Bleacher Report Awards for 1st Half of 2014 College Football Season

Just like that, the 2014 college football season has reached the halfway point. Enjoy it now; the next eight weeks are going to go by just as quickly. Soon, you too will be spending the summer months pining for real football again while watching video replays and checking message boards.

Or, you'll be spending time outside. Either one.

That said, it's time to celebrate what has been an eventful first half of the year with the Midseason Bleacher Report College Football Awards. It's sort of like the Oscars but with 94 percent less Daniel Day-Lewis and more Katy Perry. 

As we examine everything from the best player to the biggest upset and everything in between, let's take a moment or 10 to look back on what has made this season fun and unpredictable. 

Best Team: Mississippi State

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

If you needed reason to believe that this season has been, well, "different" from others in recent memory, look no further than the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

After eight weeks, Dan Mullen's team is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 and Amway Coaches Poll—and it deserves that spot. 

There isn't a truly dominating team this year like there was in 2013 with Florida State, but the Bulldogs are the next best thing. Quarterback Dak Prescott is a legitimate Heisman contender and, like most quarterbacks, gets the spotlight and majority of the praise.

But the reality is Mississippi State has been so successful because it controls the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. This is as physical a team up front as you're going to find. The Bulldogs have a top-25 scoring defense and the textbook definition of a balanced offense (264.3 YPG rushing, 265.3 YPG passing). 

Though few conference games are "gimmes," Mississippi State's remaining schedule is mostly manageable. Road games at Alabama (Nov. 15) and Ole Miss (Nov. 29) will continue to test whether this team really is the best in the country.

The gap between traditional powers and everyone else is as small as it's ever been, and Mississippi State has been proof that it really can be anyone's year.  

Best Player: Oregon Quarterback Marcus Mariota

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

This seems like a safe choice on the surface, but there's a reason Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota gets the nod here. 

Yes, his stats are good. Through six games, Mariota has thrown for 1,621 yards, 17 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He's on pace to throw for more touchdowns this season than he has in his previous two as a starter. He's also the team's second-leading rusher with 290 yards on 49 carries and five touchdowns. 

But it's the fact that Mariota has maintained those numbers (and stayed relatively healthy) while dealing with a patchwork offensive line that makes his campaign so impressive. Heading into the Week 7 at UCLA, Mariota was sacked 12 times in the previous two games. 

Mariota hasn't been perfect, and he's certainly not the only reason the Ducks continue to be a top-10 scoring offense at 43.3 points per game. That said, he's still a big reason why Oregon remains in the playoff hunt. 

Most Disappointing Team: South Carolina

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Consider this the Razzie of the midseason awards, and unfortunately for South Carolina, the 3-3 Gamecocks take it. 

B/R colleague Barrett Sallee called it back in July too. 

The preseason SEC East media favorites have been a tough team to read. Primarily, the defense has been underwhelming.

There was the season-opening blowout loss at home to Texas A&M...followed by a three-game winning streak that included a 38-35 victory over Georgia...followed by back-to-back losses to Missouri and Kentucky. 

Head coach Steve Spurrier hasn't been shy about his team's shaky play, but he also thinks there might be better days ahead. 

"We are 3-3, and we are a looking forward to the second half of the season and we believe we are going to play better," Spurrier said, via Josh Kendall of The State. "We have done a pretty decent job of (improving) the last three seasons, and we’re going to try to do it again. Hopefully, we can show some progress against Furman."

The good news for Spurrier is that the SEC East race is still fairly open, and the divisional front-runner, Georgia, is without its best player, running back Todd Gurley, for the foreseeable future because of a suspension linked to an alleged NCAA rules violation.

The Bulldogs still managed to shut out Missouri 34-0 without Gurley in Week 7, but if South Carolina has a hope, it's that Georgia struggles down the stretch without him. 

Best Game: Baylor 61, TCU 58

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

This was the toughest decision of any of the midseason awards. There have been some compelling games through the first eight weeks of the season. To narrow it to just one isn't fun. 

But, boy, Baylor's come-from-behind 61-58 victory over TCU in Week 7 was as fun as any game this year. 

It wasn't just that there were plenty of points; it was a back-and-forth contest full of momentum swings and big plays. From a pure entertainment perspective, this was tops. For the Bears to come back at home and score 24 straight points in the final 11 minutes was a perfect scene. 

It also showed that TCU, while unable to close the deal, is a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12. 

Normally, the Texas-Oklahoma game gets top billing. Not last Saturday. The matchup between two Top 10 teams lived up to the hype. And, as Suzanne Halliburton of the Austin American-Statesman writes, Baylor-TCU is forming into one of the more intense rivalries in the Big 12.

That's a big deal for a conference that lacks marquee rivalry games. 

Strangest Game: Cal 60, Washington State 59

Dean Hare/Associated Press

Just a quick summary: Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday threw for an FBS-record 734 yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions in a late-night game against Cal on Oct. 4. 

And the Cougars still lost. 

To make matters worse, they fell when Quentin Breshears missed a 19-yard go-ahead field goal with 19 seconds left. 

College kickers, man. 

It was, in a twisted way, a fitting nightcap to what was an unbelievable Week 6. 

