College Football: Biggest Surprise from Every BCS Conference Team This Season

We've had many, many surprises this season in college football. Some big and some not as big but still unexpected. It comes with the territory, and I'm sure next year won't be any different.

Yet for this read, we're going to take a look at the biggest surprise for each BCS conference team this 2011 season. Nothing's concrete here, and I'm sure you will have some other surprises for your favorite teams than I have.

But let's have some fun with this and just quickly run down the list.

Boston College

For the Eagles, I'm going with Montel Harris missing most of the season with a left knee injury. Harris was on pace to rewrite a lot of the BC rushing records and make some All-American teams. But he got hurt at the start of the year and never got on track.

Clemson

This is an easy one: the emergence of true freshman WR Sammy Watkins. I had Watkins as one of my top-25 overall recruits last year, and he proved me right. 

I almost feel I underrated him. Watkins established himself early in the season as the alpha male in the Clemson passing game, finishing with 72 grabs, 1,073 yards and 10 TDs.

Florida State

The three-game losing streak and not winning the ACC has to be the surprise for Florida State. The 'Noles were a preseason top-10 team and looked like a BCS title contender.

Yet they lost to Oklahoma then Clemson then Wake Forest in consecutive weeks—no ACC title, no BCS bowl game.

Maryland

Even though it was his first year at Maryland, Randy Edsall should have fared better than a 2-10 record. That's my biggest surprise for the Terps.

Sure, maybe Maryland is not the most talented team in the ACC, but 2-10? A sixth-place finish in the Atlantic Division? That's a surprise to me.

NC State

The biggest surprise from NC State this season, for me, was the dominant win the Wolfpack had over Clemson on November 19th.

NC State waxed the No. 7 team in the country 37-13. They cleared Clemson in all phases of the game and likely ended the remaining BCS bowl hopes Dabo Swinney had.

Wake Forest

Easy pick here for the Demon Deacons: beating Florida State. That has to be the the pick for everybody around the program.

Wake Forest is not a sexy football school, and FSU has been bullying them around for years. So beating Florida State wins out as the top surprise for WF in 2011.

Duke

Not sold on any standout surprises for Duke. But competing hard with Virginia Tech and only losing 14-10 was a surprise. But so was the opening day loss to Richmond, so take your pick.

Georgia Tech

I have to go with WR Stephen Hill averaging 30 yards a catch. That's a shock to me because Georgia Tech runs a triple option offense. 

Hill finished the season with 26 grabs for a remarkable 785 yards and four scores. Thirty yards a grab is big time, but 30 yards a grab in an option offense is crazy.

Miami

Another easy pick here: the Nevin Shapiro scandal. I hate to open up a sore wound, but this was a bombshell shock.

The person I felt the worst for was Al Golden, as Golden knew nothing about the incoming scandal during the time he was interviewing for the job. 

North Carolina

Another easy one: Butch Davis' firing right before camp opened. I don't think many people expected Davis to be fired, but the the academic fraud, the agent contact and illegal NFL coaching contact all happened on his watch.

Virginia

The fact that the Wahoos went 8-4 and competed for an ACC Coastal Division title is by far the largest surprise for them this year. No one expected Mike London's team to compete like this, and now it gets to go to a bowl game and play for a ninth win.

Virginia Tech

I'm going with the durability and production of David Wilson. Wilson touched the ball through rushing, receiving and returning a grand total of 293 times, with 1,595 rushing yards, 112 receiving yards and 376 return yards.

His durability, stamina and production were outstanding for 5'10", 200-pounder.

Baylor

Back to back losses to Texas A&M and Oklahoma State do it for me. I know Baylor was a bit of a Cinderella team this year, but the Bears could put some points on the board.

Led by QB Robert Griffin III, it's shocking to see Baylor only scored 28 against the Aggies and 24 against the Cowboys, whose defense is pretty suspect.

Iowa State

Easy pick for the Cyclones: beating No. 2 Oklahoma State in double overtime. The Pokes came in to town looking to beat up on ISU and continue their march to the BCS title game.

Well someone forgot to tell them that Paul Rhoads' teams are known to be giant killers, as Iowa State pulled off the upset in mid-November.

Kansas

I know Kansas is not that good, but a 10-game losing streak to end the season? Not one win over an FBS school? That's not that big of surprise, but chances should say within 10 games, you get lucky at least once.

Kansas State

Colin Klein pulling off a 1,000-1,000 yard season is the biggest surprise, along with Kansas State going 9-2. K-State was thought to be a middle of the pack team in the Big 12, and Klein tossing for 1,587 yards and running for 1,013 yards and 25 TDs is a shock.

