Texas fans are fuming that their Longhorns aren’t going to Miami. Texas Tech fans are fuming that their Graham Harrell isn’t going to New York. But outside of Austin and the dusty plains of West Texas, college football fans found plenty good in a season marred once again by controversy.
But enough about Colorado’s starting quarterbacks. Below are my takes on the good, the bad and the ugly of the 2008 season.
Offensive player of the year: Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma. Sorry, Tim Tebow. You got my vote last year, but your hype doesn’t hold up against Bradford’s raw numbers and his equal importance to his team. I saw numerous Heisman voters watch Tebow lead Florida’s comeback over Alabama on Saturday and then change their vote to him.
Um, Oklahoma also went 12-1. Bradford also had a major role in doing it. Or haven’t you looked at his numbers this week? He leads the country in pass efficiency (186.3) with 4,464 yards, 48 touchdowns and six interceptions on 68 percent passing. Tebow is fifth (176.6) with 2,515 yards, 28 TDs and two picks on 65 percent. Bradford ran for five TDs, Tebow for 12.
In Oklahoma’s lone loss, Bradford threw five TD passes against Texas. In Florida’s loss to Mississippi, Tebow had one, although he did run for two more. This, folks, is not close.
Defensive player of the year: Aaron Maybin, DE, Penn State. He won’t win a thing. USC’s hyped Rey Maualuga won the defensive players’ Heisman, the Bednarik, just for being the top player on the top defense. But Maualuga’s entire defense could be in the NFL.
Maybin meant more to Penn State’s defense, which helped resurrect Joe Paterno’s graces with God, country and state. Maybin had 12 sacks, 20 tackles for losses and three forced fumbles, and was brilliant in the big games, such as the nine tackles and sack against Ohio State and four TFLs, two forced fumbles and two sacks against Wisconsin when Wisconsin was good.
Coach of the year: Nick Saban, Alabama. Colleagues scoffed. I don’t care. He took over a 6-7 team from 2006, lost to Louisiana-Monroe last year, and this year, ranked 24th in preseason, went unbeaten in arguably the toughest conference in the country. Face it, folks. The man is worth every penny.
Best game of the year: Texas Tech 39, Texas 33, Nov. 1. Harrell threw for 474 yards, and Colt McCoy led Texas back from a 29-13 deficit with eight minutes left in the third quarter. Yet Harrell had the final heroics with the now-epic 28-yard TD toss to Michael Crabtree with a second left. The play merely changed the national title picture to this day.
Worst game of the year: Auburn 3, Mississippi State 2, Sept. 13. Mississippi State missed a chance to tie it in the fourth quarter when quarterback Wesley Carroll blew a suicide squeeze. This game was a joke. The Bulldogs had 116 total yards and went 0-for-14 on third down, surpassed only slightly by Auburn’s 3-for-16. Three games later, Tommy Tuberville fired offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, before resigning himself at season’s end.
Biggest upset of the year:Oregon State 27, USC 21, Sept. 21. A 25 1/2-point underdog, Oregon State unleashed a freshman Texan no one wanted named Jacquizz Rodgers for 186 yards and two TDs. Not that this score was unusual or anything, but USC gave up more than one touchdown only twice all year.
Surprise team of the year: Cincinnati. Projected fifth in a bad Big East, the Bearcats won their first outright conference title since the Missouri Valley in 1964. They’re 11-2, ranked 12th, and one of their two losses was at Oklahoma. They do nothing really well but punt and stop the run. However, they have a savvy quarterback in Tony Pike and an even smarter coach in Brian Kelly, who refuses to leave. Suddenly, college football is the thing to do in Cincinnati.
Disappointing team of the year: Tennessee. I’m sticking with my midseason pick. I tend to do that when SEC teams lose to Wyoming at home. It almost made people forget the season-opening loss to UCLA when the Volunteers were ranked 18th. They wound up 5-7 and without a win over a winning team.
