Awards for First Half of 2016 College Football Season

This season is going exactly the way I expected. — Nobody, ever.

Less than two months ago, we set out on a journey together to experience the wonder that is college football, a sport that never ceases to entertain and amaze. We had an idea of how things would pan out, along with plenty of expectations and predictions, and as time has passed, most of those have been quickly tossed aside.

And we're loving it.

The unpredictability of college football is among its most endearing qualities, a big reason its popularity continues to rise (while the pro product sees its ratings dip). Seven weeks are in the books, which means it's time to hand out some midseason awards to celebrate what we've experienced so far.

We're not just highlighting the best moments and performances of the 2016 season; we're also taking a look at some of the worst, giving equal time to the highs and lows that help balance college football out.

Best Team: Alabama

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No sense beating around the bush on this one. Alabama has been far and away the most impressive team in the country so far.

The defending national champions have won 19 consecutive games dating back to September 2015, when the Crimson Tide lost at home to Ole Miss. The Rebels were the only team to present a challenge against Alabama this season, taking a 24-3 lead before the Tide exploded for 45 points in less than 27 minutes to win 48-43.

Aside from that game, 'Bama has rolled early and often to an average margin of victory of 34.7 points, including last week's 49-10 domination of SEC East division favorite Tennessee.

For the third year in a row, Alabama is doing it with a new quarterback, and one few expected would be the choice to run Lane Kiffin's offense. True freshman Jalen Hurts has thrown for 1,385 yards and nine touchdowns while adding eight rushing scores, a performance that prompted redshirt freshman signal-caller Blake Barnett to transfer after the first month of the season.

Alabama has been so good and so well-balanced, its defense and special teams have outscored four opponents. The Tide have 11 non-offensive touchdowns this season, four each on fumble and interception returns and three on punt returns.

Best Offensive Player: Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville

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The Heisman Trophy is a season-long award, one that won't get voted on for several weeks and isn't handed out until Dec. 10. A lot can happen between now and then, but at this point, there's no question who is way out in front in the quest to land that prestigious award.

Lamar Jackson has been as close to an unstoppable force as there's been in college football in some time. The sophomore passer started to turn heads late last season with his mobility and strong (but still erratic) arm, and since Louisville's opening-night blowout of Charlotte, he's become a one-man highlight reel.

How does 439.7 yards of total offense per game and 30 total touchdowns sound? Those are impressive numbers for a team after six games, yet Jackson has managed that on his own with 15 passing scores and 15 rushing TDs to go with 832 yards on the ground.

Some perspective: If Jackson was his own team, he would rank 46th in FBS in total offense, while his 30 TDs are more than 98 other teams have produced as a whole.

Best Defensive Player: Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M

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Texas A&M is off to another hot start, sitting at 6-0 for the first time since 1994. The Aggies have won at least their first five games for three straight seasons, but the current version looks to have more staying power thanks to a balanced offense and a defensive unit that seems to get better by the game.

The exception to that last note might be Myles Garrett, but only because he's been this good since his freshman year in 2014 when he set the SEC sack record for a first-year player.

The 6'5", 270-pound lineman may not have eye-popping raw stats—he has four sacks and six tackles for loss through six games—but a deeper look at his play shows Garrett is the straw that stirs A&M's defensive drink. Equally strong against the run and the pass, Garrett is the kind of player opponents do their darnedest to stay away from, yet he still manages to get in the way.

Pro Football Focus credits Garrett with 11 quarterback hits and 20 hurries, which, combined with his four sacks, means he's managed to pressure the passer once every 4.8 pass-rushing plays. And all of the attention he garners has opened the door for other Aggies to shine, particularly a secondary that has seven interceptions after picking off only 11 passes throughout all of 2015.

Breakout Star: Jake Browning, QB, Washington

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With all due respect to Lamar Jackson, he was somewhat of a known quantity heading into the 2016 season, although no one could have predicted this kind of performance. He easily could have been the pick for this award, too, but we're going with another quarterback who had a solid freshman season but is now showing his true abilities in as a sophomore.

Jake Browning came to Washington with some lofty prep numbers—he threw for a national high school-record 229 touchdowns in his career, including 91 as a senior—and won the starting job right away. He threw for 2,955 yards, 16 TDs and 10 interceptions, coming on late in the year when the Huskies won three straight to finish at 7-6.

