Never Saw It Comin': 21 Biggest Surprises of the 2010 College Football Season
Every year college football is chock-full of surprises. Before each year we all love to hear our own voices predicting what the new season holds.
Things never work out the way we wager though, do they?
From the Auburn Tigers becoming unlikely national champions to Andrew Luck forgoing a first round pick to return to Stanford, college football fans were sure in for a treat this past year.
It may be fun to get into a prediction frenzy for the coming year, but ignore what the coaches say–don't forget about last year.
21. Boise State Chokes
1 of 21It was supposed to be their legendary season.
All the pieces were there. A Heisman candidate quarterback throwing to two of the best receivers in the country, a stout defense, and a schedule of weak opponents to beat up on all year long.
Then came future NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the Nevada Wolfpack.
And two missed field goals.
I'm not sure what the bigger surprise was: the Boise State loss itself or the most reliable kicker in WAC history, Groza finalist Kyle Brotzman, shanking two under-30 yard field goals.
Turns out the Boise nation turned their backs on that poor kid pretty fast.
Maybe it all works out for the best anyway. BSU vs. TCU in the Rose Bowl wouldn't have really made a statement for small schools. It has to be Big vs. Little to do that.
20. Smooth Jazz Was Not Superman
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Admittedly, this wasn't much of a surprise. Who actually expected John Brantley to outshine Tim Tebow?
The real surprise is just how awful he did. His debut season was a complete flop. His 9:10 TD:INT ratio speaks for itself.
Can you blame the poor guy, though? Who's bright idea was it to put a pocket passer in a spread offense?
19: BCS Championship Little Engine That Could Didn't Produce
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As a terrified true freshman, Garrett Gilbert filled in for an injured Colt McCoy in the 2009 BCS Championship game. He did about as well as you could expect a true freshman to do against one of the best defenses in the nation on the biggest stage in the entire game.
He somehow managed to hang three touchdowns on the Crimson Tide, and showed a lot of promise for the coming year. Gilbert looked to be the next great Texas quarterback.
With all the talent that Texas has, however, Gilbert couldn't get anything going, and Texas suffered their first losing year since 1986, going 5-7 and only winning two Big 12 matchups.
There aren't even any players on the team that were alive in 1986.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
18. TCU Got to Play the Big Boys
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In the same situation as Boise State, TCU has not really been able to prove themselves.
That all changed in 2010. They played Wisconsin, 11-1, in the second biggest game of the year, the Rose Bowl.
TCU won by two. While it was not a large margin of victory, TCU still showed they can hang with the big boys. The co-Big Ten champions went home with an 11-2 record.
Was it really a surprise that they lost, though, after almost their whole conference looked awful during their bowl games as well?
17: Three-Way Tie in the Big Ten
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The Big Ten is a big conference, obviously. Big Ten fans say it's the biggest and the baddest. With all the talent in that conference you would expect them to eat each other up all year and everyone stumble out with multiple losses.
A scheduling anomaly, however, dictated that three teams—Ohio State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin—achieved an 11-1 record during the regular season...in the same conference. How in the world does that happen?
16. Virginia Tech Miraculously Saves Their Season
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Tyrod Taylor and the Virginia Tech Hokies began the 2010 season with a game against Boise State.
They lost.
It wasn't a terribly huge surprise. Boise State is a good team. Ever since they shocked Oklahoma—and the world—in 2007, we knew they could play.
Then they lost to Division II school James Madison, who most of you probably never even heard of before this game.
What did the Hokies do after a dismal start to the season when it was clear they would go 0 for 12?
Oh, they just went on to win their next 10 straight regular season games against the fairly competitive ACC and then win the conference championship itself.
Truly miraculous.
Such a shame, though, that they were completely drubbed by Stanford in the Orange Bowl.
15. USC Remains a Recruiting Powerhouse
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In the wake of the Reggie Bush scandal, USC had the hammer dropped on them by the NCAA.
A ban from bowl games for two years and a loss of 30 scholarships should cripple a school, at least for a short time, maybe a season or two.
How did USC cope with the brutish NCAA? By recruiting 14 four-star recruits, and one five-star, No. one wide receiver in the nation in George Farmer.
I guess the NCAA told them what for.
14. Jake Locker's Picture Added to Dictionary...Right Next to Regret.
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Jake Locker, the storied quarterback who played for the Washington Huskies for two seasons after starting his freshman year, decided to come back for his fourth season in 2010.
He was a lock for the first round, maybe even first overall, in last years draft. The man loves his Huskies, though.
He came back and barely completed half his passes, and for the season Locker threw for a meager 2200 yards.
He led the Huskies to a 7-6 record, losing their bowl game against Nebraska and scoring only a single touchdown.
Locker had all the tools to be a franchise quarterback before the 2010 season had he left early.
Fortunately for him he still does. A good combine and A.J. Green claiming he was the best quarterback there have put this guy back in the first round.
Those who do not learn from mistakes in history are doomed to repeat them, Mr. Luck.
13. No. 1 Alabama Derailed by the South Carolina Gamecocks.
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The Alabama Crimson Tide came into the season favored to repeat as champions. It looked good at first.
They drubbed Penn State, Arkansas (okay, maybe this game was pretty close) and Florida, all teams who were supposed to have good seasons.
In an early season game against the then-unrecognized Auburn Tigers, Gamecocks' coach Steve Spurrier benched starting quarterback Stephen Garcia for playing horrible.
Two weeks later, Stephen Garcia clobbered the defending national champions in the game of his life. Go figure.
This was the third NCAA sport where the Gamecocks upset the No. 1 team in the country this past year.
"We don't care about winning it all; we just don't want you to".
12: LSU Defeats Tennessee By...Doing Nothing.
10 of 21Without getting into too many details, both of these teams and coaches basically had no idea what was going on.
