The 14 Biggest Disappointments from the 2014 College Football Season so Far

We're not mad, we're just disappointed.

Using the royal "we" to represent college football fans as a whole, we had certain expectations of players, teams and coaches heading into the 2014 season. Big numbers, great performances, utter dominance. You know, the usual embellishments and conjecture that percolate during the way-too-long offseason.

The hype machine built up these figures, made us believe they were going to considered among the best ever at their position, or rank up there with the best coaches or teams in college football history.

Instead, through three weeks we've just been left with a lot of dissatisfaction.

Taking into account past results and preseason hyperbole, we've identified the season's biggest disappointments to this point. Disagree with our choices, or think we've left someone out? Please let us know in the comments section.

O.J. Howard Has Zero Catches

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After a promising freshman year, which included a 52-yard touchdown catch in Alabama's win over LSU, O.J. Howard was projected as the top tight end in the SEC and among the best in the country heading into 2014.

Yet through three games, here's the 6'6", 240-pound Howard's statistics:

• Zero catches, zero yards, zero touchdowns

Despite being described by the school in his online bio as a "dynamic option" because of his combination of size and speed, Howard not only hasn't contributed offensively, he's hardly been given a chance. He's had one pass thrown at him, a ball thrown by Blake Sims in the season opener against West Virginia that was intercepted.

"O.J. Howard is a guy that we need to get more involved in probably what we're doing," coach Nick Saban said on the SEC teleconference prior to last week's game against Southern Mississippi. Instead, Howard never had a ball thrown his way, but fellow tight ends Michael Nysewander and Brian Vogler each caught a pass. Vogler's went for a five-yard touchdown. 

While expectations that he might put up numbers rivaling 2013 standout tight ends (and NFL draft picks Jace Amaro and Eric Ebron) were probably too ambitious—a Bleacher Report poll voted on by more than 2,200 people had nearly 87 percent of voters projecting he'd gain between 300 and 1,000 yards—his complete lack of any production to this point is simply baffling.

Northwestern's Home Flops

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Northwestern's second-half collapse last season was the stuff of legend. The Wildcats may be adding a chapter to that tale with how they've started 2014.

Back-to-back home losses, first to California and then Northern Illinois, have the Wildcats 0-2 for the first time since 2004 heading into Saturday's visit from FCS Western Illinois. Making matters worse, quarterback Trevor Siemian hurt his leg late in the 23-15 loss to NIU, and he's not a lock to play this weekend, according to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune.

Injuries and surprise results are the same thing that led to last year's tumble, which saw Northwestern 4-0 and playing host to ESPN's College GameDay on campus for a huge showdown with Ohio State. The Wildcats led by 10 late in the third quarter but ultimately fell 40-30.

That began a seven-game skid, snapped in the season finale against Illinois, a streak marred by injuries, shaky play and plenty of freak occurrences on the field. A last-second loss at Nebraska on a Hail Mary pass was par for the course.

More of the same has happened this year, starting with top receiver Christian Jones going down for the season before the first game with a knee injury, followed by senior running back Venric Mark first getting suspended and then leaving the program during training camp.

(Former) SMU Coach Junes Jones' Quick Exit

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We didn't expect the coaching carousel to start up this soon, but June Jones decided Sept. 8 was the perfect time.

Jones abruptly resigned as SMU's coach after only two games, but they were two pretty bad games. The Mustangs were crushed 45-0 at Baylor and 43-6 at North Texas, compiling only 341 yards of total offense that includes minus-16 on the ground.

"This job has a lot of demands and along with that journey comes a price that is paid," Jones told Bill Nichols of the Dallas Morning News. "I have some personal issues I have been dealing with, and I need to take a step away so I can address them at this time."

SMU was trending down, having gone 5-7 last season in its first year in the American Athletic Conference after Jones led the program to bowls from 2009-2012. Those were the program's first postseason appearances since 1984, as the Mustangs struggled to recover from an NCAA death penalty issued in the mid-1980s for major recruiting violations.

While coaches burning out isn't new, the timing of Jones' departure is odd. When his agent, Leigh Steinberg, first announced the resignation on Twitter, he noted that Jones "had felt for some time" he'd done everything he set out to do with SMU. If that's the case, why wait until two games into the season?

The Big Ten's Big Fails

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With five power conferences vying to send their best teams into the inaugural four-team College Football Playoff, simple math shows that someone is going to be left out.

The Big Ten Conference is trying to make the decision process far too easy, based on early returns from its out-of-league games to this point.

