10 College Football Things We Are Thankful for This Thanksgiving
Lost in the endless debates over who should be ranked where and which player deserves what postseason award is the fact that college football brings a lot of joy and happiness every season.
Your team might be limping to the finish or out of bowl contention, but hope is always on the horizon and the sport we love so much rarely lets us down.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm going to take a look at 10 things about college football that I am thankful for, in no particular order.
Feel free to share in the comments what you enjoy most—whether it's the passion of the game, the traditions of game day or just simply watching players give their all for the love of the sport.
Here's my Top 10, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Rivalry Week
1 of 10
The Week 14 slate brings us one of college football's best traditions: rivalry week.
At the top of the list, obviously, is the Iron Bowl matchup between Alabama and Auburn, two teams in the Top Five hoping to make it to Pasadena for the national championship. At stake is a trip to the SEC championship game, and for the loser, an entire year having to hear the opposing fanbase gloat about the win.
But if the Iron Bowl is a perfect "10," there sure are a lot of "8" and "9" matchups out there, like Clemson-South Carolina, Ohio State-Michigan and USC-UCLA. Let's not forget the Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State, the Apple Cup between Washington and Washington State and the Duel in the Desert between Arizona and Arizona State.
Oh, and I'm just getting started.
There's also Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech and Stanford-Notre Dame. Wherever you look in Week 14, you'll find a game between opponents who dislike or maybe just flat-out hate each other. The best part of rivalry week is that it tends to bring out the best in players and reveal who cares the most about the guys they line up next to on the gridiron.
High-powered nonconference contests are always thrilling, and almost every week boasts a game or two with national title implications. But nothing beats rivalry week. Come Sunday, you're either hopping out of bed to grab the paper and read all about your team's victory, or you're pulling the covers over your head and hiding until next fall.
Dual-Threat Quarterbacks
2 of 10
Let's take a minute to clear the air before the lovefest over dual-threat quarterbacks begins. Pocket passers and pro-style signal-callers are just as important as their elusive counterparts, but we're thankful for players like Johnny Manziel and Jordan Lynch because they've provided a new element to the game in recent years.
Since the forward pass was first invented, we've had time to gush over the John Elways and Peyton Mannings of the world, and they are no less important than quarterbacks who can run. But the addition of guys who aren't afraid to tuck the ball and get upfield, or roll out of the pocket and throw dimes, has upped the level of excitement the sport brings each week.
The recent wave of dual-threat players isn't totally new; guys like Steve Young and Tommie Frazier were piling up rushing yards before it was cool. But in the last five years, we've seen extraordinary developments at the quarterback position, from Tim Tebow being unstoppable near the goal line to Cam Newton running over LSU defenders on his way to paydirt.
Just this season, we've seen Manziel, Jordan Lynch, Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Brett Hundley and Tajh Boyd, among many others, make plays that wouldn't have seemed possible 25 years ago.
And now, offensive coordinators are starting to put together game plans that revolve around their quarterback's ability to run, and conversely, defenses are forced to adapt. It's made for higher-scoring games and more plays that simply leave your jaw down by your shoes.
I'll always be thankful for the guys who know how to stand in the pocket and fire lasers, but this year more than ever, I'm also thankful for the rise of dual-threat quarterbacks.
Feel-Good Stories
3 of 10
Every sport has 'em, but the feel-good stories just seem to resonate in college football unlike anywhere else. And we get them every single year, often in out-of-the-blue fashion.
There are multiple nominees for feel-good story of the season in 2013, but I'm going with the Duke Blue Devils, coached by David Cutcliffe. In Durham, basketball rules everything else, and for good reason: The school has seen an enormous amount of success on the hardwood, and it regularly competes for national titles.
The only downside to this is, for whatever reason, the football program never gets invited to the party. Cutcliffe began to change that narrative when he took his team to a bowl game in 2012, and the Blue Devils are now on the verge of reaching the ACC championship, which will happen with a win over North Carolina in their regular-season finale.
You have to love a guy coming into a program that is forgotten around the college football landscape and turning the team into one that has a chance to shake up the entire BCS standings.