We also would have accepted BYU beating Houston 33-25 in Week 3 (B/R colleague Adam Kramer has more on that here) and Oklahoma fending off a late rally by Texas in the Red River Shootout Rivalry Showdown, despite basically being outplayed. 

Best Prophet: Katy Perry

USA TODAY Sports

The signs were right in front of us. How could we have been so blissfully ignorant?

From the moment pop singer Katy Perry was announced as the guest picker for ESPN's College GameDay in Week 6, we should have known things were destined to get wild. 

Perry, who has never even attended a college football game, was a second Lee Corso on set in Oxford, Mississippi, for the Alabama-Ole Miss game. There were props. There were corn dogs—flying corn dogs, to be specific—and a romantic advance toward Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight. 

And all the while, Perry correctly picked seven out of nine games, including the Rebels' 23-17 upset over the Tide. 

More than that, though, Week 6 was one of the best weeks of upsets in recent memory. Nothing went to script, as five Top 10 teams went down. By day's end, amid the torn-down goal posts and general frenzy of Oxford, Perry emerged from the GameDay set and became one of the people. 

The next day, she was named their elected leader. 

The antics all make sense now. Maybe next time—if we're fortunate enough to witness another Katy Perry GameDay—we'll listen to the prophecy.  

Surprise Team of the Year: TCU

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

TCU coach Gary Patterson made arguably the best hires of any coach in college football over the past year by bringing in co-offensive coordinators Sonny Cumbie and Doug Meacham. 

The dividends of those hires have been instantly noticeable. The Horned Frogs' air-raid offense is scoring 45.8 points per game, good enough for third nationally and 20.7 points more than a year ago. Put another way, TCU has nearly doubled its points per game from 2013. 

Along those lines, quarterback Trevone Boykin is up there among the most improved players in the country. For two years, Boykin filled in for Casey Pachall because of various issues and struggled to progress as a quarterback. That led to some opinions (ahem...) that Boykin would be better served as a wide receiver or running back.

That was wrong—way wrong.

With a full offseason as the No. 1 guy and great coaching, Boykin has taken tremendous strides. He doesn't look like the same player at all, and that's a good thing. The Frogs are better around Boykin as well, though. The offensive line has come together, and receivers are finally playing up to their potential.

The offense has clicked quicker than most could have imagined and now complements a defense that, until a 61-58 loss to Baylor, has been generally stingy. 

Know this: TCU looks like a real contender in the Big 12. 

Team Most Likely to Cause Heart Complications: Arizona

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No team epitomizes "Pac-12 After Dark" like Arizona. When the sun goes down, the Fighting RichRods like to get weird. And you're either in or you're out. 

First, let's look at the big picture. The Wildcats are 5-1 and in the thick of the Pac-12 South title hunt. All but one of those games have been decided by a touchdown or less, but only in the last few weeks did things get crazy. 

First, there's the Hail Mary in the High Desert that gave Arizona a 49-45 win over Cal on Sept. 20. Two weeks later, the Cardiac 'Cats stunned then-No. 2 Oregon in Autzen Stadium, 31-24, in a Thursday night game. That launched Arizona from an unranked team all the way up to No. 10 in The Associated Press poll and No. 13 in the Amway Coaches Poll. 

Alas, the Wildcats' place among the unbeaten teams lasted only a week. Last Saturday, Arizona came roaring back from a 28-13 deficit against USC to score 13 fourth-quarter points. A successful onside kick with just over a minute remaining helped Arizona's offense get into field-goal range quickly.

Kicker Casey Skowron's 36-yard attempt was initially good, but a USC timeout successfully iced Skowron on his next attempt, which sailed wide right. USC won 28-26. 

Say this for Arizona: Who knows how many games the Wildcats will win this year, but they're certainly never boring. 

The 'Are You Kidding Me?' Catch of the Year: Fairmont State WR Fabian Guerra

Like a Thanksgiving spread, there have been a bountiful number of ridiculous catches in college football this season. Choose your favorite and you're probably not going to get a lot of argument from me. After all, there are some things everyone can enjoy together. 

For the sake of choosing one, however, how about a little love for the Division II level and Fairmont State (West Virginia) wide receiver Fabian Guerra?

Guerra leads the Falcons with 43 receptions and three touchdowns, but none was more impressive than the one-handed contortionist grab he had against Concord University. Check out the video above. And then watch it again. And again. 

I mean, come on now. That's just unfair. 

Breakout Star: West Virginia Wide Receiver Kevin White

Chris Jackson/Associated Press

The Mountaineers have been a pleasant surprise, as they have as many wins through six games (four) as they did all of last season. A big reason for the turnaround has been the offense, which is finally clicking again thanks to a healthy Clint Trickett at quarterback and a true No. 1 receiver in Kevin White. 

White leads the country in yards (888) and yards per game (148), and he is second in receptions (61). White has gone over 100 yards in every game and has recorded at least 10 catches in a game four times.