LSU had no clue where the game clock was, the snapper had no clue where the quarterback was, and Tennessee had no clue what numbers in general are.
You get to see Derek Dooley dance around after he just secured his biggest career victory as head coach...until he realizes he didn't win.
It was pretty classic watching Les Miles chase him down for a handshake.
"I eat stuff off the turf so you had best shake my hand".
This game gave the whole country reason to poke fun at the conference.
"It's just another day in the SEC".
Yes, the whole SEC is full of illiterate people who can't count.
11. North Carolina Hangs with LSU While Missing Half Their Team
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After the NCAA started asking the North Carolina Tar Heels some questions about agents, the room began to collect some sort of foul odor.
It turned out something was rotten, and 12 Tar Heels, including some big time playmakers, didn't get to play in the game against LSU due to suspension.
What should have been a lopsided game turned out to be a thriller. Ultimately, however, the Heels fell to the Tigers, 24-30.
I bet those players in trouble wish they could have that one back.
10. Ole Miss Falls to Jacksonwho State?
12 of 21After a bit of trouble, the Oregon Ducks' wayward son Jeremiah Masoli found himself in Oxford, Mississippi, home of the Ole Miss Rebels. It was to be a season for the ages.
Instead they found themselves thumped by a Division II school, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, in an offensive shootout. They lost in double overtime, 48-49.
I guess they should have went for the two point conversion, huh?
They then proceeded to compile an awful record of 4-8.
This wasn't the last time they got clobbered by a team from the great state of Alabama in 2010, either.
I suppose that new Ole Miss Black Bear mascot is bad luck.
9. Vanderbilt Actually Wins an SEC Game
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Okay, so the win was against an equally awful Ole Miss team. It was a pretty convincing win, though, 28-14.
8. Greg "SackElroy" Gets Clobbered All Year
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After a stellar debut season in 2009, which included the coveted Crystal Football, Greg McElroy looked poised to have an astronomical year in 2010. His offensive line, however, had something to say about that.
After doing so well in 2009, Greg McElroy's mother sent cookies to Alabama's offensive linemen for protecting her little boy. Yum!
They thanked her by letting McElroy get sacked a whopping 32 times in 2010. Some of them were, admittedly, his fault too.
He still was able to cement himself as a late round draft pick, though.
7. The Big Ten Has It's Bluff Called: The New Year's Day Massacre
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Big Ten fans claim the Big Ten is the best conference. They say it has the toughest teams in all the land, and that teams from other conferences just couldn't hack it in the Big Ten, so all ye beware the Mighty Big Ten.
Are they bluffing, trying to scare you off, or are they really some mean sons of guns?
The Big Ten had eight teams representing the conference in the 2010-2011 bowl season. They came home with five losses on New Year's Day. Other than Iowa's win over Mizzou (Illinois actually has a football team?) their only other notable victory came when Ohio State eked out a win against Arkansas, 31-26, in the Sugar Bowl.
On Jan. 1 they gave up 200 points total. Ouch.
6. Oregon Nearly Derailed...by a Farce?
16 of 21"How in the world do we slow the tempo of those crazy Ducks?"
College football coaches asked themselves that question all year long. The red-headed stepchild of the Pac-10, the Cal Golden Bears, apparently solved the puzzle.
After much sneakery, the Golden Bears nearly pulled off the biggest upset of the year with the biggest BCS ramifications.
The Ducks somehow pulled off a 15-13 victory. Quite a score considering they clobbered everyone else.
The mighty—so to speak—Ducks nearly beaten by a feint? Didn't see that coming.
5. The Greatest State Sees the Greatest Iron Bowl Ever
17 of 21After the Auburn Tigers spotted Alabama 24 points, the Alabama Crimson Tide seemed to have destroyed the Tigers' championship hopes, revenge for the Tigers doing the same thing to the Tide in 1989.
Instead, the Tide shut down in the second half of the 2010 Iron Bowl, the yearly meeting of the two teams.
Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers overcame the 24 point deficit to clinch a 28-27 victory and keep their championship season alive.
This was the epitome of a tale of two halves.
4. Historic Comeback, History Touchdown, Historic Dance
18 of 21At the culmination of the most historic comeback in Iron Bowl history, Auburn tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen caught the game winning touchdown pass from Cam Newton.
He then proceeded to do a jig that will forever be recorded in the annals of Tiger football lore. Dont'a Hightower was so inspired by the dance that he got in on it too.
Do not attempt this at home, as the results cannot be duplicated. You'll just look silly.
3. Steve Spurrier Defeated by Fabled Elixir
19 of 21How did Cam Newton clobber everything that came his way? Sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson nearly cracked the secret.
Nearly.
Though he wouldn't part with the secret ingredient, Cam Newton did allow her to sample his prized tonic.
So that's how Newton blew up Spurrier's Gamecocks...twice.
(It was probably just pickle juice).
2. Future NFL Hall of Famer Doesn't Go to the NFL
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Let's face it. Andrew Luck is about as close to a "once in a lifetime player" as you can get. If he stays healthy he'll be in the Hall of Fame.
He was projected to be the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. By everyone.
For whatever reason, however, he decided to return for his senior year with the Stanford Cardinal. Wish him luck (pun intended), because after seeing what happened to Jake Locker, he'll need it.
1. The World Is Still Standing
21 of 21(Viewer discretion advised: M Rated video for language)
Unless you are an Auburn Tigers fan, you have been left wanting. Your football team didn't win it all.
Whether they were like New Mexico State and lost everything, or if they just barely missed it like the Oregon Ducks, the season could have gone better for your team.
All was not meant to be, however, and your team just didn't make it.
Look around, though. The world is still here. Now don't you feel silly for thinking the world was at an end when your team lost that football game?
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