Of course, Duke isn't the only team we've seen rise from the ashes, as Baylor is also doing unprecedented things on the football field. While a blowout loss to Oklahoma State has marred an otherwise perfect season, it's still worth picturing where the Bears were 10 years ago, at the bottom of the Big 12 with zero light shining into the dark tunnel.
We realize that feel-good stories are everywhere in 2013, but Duke and Baylor stand out due to their lack of success in the past. For their turnarounds, I am definitely thankful.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Passionate Coaches
4 of 10
Like some of the other items on this list, you'll find passionate coaches in any sport. But there's something about the collegiate aspect that tends to bring out extra fire from the men tasked with leading their teams.
And while we're not questioning anyone's desire to win, truly passionate coaches aren't available on every street corner. If your team is struggling to reach three or four wins, you're probably unfamiliar with watching the head coach really take charge.
But there are some big-name coaches who truly care about the programs they've either built or helped sustain. At Alabama, some guy named Nick Saban is going for his third straight title and fourth in the last five seasons. At Duke, David Cutcliffe has a team with an awful history on the cusp of an appearance in the ACC championship game. And at USC, following the dismissal of Lane Kiffin, interim coach Ed Orgeron has taken what appeared to be a downcast locker room and turned it into one where players expect to be celebrating after games.
Perhaps the best aspect of seeing passionate coaches get the most out of their teams is the different styles being used. At Washington State, Mike Leach isn't afraid to be blunt about what he wants to see happen. At LSU, you'll see Les Miles show off his fun side more often than not, and at Kansas State, there's the soft-spoken Bill Snyder, whose team is always playing its best football at the end of the season.
Regardless of what methods are employed, college football wouldn't be what it is without the incredible passion these leaders have to coach the game.
Great Linebackers
5 of 10
The same caveat that came with the "dual-threat quarterbacks" slide applies here: I love every position and appreciate when players are able to show what playing at a high level truly means.
But in 2013, I'm thankful for great linebackers more than ever. Why?
Start with the rise of the spread offense, which has forced defenses to take a back seat over the past few seasons as games regularly reach the 30s, 40s and 50s on the scoreboard. It's fun to watch, but it also makes you miss the days when an elite linebacker knew how to hit the hole the running back was coming through and stop him dead in his tracks.
This season, we've seen a number of great linebackers emerge as the likely crop of next-generation NFL stars. At the risk of angering the Notre Dame fanbase, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this year's linebackers are the best the game has seen in quite some time.
At Alabama, defense is what wins championships, and no player better exemplifies what it means to give your all than linebacker C.J. Mosley, who has 88 tackles on the season, including nine for loss.
At Ohio State, Ryan Shazier laughs at Mosley's numbers, as the stud Buckeye has a whopping 109 tackles, including 20.5 for loss to go along with 6.5 sacks.
Of course, no list would be complete without mentioning Wisconsin's Chris Borland, UCLA's Anthony Barr or Stanford's dynamic duo of Trent Murphy and Shayne Skov.
But this isn't supposed to start a debate over who's the best among the aforementioned linebackers. Instead, with all the talk about fancy offenses and speed, let this be a reminder that the defense still has a few tricks of its own.
The End of the BCS
6 of 10
Back in June of 2012, the news broke that the BCS would officially be ending at the conclusion of the 2013 season. Starting next fall, college football's champion will be decided by a four-team playoff, and if we're all being honest for a moment, it can't come any sooner.
You'll find no shortage of material on what kind of mishaps and screwups have occurred within the BCS system, so I won't beat a dead horse here.
For a moment, let's remember the good things that have happened in the past 16 years, such as a dominant Miami team being dethroned by Ohio State in 2003, USC and Texas playing an all-time classic in 2006 and Auburn skating by Oregon with a last-second field goal in 2011.
But what college football needs, and has needed for quite some time, is a fair system that gives more teams a chance to win a title. A four-team playoff might not be the best solution, but it's a step in the right direction. As fans, what more could you want?
Instead of five BCS games where three or four are blowouts, you get two semifinal games and then one grand national championship featuring two teams that will have proven their worth.
Imagine Florida State and Ohio State squaring off for the right to play the winner of Auburn and Alabama. The end of the BCS is a great thing for the health of the sport, and I am thankful for the excitement the future holds.
