CFB Worst Performances of the Year Awards: Texas, Florida, Iowa Lead the Way

With all the awards recognizing the outstanding performers of the year, it is time to recognize the least impressive performances.  Here are the winners.

Player

John Brantley, QB, Florida.  Replacing one of the best college football players that ever played would be impossible, but Brantley gained enough experience over the last three years to expect only a mild drop off in production.  Instead, Brantley treated Gator Nation to 2000 yards passing with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions—and a terrible record. 

Runner-up candidates

Dion Lewis, RB, Pittsburgh.  As a freshman last year, Lewis rushed for 1800 yards with 17 touchdowns.  He definitely hit a sophomore slump, rushing for just 700 yards with eight touchdowns this year. 

Jake Locker, QB, Washington.  This was supposed to be the season Locker lived up to his hype.  Though the season has not been a complete disaster, he has only thrown for 2000 yards with 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions.  Not exactly the performance Husky Nation was expecting this year.

Coach

Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh.  Perpetually a coach that underachieves, 2010 was supposed to be different.  With a seasoned team returning in a watered down Big East, Pitt was favored to win the conference.  All was fine just a few weeks ago, but November losses to UConn and WVU all but eliminated Pitt from the race.  Coupled with non-conference losses to ND, Utah and Miami, the Panthers once again failed to live up to the hype. 

Runner-up candidates

Mack Brown, Texas.  The losses to graduation were substantial, and most expected the Longhorns to take a step back.  Unfortunately, they took five steps back, finishing 5-7, which is embarrassing considering the talent on the team.  This team was not prepared for the season, and Brown is largely to blame. 

Rick Neuheisel, UCLA.  He ran his mouth when he was hired about stopping USC and making UCLA a power again in the Pac-10.  The Bruins took a minor step forward in 2009, and signs were pointing in the right direction that year three under Neuheisel would be good.  It did not happen.  UCLA is 4-7 with a game against USC this week.

Team

Iowa Hawkeyes.  Coming into the year, all of the pieces were in place for a National Title run: veteran quarterback, good receivers, capable running backs, the best defensive line in college football and a favorable schedule.  They failed miserably.  Finishing with a loss or two would be forgivable, but five losses is tragic.

Runner-up candidates

Arizona Wildcats.  The season looked promising after an upset win over Iowa in September, but three consecutive losses to Stanford, USC and Oregon derailed a possible Pac-10 championship team.

Florida.  Even with the loss of Tim Tebow, the Gators should have been better.  The SEC East was atrocious, and the talent on the team was too good to be this bad.  Losing Charlie Strong and Dan Mullen appear to be having a major impact on the program. 

Conference

The Big East.  No big shock here.  Thirsty for respect since Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College bolted for the ACC, the conference did not do itself any favors this year.  No team is good, and the likely champ, UConn, has four losses and is unranked.  TCU may help a little, but this conference needs serious work to become legitimate.

Runner-Up

The ACC.  Between Miami’s collapse, VA Tech’s non-conference losses, North Carolina’s off and on the field woes and the lack of signature wins this year, the issues facing the ACC are substantial.  John Feinstein was right when he said the ACC is irrelevant.

Better luck next year.