That rise has continued since the 2016 season began, with Browning having thrown 23 TDs in the Huskies' first six games against just two picks. That's on only 144 passes, 72.2 percent of which he's completed for 1,418 yards.

Washington is 6-0 for the first time since 1992 and ranked fifth in the AP Top 25 poll, with Browning's play a key part of that start.

Best Freshman: Jalen Hurts, QB, Alabama

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The last time Nick Saban turned to a true freshman to play quarterback for him at Alabama was, well, never. Then again, Saban never had a first-year player at that position with the skill set Jalen Hurts has shown.

Inserted for the third offensive series of the Crimson Tide's season-opening 52-6 win over USC, Hurts lost a fumble on his first college snap but has been nearly flawless since. He's thrown for 1,385 yards and nine touchdowns while completing 63.5 percent of his passes and has added 428 yards and eight scores on the ground.

Prior to this season, the last time 'Bama had a QB run for 100 or more yards in a game was in 2001. Hurts has done it twice, in arguably the Tide's two biggest games, rushing for 146 yards in the comeback win at Ole Miss and then gaining 132 yards with three TDs on Saturday at Tennessee.

Most impressive to Saban, though, has been Hurts' mental makeup, particularly when he gets yelled at. Since that's a common occurrence when dealing with a perfectionist like Saban, the head coach had this to say about Hurts, per Chris Vannini of CoachingSearch.com:

"

That's all part of his psychological disposition of not letting things affect him, being self-critical, knowing when he made a mistake, being able to focus on the next play, learning from the mistakes he makes. This is the right stuff we talk about that players need to have to be able to improve. If you can't be self-critical or you're defensive to any kind of correction or criticism, it makes it very difficult for you to learn and grow.

"

Best Coach: Tom Herman, Houston

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Tom Herman currently coaches for Houston, though likely not for much longer. The two things that might have kept the hottest coach in college football from leaving after this season—a playoff bid and an invitation to join the Big 12—have both fallen by the wayside, making it likely Herman will get lured away by a power program.

Only three such schools (Baylor, LSU and Purdue) currently have openings, but Herman has also had his name mentioned for other jobs where head coaches are still gainfully employed (for now).

Why is Herman so coveted? Because he's done nothing but win over the past two-plus seasons, first as Ohio State's offensive coordinator during its 2014 national title run and then since last year while in charge of Houston. The Cougars were a good mid-major team when he arrived, but under Herman's watch, they're 19-2 with an American Athletic Conference title and wins over Florida State, Louisville, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt.

Houston was looking very much like a potential playoff party-crasher before it lost at Navy two weeks ago, and had the Big 12 not scrapped plans to expand, the program was near the top of the list of potential new members. Both of those things were heavily due to Herman, and his golden touch is something many other schools would love to have access to.

Coach on the Hottest Seat: Charlie Strong, Texas

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The image above comes from after Texas knocked off Notre Dame in double overtime on Sept. 4, a thrilling victory that—combined with a new fast-paced, explosive offense—looked to signal the Longhorns' return to national prominence. After two seasons trying to correct the program's culture, head coach Charlie Strong seemed poised to break through and live up to the high expectations that come from wearing burnt orange.

As it turns out, scoring 50 points against Notre Dame isn't that big of a deal, though allowing 40-plus four times in six games is. Texas' offense has improved under its latest offensive coordinator, Sterlin Gilbert, but the Longhorns defense has now become a major liability. It prompted Strong to demote coordinator Vance Bedford after four games and take over play-calling duties.

The result: allowing 672 yards in a 45-40 loss to rival Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout, dropping Texas to 2-3 at that point.

The 'Horns are 3-3 now following a 27-6 win Saturday over Iowa State, but getting to at least six wins isn't a guarantee. Nor is it assured that such a win total would let Strong keep his job. Texas athletic director Mike Perrin told reporters there's no "magic number" of victories Strong needs to stay employed, but when this season is through, a change in leadership is possible if Texas doesn't appear to be on the upswing.

Most Surprising Unbeaten Team: Western Michigan

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At 7-0 for the first time since 1941 and ranked for the first time in school history, Western Michigan is the top choice for that team whose appearance in the Associated Press poll draws the biggest double-take. But watch a little bit of what the Broncos do, and the more surprising thing will be that it's happening outside of the power leagues.

