Biggest Surprises of the 2014 College Football Season So Far
Here’s the thing about college football: With a 13-game regular season followed by a bowl game, there’s plenty of room for talk...speculation...chatter.
Whatever you want to call it.
The openness and relative shortness of the college football schedule leaves fans with plenty of time to discuss their favorite team, their rival and everyone in-between. So predictions are made. Proclamations occur. Opinions are formed.
And then the games begin.
Three weeks into the 2014 college football season, we’re rethinking some opinions. Some teams and players have exceeded expectations, while others have fallen far short of them.
Here’s a look at the biggest surprises, as the college football season approaches the quarter-mark.
Blake Sims Is Alabama's Starting Quarterback
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This summer, the popular narrative went that Jake Coker would arrive in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and quickly pass whomever was ahead of him to become Alabama’s next starting quarterback. AL.com’s Andrew Gribble called Coker, a Florida State transfer, “the leader in the clubhouse.”
But someone forgot to tell Blake Sims. Sims, who spent his first three seasons backing up AJ McCarron, is not the kind of quarterback who inspires cult followings or makes SportsCenter’s top 10 plays on a regular basis.
He’s just steady.
In a 52-12 win over Southern Miss Saturday, Sims completed 12 of 17 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 9.9 yards per pass attempt. Through three games, he has 646 yards with four touchdowns against one interception, while completing 75 percent of his passes.
Coker, meanwhile, has thrown for 248 yards with one touchdown against no interceptions, completing 64.5 percent of his passes. He has attempted 31 passes, less than half as many as Sims (64).
Head coach Nick Saban’s division of the quarterback snaps says plenty. Saturday, Coker didn’t enter the game until two minutes and 10 seconds remained in the third quarter, with the Tide holding a comfortable 35-9 lead.
Saban has declined to name a starting quarterback, although Alabama’s star receiver, Amari Cooper, was more forthcoming with AL.com’s Michael Casagrande:
"Obviously Blake is our starting quarterback right now. He's playing more than Coker is playing. He's playing well. Both of them are playing well. They're doing everything coach (Lane) Kiffin is asking them to do.
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Saban isn’t going quite so far yet, saying:
"We felt like Blake had a really good week and he was well-prepared for the game. I didn't feel real comfortable with the way the game was going. It just didn't feel right to make a change. Do we want to continue to work both quarterbacks and try to develop both guys? Absolutely.
"
Right now, though, Sims is the man. And that qualifies as a surprise.
The Big Ten Is Struggling Mightily
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A year ago, Michigan State’s Big Ten title-game upset of Ohio State was the only thing that kept the league from a BCS National Championship Game berth.
This fall, the Big Ten might be eliminated from the College Football Playoff chase before we even hit October.
The league is just 1-9 against fellow power-five conference foes. It has three losses to MAC teams. Quite simply, it has been a very ugly September.
Michigan State led Oregon 27-18 late in the third quarter of a Top 10 matchup in Eugene, Oregon, before allowing the final 28 points in a 46-27 defeat. That same night, Ohio State lost 35-21 to Virginia Tech, its first home loss since 2011, and Michigan was humbled 31-0 at Notre Dame in the final scheduled meeting between the heated rivals.
It was the league’s worst night in recent memory. This week, Iowa (coming off a home loss to Iowa State) goes to Pitt, Indiana visits Missouri and Nebraska hosts Miami (Florida).
Michigan State or Ohio State could still make the College Football Playoff, but with strength of schedule a major consideration, the league’s perceived lack of strength will play against both. The Buckeyes and Spartans face off Nov. 8 in East Lansing in what should be an excellent game, assuming Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett continues his growth.
But it’ll be hard to take the league seriously as one of the nation’s elite conferences, which is something that has to eat at commissioner Jim Delany.
June Jones Resigns at SMU
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June Jones enjoyed a long, storied career as one of college football’s top offensive coaches. His run-and-shoot system turned around Hawaii and then SMU. Jones took over in Dallas in 2008 and led the Mustangs to a bowl game in 2009, their first postseason play in 25 years. He led SMU to four consecutive bowl trips and just missed a bowl last season, going 5-7.
That’s why this season was so surprising. Before a 34-0 loss to Houston, Nov. 29, 2013, a Jones offense had never been shut out. But Baylor and North Texas whipped the Mustangs by a combined score of 88-6 in the first two weeks, and Jones resigned days after the North Texas defeat for "personal reasons."
It was an inglorious end to a stellar career. And while perhaps it’s no surprise that Jones is done at SMU, it’s stunning that the end happened so quickly.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Kenny Hill and Texas A&M Are Thriving
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When Johnny Manziel left Texas A&M for the NFL, College Station certainly got calmer. But was calmer better? Who knew?