Through three weeks, the B1G has just one win over another power-conference team, and that was Rutgers' Aug. 28 victory over Washington State in Seattle. The league has come up short in 11 other power-on-power clashes, most notably in several high-profile matchups:

• LSU 28, Wisconsin 24 (Wisconsin led 24-7)
• Oregon 46, Michigan State 27 (MSU led 27-18)
• Notre Dame 31, Michigan 0 (first-ever shutout loss in series)
• Virginia Tech 35, Ohio State 21 (ended 15-game home win streak)
• Iowa State 20, Iowa 17
• West Virginia 40, Maryland 37
• TCU 30, Minnesota 7

Even more disturbing, the Big Ten is only 14-13 against all FBS nonconference competition, according to Bryan Fischer of NFL.com, padding their records with nine wins over FCS teams.

While Michigan State still has a good shot to contend for a playoff spot if it were to run the table in the Big Ten, at this point the conference might only be able to count on getting its one guaranteed bid to one of the six bowls included in the College Football Playoff system.

Jameis Winston's Latest Flub

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Jameis Winston can't keep his name out of the news, and not just because of his superior play while in uniform.

The Florida State quarterback, and reigning Heisman Trophy winner, made headlines again this week when he was witnessed by numerous students on campus as he jumped onto a table at the student union and blurted out an obscene phrase (NSFW) that's part of an old Internet gag.

The act earned him a one-half suspension for Saturday's game against Clemson but was also just the latest instance in Winston garnering attention for his words or actions off the field. Winston has previously been investigated for alleged sexual assault, but never charged—though a Title IX investigation continues—and in the spring was cited for shoplifting crab legs from a Tallahassee supermarket. 

Before ever taking a snap in a college game, Winston tried to set the bar high for his own performance, both on and off the field. At his school's media day in August 2013, the then-redshirt freshman told reporters that "If I ever get Manziel disease, I want all of you to smack me in the head with your microphones."

It might be time for the media to line up and cash in on that request.

College Kickers

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According to CFBStats.com, there are 21 kickers in FBS who have yet to miss a field goal. There are 128 FBS teams.

Missed kicks aren't that unusual, but so far this season it's been the way some of those kicks have gone awry. Whether it's the game situation, issues with execution or some other strange factor, we've already seen a number of weird mess-ups and gaffes on field goals and extra points.

During Saturday's 38-35 loss at South Carolina, Georgia's Marshall Morgan missed two field goals, the last from 28 yards out that would have tied the game with four minutes and 24 seconds left. Those misses came after Morgan connected twice in the first half, setting the SEC record for consecutive made field goals at 20.

Elsewhere during Week 3, Vanderbilt avoided going to overtime at home with Massachusetts only because UMass' Blake Lucas missed badly on a 22-yard field goal at the end of regulation. But at least he got a consoling hug from Vandy lineman Adam Butler.

On Sept. 11, Houston's 33-25 loss at BYU included two missed extra points and a field-goal try that went straight into the line of blockers after a botched snap.

How epidemic have college kicking failures become? Fresno State held a meeting Thursday for students interested in trying out to be its kicker. The Bulldogs have missed an extra point and a 30-yard field goal during their 0-3 start.

The Quick Fall of Vanderbilt

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Some backslide was expected, but no one could have predicted Vanderbilt would regress this much and this quickly.

James Franklin led the Commodores to back-to-back nine-win seasons, as well as the first stretch of three straight bowl games in program history from 2011-13. Then Franklin left for Penn State, and he was replaced by Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason.

Expectations weren't particularly high for Vandy this season, with SEC media members picking it to finish fifth in the East Division, but with a super-soft nonconference schedule and eight home games the Commodores still looked like a safe bet to make a bowl game.

Then they lost 37-7 at home to Tempe—which was 2-10 a year ago—to open the season, a loss that came after fans had to wait out a lengthy weather delay. The following week, Vandy was crushed 41-3 (again at home) by Ole Miss in its SEC opener.

The Commodores won last week, but at the same time almost hit rock bottom, because they trailed Massachusetts 14-0 after the first quarter and by 11 points with nine minutes left before rallying for the 34-31 win against a program that is 2-25 since joining FBS in 2012.

Michigan's Lack of Improvement

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Brady Hoke's tenure at Michigan started off at a high level, one that he hasn't come close to matching.

The Wolverines went 11-2 in Hoke's first season in 2011, beating rival Ohio State and knocking off Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. But since then they're 17-12, including a 2-6 finish to last season after starting 5-0.