At 6'3" and 210 pounds, he has prototypical size for the position. The analysts at NFL.com have been hearing that White resembles former Pitt wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, saying: 

"

The scoop: We're hearing a lot of Larry Fitzgerald comparisons for West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White after his hot start to the season. His build at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds is similar to Fitzgerald's. An NFL personnel director said he's not willing to go as far as a Fitzgerald comparison for White, but he didn't knock down the comparison completely, saying he sees the reason for it.

"

White has 19 catches for 316 yards and a pair of touchdowns against West Virginia's two toughest opponents to date, Alabama and Oklahoma. The Mountaineers still have some of the Big 12's best defenses ahead of them, however, so it will be interesting to see if White keeps up the production. 

Best Johnny Manziel Impersonation: North Carolina State QB Jacoby Brissett

The escape-and-score by North Carolina State quarterback Jacoby Brissett against Florida State is nothing short of pure sorcery.

Brissett, a former Florida quarterback, showed off his best Johnny Manziel impersonation against the No. 1 Seminoles in Week 5. A video of the play can be seen above with a thorough X's and O's breakdown below: 

The first escape: Impressive.

The second escape: Houdini-esque. 

The throw back across the body into triple coverage: Inadvisable. 

The result: No no no no no no no, YES! 

The touchdown was part of a hot start for the Wolfpack, but they were eventually unable to hang on, losing 56-41. Still, this will go down as one of the most incredible individual efforts of the season. Well done. 

Best Freshman: Texas A&M Defensive End Myles Garrett

Bob Levey/Associated Press

The shine of Texas A&M's season-opening win over South Carolina has worn off after two straight losses. Still, freshman defensive end Myles Garrett has been one of the most entertaining players to watch. 

Myles has 7.5 sacks through seven games, putting him 0.5 sacks behind the SEC freshman sack record held by former South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. It seems only a matter of when, not if, Garrett breaks that record. 

Listed at 6'5" and 255 pounds on A&M's website, Garrett, like Clowney, is a physical freak as a first-year player. He's only going to get better too. Garrett is still learning how to be a defensive end at the college level. The more he refines his game, the better he's going to be. 

So, you know, think about that for the next two-and-a-half years, opposing offensive coordinators. 

Best Heisman Moment: Nebraska Running Back Ameer Abdullah

Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah has been a one-man destructive force, rushing for 878 yards and 10 touchdowns. Abdullah's Heisman chatter may have died down a bit after he averaged just 1.9 yards per carry in a 27-22 loss to Michigan State, but let's not forget what got him in the conversation to begin with.

His best play this season—arguably the play of the year anywhere in college football—oddly came in a game where he wasn't a major factor on the ground. 

Tied at 24 with McNeese State in Week 2, Nebraska needed a big play in the final seconds of the game. It got one when Abdullah caught a dump-off pass from Tommy Armstrong Jr. Abdullah broke 590 tackles* and bolted 58 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Abdullah had just 17 carries for 54 yards that game (though he did rack up 96 yards on three receptions), but it's his catch-and-score for which he'll be remembered. If nothing else, Abdullah's play had a certain put-the-team-on-his-back quality to it. 

*Unofficial count.

Best Hair: Nevada Defensive End Brock Hekking

Cathleen Allison/Associated Press

There's not much to say. Just look at the flowing mane coming from the head of Nevada defensive end Brock Hekking.

What's that? How many tackles does he have? I don't know, look it up. Doesn't matter. Look at that hair. 

It's not clear if this resembles something from Dog the Bounty Hunter or from the WWE. Maybe it's both. Either way, this man is the great American hero that this country needs but not the one it deserves.

Anyway, Mr. Hekking gets an award for having easily the best hair of any college football player, though West Virginia's Clint Trickett is a likely second. 

Best Tackle: Ohio State Strength Coach Anthony Schlegel

There are form tackles, and then there are form tackles.

And then there's basically chokeslamming a fan onto the field. 

That's what Ohio State associate director of strength and conditioning Anthony Schlegel did to one unfortunate Buckeyes fan who decided, whether on his own or by the influence of someone or something, to storm the field during the Week 5 game against Cincinnati. 

Results were, as you can imagine, slanted toward the challenger who spends a lot of his time in a weight room. 

The decision to tackle a fan rather than let security handle the situation caused some backlash. All the same, it was a helluva takedown. 

Best Defender Who Is His Own Offense: Washington LB Shaq Thompson

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Defensive players, unless they're of the Clowney variety, just don't receive the same level of love offensive players do. That's the result of a sports culture that is stats-based and offensive-minded. 

So let's take a second and acknowledge that for a few weeks Washington's Shaq Thompson scored more touchdowns than SMU. 

Thompson is a linebacker. 

On the season, Thompson has scored five touchdowns—five—on offense and defense. Those touchdowns are as follows:

• A 57-yard run against Eastern Washington.
• A 36-yard pick-six against Illinois.
• A 52-yard fumble return against Illinois.
• A 32-yard fumble return against Stanford.
• A 100-yard fumble return against Cal. 

By comparison, SMU's offense had just one offensive touchdown—a Hail Mary as time expired in a blowout loss to North Texas—through the first five weeks of the season.

That says a lot about both Thompson and SMU in that one is clearly an excellent player, and the other is a historically awful football team. Still, kudos to Thompson. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.