Midseason Report: Pleasant surprises, flops, halfway Heisman
The first half of the 2016 college football featured the emergence of a new star quarterback, the re-emergence of an old Pac-12 power and the end of an era at LSU.
Texas is back! Nope.
Houston to the playoff! Nah.
Tom Herman to LSU? Tom Herman to Texas? Tom Herman to the Chicago Bears? This, unfortunately, has only just begun.
With seven weeks of the season in the books, we assess the best and the worst of the first half.
Most surprising undefeated team
Texas A&M
The Aggies were unranked and appeared to be an unsettled program to start the season. Assistant coaches made offseason headlines for the wrong reasons . The five-star quarterbacks had fled and were replaced by former inconsistent Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight. There is no more hot-seat talk about coach Kevin Sumlin as the Aggies head to No. 1 Alabama for a game that could decide the SEC West on Saturday. There is still potential for things to go sideways for Sumlin and the Aggies, but so far A&M has replaced the swag with substance.
Most disappointing team
Notre Dame
There are some serious candidates here. Oregon, but the Ducks were showing signs for crashing coming into 2016. Michigan State, but the Spartans were probably due for a reset season. Notre Dame, however, is a big hot mess . Seven games in and coach Brian Kelly has fired his defensive coordinator and created an unnecessary quarterback controversy. Even allowing the Fighting Irish some leeway for over inflated expectations, 2-5 and scrambling to get bowl eligible is unacceptable.
Best coaching job (head coach)
Nick Saban, Alabama, and Urban Meyer, Ohio State.
We often reward the coaches who exceed expectations and do the most with the least. That's all well and good, but sustained excellence is really where it's at. No. 1 Alabama won the national championship last year and is better this season with a freshman quarterback . No. 2 Ohio State lost one of the great NFL draft classes from one school of all time and the Buckeyes have not missed a beat.
Best coaching job (coordinator)
Justin Wilcox, defensive coordinator, Wisconsin.
Could go back to Alabama for Lane Kiffin or Ohio State for Greg Schiano, but Wilcox is the pick as he re-establishes himself as one of the better defensive coordinators in the country. He took over a well-stocked group after Dave Aranda left for LSU, but the Badgers are as feisty as ever.
Best turnaround
Colorado
It has been a long hard road back to relevance for the Buffaloes, but Mike MacIntyre has Boulder interested in its college football team again. CU has not won more than six games since 2004 and had just two Pac-12 victories in MacIntyre's first three seasons. Now the Buffs (5-2) are a win away from bowl eligibility and 3-1 in conference with a legit chance to take the Pac-12 South. Props also to defensive coordinator and former USF coach Jim Leavitt for the most improved part of the team.
Breakout player (offense, not named Lamar Jackson)
Dede Westbrook, WR, Oklahoma
Lots of good candidates here among receivers, most notably Cal's Chad Hansen and Syracuse's Amba Etta-Tawo. Westbrook was the Big 12's offensive newcomer of the year last year so it's not as if he is coming out of nowhere. His recent surge (26 catches for 574 yards), though, has him playing like an All-American and he has already surpassed last year's numbers for receptions and yards.
Breakout player (defense)
Joe Mathis, LB, Washington
Mathis has gone from solid player to an absolute force for the Huskies in his senior season. He has already topped his career total for sacks with five and nearly doubled his career tackles for loss with 7.5 this season. Oregon coaches could still be searching game tape for play in which the Ducks handled Mathis.
Best game
Clemson 42, Louisville 36.
Two great quarterbacks doing spectacular things. Talented players everywhere. Huge swings in emotion and momentum. Comebacks on both sides and clutch performances . All played in one of the best venues in college football. And it came down to 1 yard. Sure it was sloppy at times, but so much fun.
Worst game
Michigan 78, Rutgers 0
Maybe the most noncompetitive conference game in the last 25 years of college football.
Worst officiating
The officials who worked the Central Michigan-Oklahoma State.
It is one thing to blow a judgment call. It is quite another to badly misinterpret a rule and that have that mistake cost a team a game. Both the MAC officials on the field and Big 12 replay officials earned suspensions.
Worst firing
Les Miles, LSU
LSU athletic director Joe Alleva wanted Miles out last season, but botched it and allowed Miles to gain a groundswell of support. So at first chance this season, after an ugly loss at Auburn dropped the Tigers to 2-2, Alleva canned Miles before the coach could go out and save himself again. It was time for a change in Baton Rouge. And if handled properly it could have been done 10 months earlier.
Hot-seat coaches
Warm
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech; Mark Helfrich, Oregon; Gus Malzahn, