The 2010 college football season is now in the final stretch and it is time to reflect what this season brought to college football as a whole. It has brought good times and bad, thrills and skills, but most importantly, it has brought an entire nation together for six months as we all watched to see where our teams would end up in the grand scheme of things.
Undoubtedly, the biggest story of the year had to deal with Cameron Newton. Once a Florida Gator and the heir apparent to Jesus Christ (aka Tim Tebow), Newton spent a year in junior college before becoming a superstar dual-threat quarterback at Auburn University. Using his strength, durability, speed, and passing attack, Newton skyrocketed into the hearts of the nation and ascended to Heisman status. He led the Auburn Tigers to a date with the Oregon Ducks in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona on January 10, 2010, a game which is highly anticipated to be the highest-scoring championship ever.
Things were looking up for Newton: he was leading the Tigers to an undefeated season, seeing his draft stock rise and was the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. Then came the biggest scandal of the year when an agent and Mississippi State coach insisted that the Newton's had been seeking a pay-to-play deal with a university, an offer to which the Newton's were apparently ready to take $180,000 (that was a discounted price, as well). ESPN and all major sports networks ran with this story from then on and many new admissions have come out in this case, though Cam Newton has consistently voiced the apparent fact that he knew nothing of it happening, and that his father was the one organizing the deal.
There has been no reported money offered by Auburn and this is a story which, not unlike the USC controversy, will play out in the years to come. Scandal or not, however, Cameron Newton was the biggest player in this college football season and was awarded the Heisman Trophy in order to honor his accomplishments on the field.
Speaking of controversy, this season started out with two huge stories about scandal and corruption as well. It started early in spring with the USC decision and their suspension of scholarships as well as an ineligibility to play in bowl games for the next two years. There was also North Carolina, who, at one point, had over 10 starters suspended due to improper benefits received from the university as well as sport agents. It was, in a way, the year of improper benefits and agents.
Though there were many scandals abound in college football this year, one cannot forget the actual football that was played. Who could forget the Notre Dame-Michigan State game this year? Just when things looked as though Notre Dame was ready to ascend to greatness once more, Michigan State pulled the ultimate fake field goal and scored a touchdown to win the game with no time remaining. Unfortunately, this also created the new story of head coach Mark Dantonio unfortunately suffering a mild heart attack just hours after the game ended. Thankfully, he became one of the feel good stories of the year as he was back on the field coaching just a few games later for a team that was contending for the Big-10 championship with Ohio State and Wisconsin.
The Big-10 championship came down to the very final game, with Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State deadlocked at the top of the division. There were too many scenarios to describe, and so, in short, it basically played in Wisconsin's favor and they will be making an appearance in the Rose Bowl after Ohio State's dreams were crushed after they lost to Wisconsin previously in the year.
Sticking with championship games, one team and fanbase saw all of its prayers answered as they will be making their first-ever national championship appearance in school history. The Oregon Ducks, regarded as a long shot for the national title at the beginning of the year (many considered the Pac-10 to be weak and have no contenders) raced their way to the BCS championship using Chip Kelly's innovative "blur" offense.
After an offseason marred with suspensions (Jeremiah Masoli, the ex-QB was kicked off the team), many believed the Oregon Ducks to be eliminated from title contention. Lucky for them they had Darron Thomas. Playing in only his second official season and first since redshirting last year, Thomas showed that he is more than capable of leading the Oregon Ducks. He threw for over 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns while accumulating quite a few yards on the ground as well. His partner in crime, LaMichael James, rushed to the tune of a new Oregon record for a single season in yards accounted for as well as touchdowns. James also made it as a Heisman finalist and was the University of Oregon's first unanimous All-American.
While many of their games were blowouts (New Mexico, Washington, Portland State, Stanford, USC, Arizona, Tennessee), the ducks showed that they could play nitty-gritty football and win games that were on the line (California). For a team that is usually disregarded as "pretty boys" and "Nike's slaves" tucked up in the northwest, the Oregon Ducks burst onto the national scene and are poised to win their first national championship.
