutiny.
3. The Retirement of a Legend
Since 1966, Steve Spurrier has been one of the biggest names in the football world. He won a Heisman trophy as the quarterback at Florida that year. His coaching career was a success at least in the college ranks. He had a tumultuous tenure with the Washington Football Franchise. He's spent the last several years as the head coach at the University of South Carolina. He's led USCe to some of their best years. Not only has he been great on the sideline, he has entertained us off the field. "The Ol' Ball Coach" has always been one of the best coaches to follow in the off-season. Steve Spurrier will be missed by the college football community as a whole (except for fans of Clemson).
2. THE Quarterback Controversy at Ohio State
It is the second week of November and Ohio State still does not have a clear-cut starting quarterback. Cardale Jones struggled through most of his starts and was even benched a few times. Three weeks ago, it seemed that J.T. Barrett had secured the job and was ready to lead Ohio State through the rest of the season. Last week, a DUI made that assumption look doubtful. Barrett is going to miss one game due to suspension. When he comes back, will he come back to the starting role that Urban Meyer had deemed he earned? Or will Cardale Jones have re-earned the right to lead the Buckeyes' offense? The fact that Ohio State has survived all of this controversy and are still undefeated speaks volumes about the talent and depth on this team. Ohio State is heading into their toughest stretch of the season, hosting Michigan State and traveling to Ann Arbor to play Michigan this month. If the struggles at the quarterback position continue for Ohio State, could that doom their season and chance to repeat as national champions?
1. Special Teams Adventures/Misadventures
On a dreary October afternoon in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Blake O'Neil prepared himself for a punt. O'Neil has had plenty of experience kicking things. He's actually phenomenal at kicking things, especially footballs. He's actually been paid to punt other balls shaped like footballs in his native Australia. Blake O'Neil had had himself a great day of punting for the Michigan Wolverines against their in-state rivals, Michigan State. With ten seconds left in the game, Michigan was clinging to a 23-21 lead and was a punt and perhaps one play on defense away from getting a much-needed win. O'Neil was ready for the snap, his feet were set, he'd warmed his hands up. The ball was snapped and something happened that no Wolverine or Spartan will ever forget. The snap was fumbled, O'Neil tried to kick it, but it was far too late. Once again, the ball fell to the turf. Jalen Watts-Jackson found the ball and picked it up. Watts-Jackson then carried the ball into the Michigan end zone. Game over. In ten seconds, Michigan fans once again had their hearts shattered. In ten seconds, Michigan State's dream season was safe for at least another week.
The following weekend, Florida State University and Georgia Tech got together in Atlanta, Georgia. Undefeated Florida State struggled through most of the game against an underachieving Georgia Tech team that was 2-5. With seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the score was tied at 16. Florida State had the ball and sent out All-American kicker Roberto Aguayo to kick the game winner. Robert Aguayo is a fantastic kicker. He will have a future kicking in the NFL for a very long time. The ball was snapped, the hold was pretty good. Aguayo stepped up to do what he does bet. The kick was blocked. Georgia Tech recovered the ball in the midst of confusion by both teams. There was no whistle, it was still a live ball. Georgia Tech returned the ball all the way to the end zone, ending Florida State's undefeated season,
In the past two weeks, I witnessed the most sickening, disturbing display of officiating I have ever seen in my life. Leading by three with only seconds left on the clock, Duke prepared to kick the ball back to the Miami Hurricanes who were almost hopeless at this point in the game. What happened next was despicable. Before I continue, all credit to Miami for playing to the whistle and making a remarkable play. A remarkable play that should not have counted for any reason. An 8-lateral play on the kickoff ended with a Miami player standing in the end zone. Miami won the game. What the officials missed was a block in the back early in the return. One of the laterals occurred after a Miami player was down. Neither of these were called. After the play, the replay crew had a chance to make it right. There was no way the play would stand. NOPE. The replay crew blew it as well. It was a baffling display of incompetence. Both the on-field officials and the replay officiating crew have been suspended by the ACC. That still does not make this right for Duke players or fans.