Hopes were high for some progress this year with a strong recruiting class and a new coordinator, Doug Nussmeier, hired away from Alabama to shore up an inconsistent offense. Michigan put up big yards in its opening win over Appalachian State, but then a week later was pounded 31-0 at Notre Dame.

That marked the first time since 1984—a stretch of 365 games—that the Wolverines had been shut out, an FBS record. While the score itself was an anomaly, it does speak to what's been a trend for them during Hoke's tenure, according to Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports:

"

The Wolverines continue to start seasons with astounding sloppiness under Hoke. They have a minus-19 turnover margin in their last 11 non-conference, regular-season games, including a minus-7 through three games this year. Part of that can be attributed to a defense that isn’t taking the ball away, but Michigan’s 37 interceptions in its last 29 games points the finger at careless quarterback play and haphazard execution in the passing game.

"

Michigan hosts Utah on Saturday. The last time they faced the Utes, in 2008, the 25-23 home loss made for an inauspicious start to Rich Rodriguez's ill-fated three seasons running the Wolverines.

Melvin Gordon's Missing Yardage

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Based on his performance early against LSU on Aug. 30, Melvin Gordon was primed to make his stellar 2013 performance look like window dressing for what he would do this season.

Then Gordon all but disappeared from Wisconsin's offense in the second half, other than to block on passing plays, as the Badgers squandered a 24-7 lead and fell 28-24. After breaking off a 63-yard run to start the third quarter, giving him 13 rushes for 139 yards, Gordon had just three carries for one yard.

It was later revealed that Gordon had suffered a hip flexor late in the first half of that game, though he told Jesse Temple of Fox Sports Wisconsin (h/t ESPN.com) that he was able to keep playing but a miscommunication kept him mostly off the field.

Then Gordon had just 38 yards on 17 carries in Wisconsin's 37-3 win over Western Illinois on Sept. 6, by far his worst performance as a featured back in his career. Through two games, Gordon's per-carry average is 5.4 yards, which normally would be great but is far below his career average of 7.56.

With Wisconsin breaking in a new quarterback in Tanner McEvoy, and with a lack of experienced receivers, Gordon's running ability is essential to success. Without him, the Badgers don't look like a major contender to win the Big Ten's West Division.

Florida State's Sluggish Title Defense

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We expect a lot from our defending champions, and so far Florida State hasn't come close to meeting those expectations.

Through two games, FSU has managed to extend its win streak to 18 games, but not much else from those victories has been impressive. The Seminoles beat Oklahoma State 37-31 in Arlington, Texas, a game that wasn't expected to be that close with OK State having graduated most of its starters from a year ago.

Then FSU seemed to sleepwalk through a 37-12 win over FCS team Citadel.

FSU led its opener 17-0, then got into a shootout it hadn't expected. Only some second-half heroics by quarterback Jameis Winston, including an electrifying 28-yard touchdown run that seemed like an early campaign poster for his Heisman Trophy defense, helped prevent what would have been a shocking upset.

The Seminoles host Clemson on Saturday in their ACC opener and now will be doing it without Winston for the first half after he was suspended for two quarters (see earlier slide). The schedule gets tougher as the season goes on, with games against Notre Dame as well as at Louisville and Miami (Fla.).

Alabama more or less rolled through its first 11 games as defending national champs in 2013, fending off its major challenges at Texas A&M and against LSU before losing at rival Auburn on the final play of the game. In 2012 the Crimson Tide also dominated at the outset, only suffering the shocking home loss to A&M en route to a second straight title.

Not every reigning champ is able to repeat past performance, but with FSU bringing back Winston and many other major players from last year's title team, we expected more from the Seminoles at the start of this season.

Ohio State's Dominant Defensive Line Has Been Dull

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There are always players who fall short of the hype, but few have been as far removed from the hyperbole as Ohio State's defensive line.

With all four high-profile starters returning, the D-line was expected to be one of the Buckeyes' biggest strengths in 2014. Even with junior end Noah Spence missing the first two games because of a drug-related suspension, that unit got preseason praise that was comparing it to coach Urban Meyer's absolutely dominant defensive line from Florida in 2006.

"If they all perform and stay healthy, this (group) could be at that level," Meyer told Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Dispatch.

Health hasn't been a concern so far. What has, though, has been performance, or lack thereof.

