Moving the Chains: College Football 2024 – Midseason Awards

Allow me to present my midseason awards in college football. I offer them without any reservations or apologies. Fans of the Big Ten may want to make note of that last part.

Game that will be talked about for years to come: Alabama – 41, Georgia – 34. If you saw it, you saw why. If you missed it, believe me: you missed out. 100,077 lucky fans were in Bryant-Denny Stadium to witness a piece of college football history, the stuff legends are made of. This is the type of game that, 10 years from now, 10 times 100,077 fans will swear that they were there, too.

Lazarus back from the dead Award: Miami – 39, California – 38. Down 25 points late in the third quarter, the Hurricanes made a stunning, near-miraculous comeback to win the game in the final minute.

Heavyweight Fight of the Year: #3 Oregon – 32, #2 Ohio State – 31. This one was a real slugfest. Last man standing won.

Worst Time Slot: Miami-California’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff. On the west coast, that is. Here on the east coast, the game began at 10:30 p.m. and wasn’t over until 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning. If there was ever a game worth staying up late (early?) for, it was this one. Likewise, if there was ever a game that deserved to be played in prime time: also this.

Worst Beatdown of a Top Ten Team: Texas A&M – 41, Missouri – 10. This one was over by halftime, but the truth is the outcome was determined in the game’s first five minutes. Missouri never knew what hit them.

Almost Flutie Finish Award: Miami – 38, Virginia Tech – 34. A last-second Hail Mary that would have won the game for the Hokies was ruled a touchdown, only a thorough and somewhat lengthy review changed the call to an incomplete pass, giving the game back to the Hurricanes.

Goliath, meet David: Vanderbilt – 40, Alabama – 35. Vandy, a 23 ½ point underdog at home to Alabama, needed to play a near-perfect game to upset the top-ranked team in the country. Which is exactly what the Commodores did.

Heisman Favorite: Miami quarterback Cam Ward. If you saw the Miami-California game, you know why he’s the favorite. Through six games, Ward is 148 for 214 (69%) for 2,219 yards, 20 TD’s, and five interceptions. And don’t forget his three scores on the ground.

Best Barry Sanders Impersonation: Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. The young man is piling up statistics faster than Steve Kornacki. With still six games to play, Jeanty has carried the ball 126 times for 1,248 yards (a whopping 9.9 yards per carry) and 17 touchdowns, with one more TD receiving.

Dominique Wilkins Highlight Reel Award: Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams. When the ball is thrown in his direction, pay attention. I’m not talking to you; I’m talking to the defensive backs on the other team.

Blast from the Past Award: Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter. The versatile Hunter plays on both sides of the ball, averaging well over 100 snaps a game. Who does that anymore? I’ll tell you who: Travis Hunter.

Dominance Award: the Southeastern Conference, of course. Nothing’s changed since last year … or the two decades before that. In fact, the strongest conference in the country is now even stronger with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma. The Big Ten remains a (very) distant runner-up.

Shocker Award: The Florida Gators. I didn’t think they would win more than one game when I saw their schedule. So far they’ve won three, and they should win at least one more after they play their regular season finale against the team that’s on deck for the next award.

Belly Flop Award: The Florida State Seminoles. Seriously, from an undefeated regular season last year to this year’s 1 – 5. Things have gotten so bad in Tallahassee, they’re expected to be ‘Gator bait’ in their regular season finale against Florida.

The What on earth were we thinking Award: Florida State (before that Oregon State, and before that Clemson) quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. Remember, he’s the one I refer to as ‘coin toss’ because there’s a 50/50 chance his passes will be caught by someone wearing the same uniform. Also, because I can never remember how to spell his last name. Gee, (switching to facetious font) I wonder if DJ contributed to the Seminoles’ demise?

Sizzling Coaching Seat: Mike Norvell of Florida State. The two awards preceding this one are the reasons why.

Snowball’s Chance for the Playoffs: The winner of the Army-Navy game.

WTF Moment: Oregon wide receiver Traeshon Holden spitting in the face of an Ohio State player. Despicable. Uncalled for. Classless. The same applies to Ducks’ coach Dan Lanning if he allows Holden to take the field in their game with Purdue.

Coach of the Year: The longshot would be Florida’s Billy Napier. The Gators have won three games with the toughest schedule in the country, if not in the history of college football. Any more wins would be totally unexpected – not to mention icing on the cake. However, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea may be the favorite at this point, with his Commodores are sporting a winning record (4-2) and an upset over the then-#1 team in the nation (Alabama). Miami’s Mario Cristobal should be on the radar as well.

The Clash Award (‘should he stay or should he go?): Billy Napier. Even if he wins Coach of the Year, a third straight losing season in Gainesville will result in Florida coming up with the money to pay for the buyout of yet another underperforming coach. The play calling alone in the second half of the Gators’ game against Tennessee provided the nail in the coffin.

Next week, I’ll catch up with the games from weeks eight and nine.