| 19 October 2011
Hello, and welcome to the 3,257th column, article or blog post on “college football’s mid-season awards.” Please take a seat and grab a fresh beverage. We will get started momentarily…
Kidding of course, although I do find it ironic that every writer on the ‘net is doing some sort of mid-season awards column this week. How unoriginal. Who do these guys (and gals) think they are anyway?
Except of course, I’m doing one too. But instead of handing out the traditional, generic awards I’m going a little bit off-base, and in a bit of a different direction. You won’t see my “mid-season Heisman winner here,” or my National Championship pick; again, everybody is doing that. And I’m not everyone. Instead look for awards like “worst joke” (undoubtedly said by me), and “goofiest storyline.” Those are much more fun, aren’t they?
So sit back, relax and enjoy.
And remember, the college football season isn’t “half over.” It’s just halfway begun.
The Award For: “Wait, You’re Talking About Them? Of Course We Are!,” Goes To… Alabama And LSU-
Alright, I already know what you’re thinking. “Aaron, are you really opening this column with Alabama and LSU? You’re sooooooo cliché. What can you possibly say about these two that hasn’t already been said.”
Not much actually. Not only are they the two baddest teams in college football right now, but also the most compelling as well. Quite frankly, they may be the most compelling pair of teams we’ve seen in a season since USC and Texas in 2005. Yes we’ve had good teams from AQ conferences separate themselves from the pack as recently as last year with Auburn and Oregon. But none have done it with the sheer force of will that both Alabama and LSU have brought to the table every Saturday in 2011.
And since there really isn’t a ton else to add that I haven’t already said here, here or here, let me just mention one more thing before we move on. That’s this: Maybe the greatest testament to just how good these two teams are, is the fact that I continue to tune into their games week in and week out, even though I know that not only will both teams win, but they will win big, just because I enjoy watching them so much.
That might not seem like the highest of praise, but honestly, is there another team in college football that you can say that about? Does any non-Wisconsin fan tune into Badgers games just to see them crush some second-rate Big Ten opponent? Do you flip on Boise to see them beat Colorado State by 50? Did you catch any of Oklahoma State’s 40-plus point beat down of Kansas? Of course not.
But LSU and Alabama? Well, there’s something compelling in not only watching them win these games, but lay waste to everyone in their paths.
For Alabama, watching them play defense may be my favorite thing about college football this year; really at this point, it isn’t about football as much as it is an “experience.” Nobody plays faster and harder, but also, nobody plays a more sound, perfect, technique-driven defense than these guys either. Honestly, watching this team play defense is like watching an “Idiot’s Guide To Coaching College Football,” book come to life or something; they’re just so fundamentally sound it’s incredible. I really feel like watching Alabama on defense in 2011 might be the closest I ever get to seeing perfection.
As for LSU, well, they’re not quite as technically sound as Alabama, but they have just as many athletes on that side of the ball, and incredibly, might have better overall team chemistry. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen another team whose players (besides maybe Auburn’s last year) get more joy out of watching their teammates make a big play than LSU's do. Speaking of which, you know what my favorite thing about Tyrann Mathieu is? (Well, besides everything!) It’s that when a big play happens on the other side of the field and he isn’t in on it, Mathieu is the first guy racing over to hug/chest-bump the guy who made the tackle. Again, it’s a total team experience.
Speaking of which…
The Award For: “I Totally Thought This Would Be A Bigger Issue, Except It Isn’t At All,” Goes To… Jordan Jefferson’s Return At LSU-
For those of you who read my column’s regularly, you know that when it was announced three weeks ago that Jordan Jefferson would be back, I thought it was the worst thing that could possibly happen to LSU. After all, to that point Jarrett Lee had been outstanding, LSU was winning games, and for a team based so much on harmony (as mentioned in the previous few paragraphs), I just didn’t know how throwing another quarterback into the mix would affect things. Understand, it wasn’t so much LSU in specific, as it was just the dynamic of any football team. It doesn’t matter how harmonious a team is, everyone in the locker room has their preferences and allegiances. It’s just human nature. And because of it, I thought Jordan Jefferson’s return to LSU’s lineup was the worst thing that could happen to LSU.
Until it wasn’t.
Since Jefferson’s return, LSU has won three games, by a combined score of 114-25. So much for drama huh?
More impressively than the final scores though, is that incredibly, Les Miles and his staff have somehow set up a system where both quarterbacks seem to thrive in their roles. Lee is definitely the game-manager-ish guy who comes in, sets the tone early and takes the majority of the snaps. Jefferson is the “maybe I’ll run, maybe I’ll pass, but really you have no idea what the hell I’m doing,” change of pace guy. And together, their skill-sets complement each other perfectly, like they’ve merged into one complete quarterback or something. Incredibly, LSU might be a better team because of it.