Manziel was one of the most electric college football players in recent memory, and replacing the Heisman Trophy winner wouldn’t be easy for the Aggies—until sophomore Kenny Hill made it look easy.
Hill beat out highly touted true freshman Kyle Allen in a tightly contested quarterback competition and hasn’t looked back since. A&M enters this weekend’s game against hapless SMU 3-0 and ranked No. 6 in The Associated Press poll, and Hill is a huge reason why.
He has thrown for 1,094 yards with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, completing 69.2 percent of his passes.
And what a debut: Hill threw for 511 yards and three touchdowns in his first collegiate start, a 52-28 whipping of South Carolina. That broke the Gamecocks’ 18-game home winning streak and showed that A&M was more than just a good team carried by a great player in Manziel.
Hill has a talented group of wide receivers to throw to, led by Malcome Kennedy, Ricky Seals-Jones and Speedy Noil. He’s quieter off the field than the outspoken Manziel, telling reporters after the South Carolina game that he “just wanted to get the press conference over with,” per The Associated Press (via the New York Daily News).
If he keeps throwing like this, he can say whatever he wants—or as little as he wants.
Penn State Is a Big Ten Title Contender Again
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When this season began, Penn State was slogging through the third season of a four-year postseason ban levied by the NCAA in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Bill O’Brien and James Franklin had injected some hope into Happy Valley following the NCAA penalty, but the Nittany Lions were still playing for nothing but pride this fall.
Last week, that all changed.
The NCAA lifted the final two years of the bowl ban and restored the scholarships taken away, making Penn State bowl-eligible immediately. It was a huge boost for a program that really needed one.
With hapless UMass up next on the schedule, Penn State should be 4-0 after this weekend. It hasn’t been easy, though. They needed a last-play field goal to defeat Central Florida and rallied to defeat Rutgers 13-10, erasing a 10-point Scarlet Knights lead.
Sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg must be more efficient. He has four touchdowns against five interceptions, but he has thrown for 1,082 yards overall and has two talented receivers in Geno Lewis and DaeSean Hamilton. The defense has also looked salty so far, a good sign in the always physical Big Ten.
The Lions are still a long shot to win the league, although they do get both Michigan State and Ohio State at home. Still, it’s far better than what anyone could have expected in August, and that’s a win in itself.
Southern California Is Stunned at Boston College
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Entering 2014, Southern California was a dark-horse College Football Playoff contender under first-year coach Steve Sarkisian.
The Trojans are still feeling the effects of NCAA probation that limits them to 65 scholarships this season, but they have plenty of talent (junior quarterback Cody Kessler, junior wideout Nelson Agholor, freshman two-way player Adoree’ Jackson and a very impressive defensive front seven led by junior end Leonard Williams).
Yet, Boston College (7-6 a year ago) ran at will against USC, outrushing the then-No. 9 Trojans 452-20 in a 37-31 upset, its first win over a Top 10 team since 2004.
USA Today’s Nicole Auerbach said the Eagles tried to wear down USC with "multiple," physical looks.
It was a very impressive victory for second-year BC coach Steve Addazio and a highly deflating loss for USC. The Trojans were coming off a 13-10 win over a Top 15 Stanford team and went to Chestnut Hill on a high.
Now, they must figure out what went wrong. USC avoids Oregon but must travel to Arizona and ends the season against UCLA and Notre Dame. At this point, a playoff bid looks highly unlikely.
Vanderbilt Has Fallen Apart Under Derek Mason
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When James Franklin left Vanderbilt for Penn State, he didn’t exactly leave the cupboard bare. Sure, new coach Derek Mason had only eight returning starters, but this was largely a roster that had won nine games for two consecutive seasons.
Some early hiccups wouldn’t have been surprising, but Vanderbilt has completely fallen apart.
The Commodores are 1-2, with the only win a 34-31 victory over UMass, one of the worst teams in the FBS. Vandy erased a 31-20 fourth-quarter deficit in Week 3, scoring the winning touchdown with under two minutes to go.
The Commodores were outscored by a combined 78-10 by Temple and Ole Miss, and both games were at home.
Vandy’s quarterbacks have combined to throw one touchdown against five interceptions this season, with a different starting quarterback each game (Stephen Rivers, Patton Robinette and Wade Freebeck).
And it doesn’t get any easier: Following this week’s visit from No. 14 South Carolina, three of Vandy’s next four games are on the road (at improving Kentucky, at No. 13 Georgia and at No. 18 Missouri).
Forget winning nine games. The ‘Dores will be lucky to win four this season.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