Missouri

Before this season started, nobody nor their mothers had any inclination that Missouri would be joining the SEC next year—no one.

But, yep, the Tigers will be joining the SEC on July 1, 2012.

Oklahoma

For any other team, going 9-2, with a chance to go 10-2 before a bowl is a fantastic year to date. But when you're the preseason No.1 team, that type of season is a bit of a surprise and disappointment. 

So that's my surprise for OU, as this was thought to be Bob Stoops' most complete team in several years and a prime time, clear-cut BCS title contender.

Oklahoma State

I've already mentioned it with Iowa State. Losing to the Cyclones as the No. 2 team in the nation was a huge surprise for the Pokes. There'll be no BCS title game, and with a loss to Oklahoma this Saturday, no BCS bowl at all.

Texas

I liked David Ash as a prep player, but I didn't think he would play as a true freshman at Texas. I saw Garrett Gilbert there, plus Case McCoy looked pretty good in the spring game.

Months later, Ash was a co-starter, and Gilbert was transferring to SMU. Anything can happen these days.

Texas A&M

At the start of this season, if you would have told me that the Aggies would go 6-6 this year, I would have been looking at you like you were insane. They were a preseason sexy pick to win the Big 12 and compete for a BCS bowl.

Now, they're indeed 6-6. I guess you're not crazy.

Texas Tech

The combination of Oklahoma State's defense being average on its best day and Texas Tech running a high-octane passing attack should have resulted in at least 42 points for the Red Raiders.

Based on those factors, losing 66-6 to the Cowboys at home is a big surprise. 

Cincinnati

For the past three consecutive seasons Cincy has had a 1,000-yard receiver. I know Brian Kelly is not there anymore, but Butch Jones runs similar passing concepts, so it's not that big of an adjustment.

This 2011 season surprisingly will end with the Bearcats sans a 1,000-yard pass catcher.

Connecticut

I think for UConn, when the second week of the season came, the Huskies already knew the game was over because Vanderbilt was thought to be a horrible team. Yet, Vandy invited Connecticut down to Tennessee and shocked them with a 24-21 victory.

Louisville

I expected true freshman QB Teddy Bridgewater to get some playing time this season. But I had no idea he'd complete 66 percent of his passes this season, helping Louisville get a 7-5 record.

Pitt

Sorry to do this Pitt fans, but the biggest surprise of your season was losing all-world RB Ray Graham to injury. Graham almost beat South Florida himself on a Thursday night game, and just a short time later, was lost to a knee injury.

He still finished the season with 958 yards and nine TDs in just eight games.

Rutgers

For the Scarlet Knights I'm going with the shuffling and four-game benching of QB Chas Dodd. Dodd flashed some promise last year, and you figured this would be a big year of growth.

Nope, he was benched for four games for freshman QB Gary Nova, and a QB controversy is starting to simmer in Piscataway. 

South Florida

All right, all right, I know I picked USF to win the Big East and go to a BCS bowl by default due to the conference's BCS bowl tie-in. I looked right when the Bulls upset Notre Dame in Week 1.

But now they are 5-6, a lower-tier team in the Big East, and they have to beat West Virginia this Thursday just to be bowl eligible.

Syracuse

Going 1-5 in the Big East is a shock to me, because this conference really isn't that good. Syracuse is 1-5 at the moment in conference play, and I'm sure Doug Marrone has to be thinking, "This is not how I planned this since I left the Saints."

West Virginia

Bill Stewart was a popular figure in Morgantown. So when he was busted trying to sabotage, discredit and just plain ol' dig up some dirt on Dana Holgorsen, that was easily WVU's biggest surprise for 2011. 

Illinois

When you start the season 6-0 and it ends with your football coach being fired, that has to be a huge surprise. It was announced today that Ron Zook has been fired as Illinois' head coach.

Indiana

I know this has nothing to do with he Hoosier team itself, but it does have a huge affect on the program: the largest surprise is the commitment then decommitment from 5-star QB Gunner Kiel.

Indiana was thought to be building the future of the program around Kiel when he pledged, only to see him back off his IU commitment months later.

Ohio State

Pretty much the whole season has been a shock to OSU. From Jim Tressel not being there, to the Urban Meyer rumors, to Braxton Miller's heroics against Wisconsin and more—take your pick of the biggest surprise for the Buckeyes.

Penn State

I'm not going to touch any specifics of the situation or scandal or whatever term you use for what occurred at Penn State. Yet, I do feel obligated to name the firing of Joe Paterno as the biggest surprise this year.

We all know the power JoePa had in Happy Valley, and for him to have been fired is a huge shock.