So to Jordan Jefferson, I apologize. You were an excellent addition to this team. My bad.
By the way, while we’re talking about awful predictions of mine, how about…
The Award For “Dumbest Preseason Prediction In The History Of Preseason Predictions,” Goes To… Me!!
Hey, remember back in August when I picked Florida State to win the National Championship?
What’s that, you don’t? Great! Me neither!
In all seriousness, I can’t think of a worse prediction I’ve made since starting up this website. The Florida State pick wasn’t just bad, it was inexcusable. Abominable. The only way I could’ve been more wrong was if I not only picked the Seminoles to win the BCS National Championship, but also pegged E.J. Manuel as a dark horse Heisman Trophy favorite…
…
Oh my God, I did that too? What the hell is wrong with me? I would blame my medication, but I’m not taking any. It was just some truly awful prognosticating on my part.
In all seriousness though, the thing that makes me more upset than anything, is that all of the problems that the experts foresaw with Florida State at the beginning of the season (which I ignored) have come to come fruition. Think about it: People said before the season that the Seminoles wouldn’t be able to run the ball. As things stand, they rank 100th in that category nationally. People worried about E.J. Manuel’s passing. Currently he’s completing 63 percent of his passes, including a woeful 54 percent in a loss to Wake Forest. Others questioned if they were quite ready to play against elite teams. Back-to-back losses against Oklahoma and Clemson made that one pretty clear.
Anyway, I’ll just stop, before I end up too depressed. Just let this be a lesson to all of you: No matter what you do, never, ever listen to me.
The Award For: “Goofiest Subplot That Isn’t Really A Subplot,” Goes To… “Urban Meyer To…”-
For the record, I don’t think that Urban Meyer is coaching anywhere, anytime soon. He seems to genuinely enjoy being part of the media (why he likes hanging out with Chris Spielman every Saturday is beyond me), and after the huff that he made about being a “family man,” the last few years, I’ve got to assume that even if he were to coach again, he’d wait at least more than one year before dipping his toes back into the waters, right? Plus, if we’ve learned anything the last few years, it’s that more often than not, when a guy who has been a coach for his whole life steps away for the first time, he usually ends up enjoying it a lot more than expected. Just ask Jon Gruden. Or Brian Billick. Or Bill Stewart. Woops, I forgot that Stewart isn’t coaching because no one wants him. But definitely the other two kind of prove my point though.
But back to Meyer, because I’ve got to admit, playing the “Urban Meyer is DEFINITELY going to coach here,” game over these past few weeks has been really fun. Besides Pat Dye’s comments on Charlie Weis, it may be my favorite random thing of this college football season.
For those of you who aren’t fully aware of what I’m talking about, the way to play “Urban Meyer is DEFINITELY going to coach here,” is simple.
Take any college football job that has opened up, or is even rumored to be opened up, and just say that “You know a guy, who knows a guy that knows Urban, and that he is definitely interested in that job.” Even if Meyer would never coach there in a million years, 
it doesn’t matter, just go along with it. Then watch as their fans light up like a Christmas tree every time you mention his name.
And of course what’s maybe even more fun, is associating Meyer’s name with jobs that aren’t open or even have the potential chance to open up. My personal favorite? When I started an “Urban Meyer to…Florida,” rumor last Saturday, in the Gators hideous loss to Auburn. After all, why wouldn’t Urban go to Florida? I know a guy who knows a guy, and he says that Meyer bought a house in Gainesville years ago!
That’s no coincidence my friends.
(While we’re here, I’d like to add one more caveat to the “Urban Meyer to,” debate, and that’s this: If, under the most hypothetical circumstances, both the Ohio State and Penn State jobs opened up, I firmly believe that the move Urban should make is go to Penn State. And it’s not why you think.
Let me explain.
The easy assumption is that I’m picking Penn State over Ohio State because we still don’t know what’s going to happen with the Buckeyes and the NCAA. That’s certainly part of it, but definitely not all of it.
Nope, the reason I think that he should take the Penn State job, is that I simply it’s the better fit for him, especially given his recent health problems.
Say both jobs were open, and say hypothetically Meyer went to Ohio State. Wouldn’t he be throwing himself back into the same exact meat-grinder he just left at Florida? Because I’m pretty sure he would.
If Meyer went to Ohio State he’d be considered the “savior,” the guy who rescued the Buckeyes from the brink of NCAA extinction (and possibly irrelevance if Michigan and Wisconsin continue on their upward trajectory). Fair or not, that would be the expectation. Jim Tressel created a monster in C-Bus, and the day Meyer walked in the door, he’d be expected to feed it. From the beginning, the expectation would be 10-win seasons, Big Ten Championships and a trip to the BCS title game every 2-3 years. At minimum. And why shouldn’t it be? Tressel proved it can be done.