Underrated Players Getting Their Due
7 of 10
We love when college football produces unlikely stars. But sometimes those stars already exist, and it's just a matter of time before the world discovers them, as has happened with a number of players in 2013.
Take Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey, who rushed for 1,929 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2012 but wasn't a Doak Walker finalist. One year later, Carey has continued to put up impressive statistics, only this time, it's earning him deserved recognition.
Also on that list are two guys who weren't well known at the beginning of the season: Boston College's Andre Williams and Washington's Bishop Sankey. Both have been churning out yardage week in and week out, and people are starting to take notice.
But the "underrated" label doesn't apply solely to running backs. Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch seems to have finally shed his reputation as a good player putting up great numbers against bad competition. Lynch and the Huskies were in the spotlight in the 2013 Orange Bowl, but after getting beat handily, they were shrugged off entirely.
Now, with two games of over 300 yards rushing on the season, there is serious talk about Lynch and the Heisman Trophy. You can say whatever you want about whether he actually deserves the award, but it's pretty neat that the dual-threat quarterback is finally getting his due.
Fans can name a handful of players on their favorite team that seem to go unnoticed by national media, but when several breakout performances land them in the public spotlight, I am thankful.
November Upsets
8 of 10
Like a No. 15 seed upsetting a No. 2 seed during March Madness, there's nothing quite like the annual bevy of November upsets in college football.
Whatever you think you know on Nov. 1 always looks like crazy talk four weeks later, and 2013 has been no different.
We've seen the Oregon Ducks go down twice and fall completely out of the BCS race. We also saw Baylor skate through a relatively easy schedule unscathed for two months before getting manhandled for four quarters against Oklahoma State.
Then, the mother of all upsets occurred on Nov. 23 as Georgia Southern topped Florida, 26-20. And yet, there's still another full slate of games before the end of the month!
Alabama travels to upset-minded Auburn, Ohio State faces rival Michigan, and the Gators hope to find some way to put a scare into quarterback Jameis Winston and Florida State.
Perhaps you're looking at the schedule and chuckling at the thought of any of these upsets actually happening, but that's exactly when the madness tends to strike.
I'm extremely thankful for the annual chaos and craziness of college football in November.
Bowl Season
9 of 10
Every year, you hear someone complain about there being too many bowls. And it's true that if you're playing before Christmas, you probably didn't have a season worth bragging about.
But as fans, does it get any better than three straight weeks of college football? Sure, we don't always get scintillating matchups, but more football is never a bad thing.
And what do extra bowl games mean? More football.
There's no more struggling to get through the week in anticipation of Saturday because there's a game being played almost every night.
Again, it's not about how much these games actually mean; we've established that the winner of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl probably doesn't enter the offseason with a parade down Main Street.
But real college football fans can't get enough of the sport, and when bowl season is over, we're forced to wait eight grueling months for things to start back up again. Sure, there's recruiting to get you through until March, and then spring practices to take you to May, but at the end of the day, there's still a distinct lack of actual football.
Which is why I'm thankful for bowl season and the myriad of games it gives us.
Unpredictable Nature of the Sport
10 of 10
College football wouldn't have such a passionate following if it weren't for the completely unpredictable nature of the sport.
Quickly think of your most memorable moments that don't involve your favorite team. A few that come to mind are probably the USC-Texas national championship game, the Boise State-Oklahoma thriller and perhaps Appalachian State knocking off Michigan in The Big House.
Whether it's an upset, a trick play or just three straight hours of the best football you've ever seen, you never know what college football has in store.
Just this season, many tuned into to watch Auburn lose a big lead against Georgia when Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray tucked the ball and barreled into the end zone from five yards out.
When quarterback Nick Marshall tossed up a prayer on the ensuing drive, the ball bounced off two Bulldog defenders and fell right into the arms of receiver Ricardo Louis, who practically walked into the end zone.
It's that sort of play that will have fans around the country talking for weeks, and for some, it's a moment they'll never forget. College football produces so much drama every season, and you never know where it's coming from.
I am extremely thankful that college football is so unpredictable, twisting and turning the narrative each week until a champion emerges and fans exit the ride and enter into the long, cold offseason.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