Purdue

Losing to Rice is a surprise and kind of embarrassing. Rice isn't that good—it's one of the bottom dweller programs in all of college sports. Just by being a better overall program Purdue should have won that game in Week 2.

Wisconsin

Easily, the emergence and outstanding caliber of play of transfer starting QB Russell Wilson is the biggest surprise for Wisconsin. 

Wilson came in late, right before camp, used flash cards to ace a crash course of the Badger offense, worked his tail off to be voted team captain and lit up the field for 2,692 yards, 28 TDs and a crazy 72.2 completion percentage.

Iowa

Looking at Iowa's offensive stats and seeing Marcus Coker having 1,384 yards rushing and Marvin McNutt having 1,269 yards receiving is a surprise to me. Iowa plays in the Big Ten and has been known to be a bit conservative on offense.

Both players combined for 27 TDs.

Michigan

In one of my preseason pieces, I had Michigan ranked inside the top 25. I took a ton of heat for that, as I said I thought Big Blue would be in more games competitively than people thought.

Nice saying I told you so, but, you get my drift. Michigan went 10-2 this year and beat Ohio State and Notre Dame, falling just short of a Big Ten title game shot. Heck of a year for the upstart Wolverines and first-year coach Brady Hoke.

Michigan State

For Sparty, seeing Le'Veon Bell as the team's leading rusher and not Edwin Baker is my biggest surprise. Baker had 1,156 yards to Bell's 567 last year, and now Bell ran for 794 yards to Baker's 624 this season.

Baker was viewed in the preseason as one the premier players in the Big Ten and RBs in the country.

Minnesota

For the Golden Gophers, I'm going with the win over Iowa. The Hawkeyes are a substantially more stable program than Minnesota is and for Minny to pull off the 22-21 win is a surprise.

Nebraska

For Big Red, I had them winning the Big Ten in the preseason, so them losing three games is a surprise to me. The loss to Northwestern is also a surprise, and so is the fact that Taylor Martinez's completion percentage from last year decreased.

Northwestern

Losing to Army and starting a five-game losing streak goes as the biggest surprise for Northwestern. They went on to lose to Illinois, Michigan, Iowa and Penn State before beating up Indiana to halt the slide.

California

The biggest surprise to me for Cal was the manner in which Isi Sofele took the rushing load over. Cal has been blessed with great backs like Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen the past few years.

Sofele ran for 328 and no scores last year, but this season he rushed for 1,266 yards and nine scores.

Oregon

De'Anthony Thomas was a big-time recruit and one of the preseason true freshmen to watch. But to me, it's still a bit of a shock that he was Oregon's leading receiver.

Thomas hauled 40 passes for 558 yards and nine TDs. Oh yeah, he also ran for 440 yards and five TDs. 

Almost forgot, Thomas also had 858 yards on kickoff returns too.

Oregon State

I'm a little surprised Oregon State went 3-9 this year. I thought they'd be better than that. Instead, they started the year with Ryan Katz only to see Sean Mannion take over. Better luck next year in Corvalis.

Stanford

For Stanford, I'm going with the fact that OG David DeCastro outplayed OT Jonathan Martin. DeCastro was fantastic this year if you ask me, and my dad says he should be a first-round pick next April.

Martin has been the star of the Cardinal front, but watch the tape and you see DeCastro lighting people up.

Washington

Steve Sarkisian was a bit unsure of who his QB was this spring: Keith Price or Nick Montana. Well, after the first couple weeks of the season, it was obvious Sark picked the right guy as Price was money in the bank.

Price finished the year with a 67.4 completion rate, 29 TDs and 2,625 yards. 

Washington State

Jeff Tuel came back this year after a broken clavicle, then suffered a bad calf injury. So Wazzu turned to Marshall Lobbestael. All Lobbestael did was put up a 138.3 efficiency and average 234 yards passing a game.

Arizona

Biggest surprise for the folks in Tuscon easily is starting the year with Mike Stoops leading the program and finishing the year of 2011 under the leadership of one Rich Rodriguez.

Rich Rod in Arizona—sparks are bound to fly one way or the other.

Arizona State

Arizona State started as a really sexy pick to win the Pac-12 South. USC was ineligible, and it was the next best team. ASU even beat USC early in the season.

But now to see them at 6-6 and on a four-game losing streak is pretty shocking. This also could be Dennis Erickson's last year.

Colorado

Colorado winning three games is the biggest surprise for them, in my opinion. I just felt before the year started that it'd win no more than two games.

But Jon Embree's squad took out Utah last Friday in a 17-14 triumph to finish the year with three victories. 

UCLA

Now, you lose 50-0 and still get to the Pac-12 title game? Beats me. UCLA knows it is not the Pac-12 South champ and has no place playing Oregon this Friday.