Speaking of the Pac-10, we saw the resurgence of many teams. Washington became bowl eligible for the first time since the dark ages, and we also witnessed a better Washington State team who could actually compete in football games instead of throwing them away after the first snap. There was no bigger surprise, however, than the Stanford Cardinal. Led by Heisman finalist Andrew Luck, the Cardinal will be making a BCS bowl appearance and their only loss was to Pac-10 champion Oregon in a game where they blew a 21-3 lead. It was not only just a few years ago when playing Stanford would be equated to playing a pee-wee team, and now they are a legitimate threat.
Though there were many other feel good stories this season (Denard Robinson and his shoelaces, Mark Dantonio surviving a heart attack and coaching later, James Madison's huge upset against Virginia Tech), there was also a tragedy, which should be remembered for years to come.
Declan Sullivan, a student at Notre Dame and an avid supporter of the football program, was the team's video-taper. On a blustery day on the practice field, Sullivan was atop a filming booth as he videotaped the Fighting Irish's practice as he had on many previous occasions. Unfortunately, the strong winds knocked over the equipment he was on and he regretfully fell to his untimely death. This is one of the greatest tragedies that has ever occurred at the college football level and Declan deserves to be remembered by everybody associated with college football. His story reminds us that, in the grand scheme of things, college football is not as important as a human being's life. He deserved a longer and fuller life and it was sadly taken away from him because of the stubbornness of Notre Dame.
Another tragic story occurred during an actual football game to Rutgers player Eric LeGrand. Running down the field as part of the kickoff team, LeGrand took a vicious hit and was instantly paralyzed from the neck down. He was immediately rushed to the hospital and is still trying to recover from his devastating hit, showing minimal signs of movement in his hands. We all hope for the best for Eric and his family as well as all other college football players who have undergone medical emergencies this year.
One of the most captivating stories this year as well was whether or not this would be the year that a non-AQ team would finally make it into the BCS national championship. At the beginning of the season, both TCU and Boise State stood out in everybody's minds to play spoiler to the national championship; only one now remains undefeated.
After impressive wins over Virginia Tech and Oregon State, Boise State cruised through their WAC schedule and looked as though they had a shot at the national championship; that was until they played Nevada. In a game that both teams had marked since the start of the season, Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman missed two game-winning field goals as Nevada edged Boise State in overtime and thus vanquished Boise State's consecutive games won record. Boise State had a chance to redeem themselves, however, as they cruised over Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl, proving they are still a force to reckon with.
TCU, on the other hand, is a completely different story. They finished the season ranked third in the BCS and had it not been for an undefeated Oregon and Auburn football team, would be playing for the title on January 10 in Glendale. They demolished opponents using their versatile passing attack and used their stout defense (regarded as one of the best in the nation) to stop opponent's threats. The Horned Frogs also made big news as they will be moving to the Big East within the next few years, giving them an automatic bid to a BCS bowl if they win their division (which they probably will due to the sad state of Big East football).
Speaking of realignments, this is also a season where we saw major changes in the conference makeups of teams. The Big-12 will be losing two teams (essentially becoming the new "Big-10"), the Big-10 will be gaining a team (essentially becoming the new "Big-12"), TCU will be joining the Big East, Boise State will be moving to the Mountain West Conference and both Colorado and Utah will be joining the Pac-10 to make it the Pac-12. There will be drastic changes in the next few years of college football, and this year could be the last year of college football as we have come to know in the past few years.
Despite the many headlines around the college football nation, it is perhaps, once again, the BCS national championship that will garner the most attention at the end of it all.
Oregon and Auburn will meet on January 10, 2011 in Glendale, Arizona where two of the most prolific offenses in the history of college football will try to break offensive record after offensive record and eventually have one come out on top. Though Auburn and Cam Newton have been mired by scandal, you cannot deny their team's talent and resilience to ignore all outside factors. And Oregon, after an offseason where they lost their starting quarterback, was able to prove that you don't have to have the most talented and well-known players to win games.
All in all, this college football season was one of many ups and downs as well as drastic changes in the way the game will be played for the years to come. It was the end of many conferences as we have known them and the future is set to bring us lots of more competitiveness and joy. As we move into 2011, let us not remember the 2010 season as a season of scandal or deceit, but rather as a season where we saw non-traditional schools rise to the top and a BCS poll which changed seemingly every week.
With only the best bowls left to play, this season is bound to offer a few more thrills before we can finally say, "Thank you, 2010."
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