Western Michigan followed September wins at Northwestern and Illinois with dominant play in the Mid-American Conference, which isn't the SEC but is a challenging league nevertheless. The Broncos have averaged 45 points per game during a 3-0 conference start that includes road wins of 49-10 and 41-0, giving them a combined scoring edge of 105 points in four road games.

Head coach P.J. Fleck was 32 when he inherited a slipping team December 2012, and he went 1-11 in his first year. Since then, however, he's produced consecutive eight-win seasons and the school's first bowl victory. Now he and his #RowTheBoat mantra have the Broncos in contention for the Group of Five bowl bid given to the top-rated non-power conference champ.

Most Disappointing Team: Notre Dame

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Back in the summer, the only major question Notre Dame seemed to have was which of its two strong quarterbacks would get the job. Now that's only one of the issues the Fighting Irish are dealing with during what's looking like a lost season.

At 2-5 with remaining games against Miami (4-2), Navy (4-1), Army (4-2), Virginia Tech (4-2) and USC (4-3), it would take an amazing turnaround for the Irish to avoid their first losing season since 2007. That's a far cry from the team that began the season ranked in the top 10 in both major polls and were predicted by many—including Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee—to make the playoff.

DeShone Kizer has had the vast majority of the work at quarterback, looking good early but tailing off in recent weeks. However, he hasn't been Notre Dame's biggest issue. Instead, blame falls on a defense that has allowed 134 points during a 1-3 start, the most in school history, and prompted coach Brian Kelly to fire defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. But in the ensuing game, the Irish allowed 33 points in a win over Syracuse.

The last two games have been low-scoring losses: one partly due to the inclement weather because of a hurricane, while in the most recent one, Notre Dame managed just 10 points and 307 yards against a similarly struggling Stanford team that had yielded 86 points in its previous two games.

Team Chaos: Tennessee

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Just as no lead is safe when playing a baseball game at Coors Field in Denver, no deficit has been insurmountable this season for Tennessee. Well, except when it played defending national champion Alabama last week, but the Volunteers aren't alone in that respect.

The Vols lost 49-10 at home, but even when they trailed 28-7 in the third quarter, the game didn't feel decided. That's because of what had happened in five of their first six games, all of which saw them trail by at least two scores only to go on a tear and execute a massive comeback to either win or force overtime.

Tennessee trailed Appalachian State 13-3 late in the third quarter of its opener only to win 20-13 in OT. A week later, it spotted Virginia Tech a 14-0 lead in front of 150,000-plus fans at Bristol Motor Speedway but won 45-24.

Two weeks after that, the Vols were down 21-0 at home to Florida, prompting many fans to leave at halftime—and some to conduct exit interviews that, in hindsight, look embarrassing. Tennessee scored 38 unanswered to win by 10, snapping an 11-game skid to the Gators.

Double-digit holes at Georgia and Texas A&M the following two weeks were both erased as well, with the Vols winning at Georgia on a Hail Mary (after giving up the lead with 10 seconds left) but falling in double overtime at Texas A&M in a game where they turned it over seven times.

Best Game: Clemson 42, Louisville 36 (Oct. 1)

It's a shame someone had to lose when Louisville visited Clemson in Week 5, since both teams deserved to win a game that featured multiple comebacks, a slew of tremendous individual efforts and one big defensive play in the final seconds.

Clemson had been shaky at times during its first four games, but in the first half, it looked much like the team that blazed through the 2015 season to reach the national final. The Tigers built a 28-10 halftime lead behind three touchdown passes from Deshaun Watson, who was doing the seemingly unthinkable and outplaying Louisville's Lamar Jackson.

But Jackson came out on fire in the second half, leading the Cardinals on a 26-0 run to take an eight-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Clemson then scored twice in less than four minutes to retake the lead, but with 3:14 left on the clock, Jackson had plenty of time to put together a game-winning drive.

The Cardinals drove inside Clemson's 10-yard line with 48 seconds left before the Tigers defense took over. Jackson was stuffed on a run, then threw an incomplete pass, setting up fourth down and needing to get inside the 2-yard line for a first down. He connected with receiver James Quick, but Quick was knocked out of bounds a yard short to seal Clemson's win.

Clemson is 7-0 and in line to return to the playoff, while 6-1 Louisville could be in the mix for a semifinal bid as well if it wins out and chaos ensues in other power conferences.

