Tebow, Groh and Everything Inbetween: College Football's Midseason Awards

(Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)

(Aaron Torres is an accomplished journalist whose work has been published in Sports Illustrated , USA Today , and on AOL.com. To read all his work, including this article in its entirety , please click here , or visit him at www.aarontorres-sports.com )

With every team in college football having played at least six games, we have officially reached the halfway point in the season.

And with the halfway point in the season upon us, what better way to spend a cloudy Wednesday afternoon than by handing out hardware for the Good, Bad and Ugly that has been the season to date.

So without further adieu, here are the Aaron Torres Mid-Season Awards for College Football Excellence:

Nick Saban, “I Don’t Care If We’re Undefeated, We Haven’t Proved Anything Yet,” Curmudgeon Award

Honestly, who else could this award go to but Saban himself?

While Pete Carroll runs up and down the sidelines high-fiving his back-up punter, and Urban Meyer hugs Tim Tebow for an extra second like his big quarterback just returned from war, there’s Saban, pacing the sidelines with the same look on his face my mom gets when they preempt her soap operas for a Barack Obama State of the Union Address.

Coach, your team is undefeated and No. 1 in the AP Poll. Smile!

Yet, not only does Saban ignore his team’s accomplishments, I’m not quite sure he’s aware they’re even happening. In Saban’s mind, his squad is barely .500 and can’t do anything right on offense, defense or special teams.

Asked this week by ESPN.com blogger Chris Low where he thought his program ranked with the likes of Florida, USC, Oklahoma and Texas, Saban’s response was that the Tide simply weren’t in the same league. Really coach? Really!?

When Low followed up by asking how close Saban thought his program was to catching up, his response was pretty standard Saban-speak:

“I’ll tell you at the end of the year.”

Well then. Guess I know where he stands.

Bill Nye the Science Guy Award for, “The Lab Experiment Gone Terribly Wrong”

Greg Paulus, Syracuse quarterback. How good did this sound in the offseason?

Here came Paulus on his white horse, fresh off four years at Coach K academy, learning not only how to be a better athlete, but most importantly, a great man. And just in time to save his woebegone hometown school, returning Syracuse to its proper place in college football’s hierarchy.

It was the stuff of an awful Disney movie with Shia Labeouf.

There’s only one problem: In this league Greg, you don’t get a pat on the butt from your coach just for hugging your teammates and slapping the floor. You’ve actually got to produce.

And although he’s completed a fair number of his passes, sadly for Paulus, most have been to the other team (10 interceptions in six games).

Mercifully for ‘Cuse fans, the Great Greg Paulus quarterback experiment of ’09 might be coming to an end, as Ryan Nassib replaced him in the Orange’s last game against West Virginia. Of course that wasn’t before I snuck in about 25, “Greg Paulus’ final stat line was 21-35 for 225 yards, a touchdown, four assists and a steal,” jokes along the way.

So sorry about losing your starting job, Greg. Here’s a midseason award as compensation.

The Award for the “Underrated Overrated Storyline of the Year"

So remember a few weeks ago when Auburn was 5-0 and we were just about set to build Gene Chizik a statue and hand the Heisman to Chris Todd?

Umm, me neither.

In the last two weeks, not only are the Tigers 0-2, not only was their “high-powered” offense outgained by Kentucky (Kentucky!!), but Todd has looked a lot more like the quarterback that got benched a season ago then the young Brett Favre that he did for first five games this year.

Meanwhile, the Tigers stock couldn’t be sinking faster if Bernie Madoff was attached to it, and the basement of the SEC looks a lot closer then the top does. Things won’t get any easier with LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama still on the schedule.

Think it’s safe to cancel those reservations in Pasadena yet?

Just asking.

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