Now, let’s look at Penn State.
The Nittany Lions have all the upside of Ohio State in terms of facilities, recruiting advantages and a nutty fan base, without the impending NCAA sanctions, and wild expectations.
But beyond that, let me ask you this: If Meyer went to Penn State what would the expectation be?
Doesn’t something like eight or nine wins and a Big Ten title in his first few years sound about right for Penn State? The truth is, that the program is so far removed from any real, sustained success, that I just can’t possibly see Meyer walking into the same expectation level as what he would find in Columbus. It wouldn’t happen. As Ty Hilldenbrandt said on my podcast last week, Penn State fans have been “beaten down,” by the Joe Paterno era. Don’t you think they’d be happy to just have some long-term stability, beyond the year-to-year conundrum Paterno puts them in? Don’t you think Meyer would have the longest honeymoon ever?
Again, I’m not saying that Meyer will be coaching in college football next year, because honestly, I don’t believe he will be. I also don’t think that Joe Paterno is retiring anytime soon because, well, he’s Joe freakin’ Paterno. We could have another ice age, and I’m pretty sure Joe Paterno would be the only survivor.
But if Paterno does retire, and if Meyer does want to coach, Penn State is the place to do it.
Now back to your regularly scheduled awards column.)
The Award For: “Joke That I Found The Funniest That No One Else Did,” Goes To… Me…Again!-
That joke came during last Thursday night’s sloppy, ugly, hideous, unwatchable Cal-USC game when I said, “Well, if things don’t work out for Lane Kiffin at USC, maybe he can go to Penn State as Urban Meyer’s offensive coordinator.”
Come on, that’s funny, isn’t it?
No? Ok, let’s just move on them.
The Award For: “Funniest Random Quote, That Had No Relevance On Anything,” Goes To…Lane Kiffin!
Who responded to a question about Jim Harbaugh’s dust-up with Jim Schwartz on Sunday by saying, “Typical Harbaugh. Even Urban and I got along in the handshake.”
Credit to Kiffin. I’m still not sure he can coach. But at least he has a good sense of humor about things.
On a different note, boy do I miss Harbaugh. Call me coach!
The Award For: “Most Annoying Storyline That Is Never Going Away,” Goes To… Conference Realignment-
So the latest news in the conference realignment merry-go-round has Missouri headed to the SEC as the conference’s 14th team. Simply put, it’s the right school, for the right conference at the right time. Seriously, I’m happy for Missouri and the SEC.
As for the rest of us? Well, welcome to conference realignment hell.
With Missouri’s move to the SEC (which is on its way), that means that now the Big XII is back in expansion mode. They will most certainly pick off a few teams from the Big East (West Virginia and Louisville…come on down!), which means that eventually the Big East will pick off a few teams from the Mountain West/Conference USA/Sun Belt/WAC/Arena League, which means that those conferences will pick off a few teams from each other, all in hopes of surviving. That whole process could take months, and even years, meaning that this process might literally never come to an end.
And guess what? Even when things do get settled in this current climate, eventually the big conferences (SEC, Pac-12) will probably want to go to 16 teams, and this whole thing will start over.
Like I said, good times ahead.
Finally…
The Award For: “Best Second Half Storyline,” Goes To… The Race To New Orleans-
I honestly cannot believe what I’ve witnessed this year. Back in September, I predicted that there might not be a single team in a BCS conference that finished undefeated, and there might not be a single team in the SEC that finished with less than two losses. After all, LSU had legal problems, Alabama had quarterback problems, and for some reason, I just inherently didn’t trust Oklahoma. My title pick of Florida State had more to do with everyone else as it did with them.
(Did I mention before that I’m wrong an awful lot?)
Anyway, what’s truly been fascinating is how this season has played out. As you know by now, we’re looking at a scenario where we could have three or four undefeated AQ schools, depending on how you feel about Wisconsin and Clemson. There may also be two more from the non-AQ conferences with Boise and Houston.
And because of it, I feel like we’re in for about the most entertaining second half of the season in recent college football history.
First, there are the obvious storylines like LSU vs. Alabama and Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State. But then, there’s everything else. Can Clemson avoid doing Clemson-y things down the stretch? Is anyone in the Big Ten good enough to beat Wisconsin? Where does Kansas State fit in, in all of this? Will Notre Dame make a run? Is Stanford any good? Could Oregon actually be one of the best 2-3 teams in the country after losing to LSU opening night?
Again, there’s a lot to sort out between now and the first week of December.
As I mentioned earlier: the college football season isn’t “half over.” It’s just halfway begun.
(Love the article? Hate it? Disagree with something Aaron said? Have a few of your own awards to hand out? Comment below, or e-mail Aaron at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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