Best Bad Game to Watch: North Carolina State 10, Notre Dame 3 (Oct. 8)

Not every college football game can be a masterpiece. There are plenty of duds each week on a schedule of 60-plus games, but even in these, you can find some enjoyment, like taking in the wonderment of a contest that essentially devolved into a full-contact Slip 'N Slide.

Hurricane Matthew caused postponements and cancellations as it swept along the Atlantic coast in early October, and for the games that still went on while heavy rain and strong winds pummeled the Carolinas, it made for nearly unplayable conditions. But that didn't stop Notre Dame and North Carolina State from plodding their way through 60 minutes of fumbles, flubs and very few points.

The teams combined for 311 yards of total offense and zero offensive touchdowns. Each somehow managed to connect on a field goal in the first three quarters, but the only other scoring came on a blocked punt in the fourth quarter, returned 16 yards by NC State's Dexter Wright.

Somehow the teams only committed a total of five turnovers during the deluge. They also combined for four drives of 10 or more plays that resulted in nothing: either a missed field goal or a turnover on downs. 

Most Shocking Game Result: Louisville 63, Florida State 20 (Sept. 17)

Lopsided wins over Charlotte and Syracuse earned Louisville plenty of early attention this season and also installed quarterback Lamar Jackson as the early leader in the "September Heisman" competition. But many weren't yet sold on the Cardinals through two weeks because they hadn't faced a notable opponent, something that was on tap for Week 3 when perennial ACC power Florida State came to town.

FSU had already shown its mettle by rallying from a 28-6 hole to beat Ole Miss on Labor Day, and its offense also featured a breakout star in redshirt freshman quarterback Deondre Francois. Combine that with a defense loaded with future NFL players, and the Seminoles were considered the first real test for Louisville.

Or so we thought.

Jackson had two of his five total touchdowns in the first quarter, and after FSU pulled within four points at 14-10, the Cardinals erupted for 49 points in just over 25 minutes of action. It was one of the most lopsided losses ever for a Top 10 team (the Seminoles were second in the AP Top 25 poll), and the 63 points were the most they had allowed in school history.

Best Catch: Ohio State WR Noah Brown vs. Oklahoma (Sept. 17)

Wide receivers continue to do amazing things when the ball is thrown their way in college football, with dozens of potential "catch of the year" candidates each week. However, it's going to be hard for anyone to top what Ohio State's Noah Brown did in mid-September during a career performance against Oklahoma.

The sophomore had five catches for 72 yards and four touchdowns during the Buckeyes' 45-24 win in Norman in Week 3, with three of those scores coming in the second quarter. The last was the one that stands out, not just because of how Brown caught the ball but for where he was when it came his way.

Oklahoma defensive back Michiah Quick had him blanketed (and face-guarded), basically blinding Brown from sight of the ball as the two ran toward the back corner of the end zone. Yet Brown managed to get his right hand on the ball and pin it to Quick's back as the two came down and then went out of bounds.

The catch was similar to one Stanford's Francis Owusu made last season with the help of his UCLA defender's back.

Best Big-Man Play: Pitt OL Brian O'Neill TD Run vs. Georgia Tech (Oct. 8)

As much as we love the amazing athletic feats that college football players seemingly accomplish without effort, they pale in comparison to the joy that comes from one of the larger gentlemen on the field getting into the action. The big men on the offensive and defensive line don't get enough credit for the work they put in, so when one of them gets his hands on the ball, we can't help but root for something great to happen.

Last year, SB Nation created an award to honor these big-guy feats, the Piesman Trophy. And the competition for this season's pie-shaped hardware has already been fierce, with plenty of great scoop-and-scores and big-man pick-sixes on defense as well as some swiftness of feet returning blocks punts and kicks.

But we're going with a big-man play that happened by design, meaning a coaching staff spent valuable practice time working on a single play that could easily result in disaster but instead produced glory.

On the first drive of Pittsburgh's 37-34 home win over Georgia Tech, the Panthers had 1st-and-10 at Tech's 24 when quarterback Nathan Peterman rolled right and then threw backward to his left to 6'6", 300-pound sophomore Brian O'Neill. He hauled in the throw like a seasoned wideout—for the record, he was converted from a tight end prior to the 2015 season—and rumbled untouched for the 24-yard touchdown.

All recruiting information courtesy of Scout.com, unless otherwise noted. All statistics provided by CFBStats, unless otherwise noted. 

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.