The Bruins having champions in the same breath as their name is a total surprise, as they won the South by default.

USC

For the Trojans, you could go with them winning 10 games, or even the improvement of the defense, or the play of Dion Bailey, or the play of the offensive line as a unit or the rise of Curtis McNeal.

But for me, I had no idea Marqise Lee would be this good of a WR this fast. I thought Lee would be a safety at USC, but he came in, dominated camp as a true freshman and wound up with 73 receptions for 1,143 yards and 11 TDs.

He's a freshman All-American—hands down.

Utah

Jordan Wynn came into this year with a bum shoulder from last year. In fact, you could tell it was effecting his arm strength. But Wynn kept telling people he was fine, and you thought it would improve.

It never did as Wynn only lasted four games, and John White had to rush for 1,405 yards to get the Utes to seven wins.

Florida

The Gators being 6-6 is a total shock to me. I figured with Will Muschamp coaching up the defense and Charlie Weis calling the offensive plays, the Gators would be a daunting foe to everyone.

But they weren't. I guess more work has to be done at UF than we all thought before the season started.

Georgia

Going with another team record surprise here: when UGA started the season 0-2, almost the entire Peach wanted Mark Richt's head on a platter.

All Richt did was reel off 10 straight wins and get Georgia into the SEC title game this weekend. That has to be a surprise to many people based on how this season started.

Kentucky

I knew Danny Trevethan was good. I knew he was really good. I even knew Danny Trevathan would lead the Wildcats in tackles.

But I'm surprise to see him as the team's leader in interceptions. It seems as if Trevathan did everything for Kentucky except sell popcorn at halftime.

South Carolina

The Gamecocks had a few surprises this year. Losing their best player this year in Marcus Lattimore was a shock. Alshon Jeffrey's numbers were not as good as recent years. And there was the Stephon Gilmore fiasco. 

But how about the play making that DE Melvin Ingram displayed? The fumble recoveries, forced fumbles, fumble returns and interceptions all helped South Carolina get to 10 wins.

Tennessee

Tyler Bray came out this season looking every bit like the hotshot QB recruit many people knew he was in high school. Yet a thumb injury derailed his season after seven games. He tossed for 1,983 yards and 17 TDs to just six INTs.

Vanderbilt

How about winning six games and being bowl eligible? Is that not a huge shock for Vanderbilt? Some people were saying it wouldn't even win a game this year.

But the Commodores started the year 3-0 with wins over UConn and Ole Miss. James Franklin looks to be on the right track.

He also has a bone to pick with Derek Dooley.

Alabama

I think if you would have told Alabama it would not win the SEC West and not go to the SEC title game, it'd be in tears wondering what happened to its season.

Then when you told the Crimson Tide they still would win 11 games and likely play for the BCS title, they'd be very perplexed.

But that's the surprise for 'Bama: no SEC West title, no SEC title, but still the possibility for a national title.

Arkansas

I'm not sure where to turn to for Arkansas: the 41-17 loss to LSU, the 38-14 loss to Alabama, losing Knile Davis before the season started, losing Greg Childs or even the fact Bobby Petrino is still they're coach (I'm kidding).

Winning 10 games amid the circumstances they've faced is the way to go.

Auburn

Auburn winning seven games is a surprise to many. Especially after the way it started the season with a nail biter against Utah State. I saw some projections of the Tigers winning just three games while many others had them around five.

Gene Chizik squeezed seven out of this team which is a great feat and a surprise.

LSU

The Tigers are 12-0 and have beat eight ranked teams this year. The fact they've done it with average at best QB play is remarkable. Jarrett Lee is better than Jordan Jefferson in my opinion, but Lee isn't a world beater either.

For the Tigers to be where they're at and to have done what they've done with the quarterbacking they've had is awesome.

Ole Miss

For the Rebels, Houston Nutt had four years to turn things around, and he just didn't do it. I'm surprised because I thought he'd get one more year, but Ole Miss fired him anyway as the it went 2-10 on the field and failed to win a single game in SEC play.

Mississippi State

I'm surprised MSU went 6-6 this year. I thought it'd have an upset or two up its sleeve to get to eight wins. This was supposed to be maybe Dan Mullen's best team since he's been there, but the Bulldogs fell to be just another middle of the pack SEC team.

Notre Dame

The Irish losing four games this year is my biggest surprise. Before the season started, there was a ton of confidence coming out of South Bend and BCS bowl talk was on and poppin'.

Now, the Irish are 8-4, lost to USF and Michigan to start the season, have had to fight whispers of quitting against USC and lost the final regular season game to Stanford.