OSU was decimated by Navy's option run game in its opener, allowing 370 rushing yards. Against Virginia Tech the Buckeyes allowed only 125 rushing yards and just 3.0 yards per carry, but the D-line only managed one sack of Tech quarterback Michael Brewer and otherwise failed to pressure him as he piloted the upset win.

The line was dominant in OSU's last game, but that was against Kent State and it came without Spence. He was supposed to return from his suspension, but a second failed drug test has put his future in doubt.

The Buckeyes are 90th in rushing defense, compared to ninth last season.

UCLA's Smoke-and-Mirrors Unbeaten Start

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UCLA began the season ranked seventh in the Associated Press Top 25, its highest preseason ranking since 1998. The Bruins head into a bye week with a 3-0 record yet have dropped to 12th in the latest AP poll.

How is this possible? It's simple: win all of your games, but do so in mostly unimpressive fashion, needing the defense to carry the offense against a 2-10 team and then requiring the offense to bail out that defense against a 3-9 club.

Oh, and have your star quarterback go down with an injury, resulting in a little-used backup leading a Hollywood-like comeback over a struggling program in a high-profile, neutral-site game.

UCLA won 28-20 at Virginia, getting three defensive touchdowns in the second quarter to make up for shoddy offense. Then, at home against Memphis, what should have been an easy victory instead was a 42-35 nail-biter.

The Bruins won 20-17 last Saturday over Texas in Arlington, with sophomore Jerry Neuheisel leading the rally late after quarterback Brett Hundley suffered an elbow injury.

Prior to the Texas win, Charles Davis of NFL.com wrote that UCLA's shaky start isn't the end of the world, but it is concerning:

"

Gritting out some early-season wins against lesser competition isn't necessarily the worst thing for a team. If a highly rated squad goes out and stomps some weaker teams, maybe it eventually gets stung because it didn't learn lessons about what it takes to grind out a tough win. No doubt, that's the approach the Bruins are trying to take coming out of those games, but the truth is they need to put together a cleaner, 60-minute performance.

"

UCLA has escaped its nonconference slate without a loss but now heads into one of its toughest Pac-12 games (Sept. 25 at Arizona State) with plenty of uncertainty. Hundley's status is the biggest part, with coach Jim Mora keeping mostly mum on the subject at this point.

Where's Jake Coker?

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Of all the offseason transfers that happened in college football, none got as much attention as Jake Coker's move from Florida State to Alabama. Despite serving as a backup to E.J. Manuel in 2012 and Jameis Winston in 2013, as well as sustaining a season-ending knee injury last November, Coker's transfer to Alabama was getting the kind of media attention normally reserved for the Beatles coming to America.

Three games into his Alabama career, Coker is pretty much in the same spot he was with FSU: a backup.

Senior Blake Sims has started each time for the Crimson Tide after battling Coker, a junior, during training camp. Coker didn't play in the opener against West Virginia, making his debut the following week by throwing for 202 yards and a touchdown on 15-of-24 passing against Florida Atlantic.

Coker was 5 of 7 for 46 yards last week against Southern Mississippi, while Sims was 12 of 17 for 168 yards and two touchdowns along with a rushing score.

Sims has completed 75 percent of his passes this season, for 646 yards and four TDs, and has run 14 times for 102 yards and two TDs.

Coker's numbers haven't been bad at all, but his performance in games (as well as in practices) hasn't been enough to get him more time ahead of Sims. That's not necessarily an indictment of his ability, as Sims has looked great, but it does come as a surprise considering how much hype Coker garnered when choosing to finish his college career in Tuscaloosa.

Louisiana-Lafayette's Missed Opportunity

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Louisiana-Lafayette has been one of the most consistent non-power teams in the past three years, winning nine games each of the past three seasons and ending 2011-13 with a bowl win.

Another great season was expected this fall, with the Ragin' Cajuns equipped not only to win another Sun Belt title but to possibly contend for an at-large bid into the College Football Playoff's host bowls if they could make a splash during their nonconference games.

Instead, ULL has laid a major egg, losing by 28 points at home to Louisiana Tech and then trailing 28-0 after 23 minutes at Ole Miss on the way to a 56-15 loss.

The Cajuns play Saturday Boise State in what should have been a great clash of mid-major powers, but instead looks like it will be another loss for one of the biggest disappointments outside the power conferences.

What's gone wrong? Despite returning most of its starters, including quarterback Terrance Broadway and running back Elijah McGuire, the Cajuns have given the ball away nine times in three games. Their minus-eight turnover margin ranks last among 128 FBS teams.

All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.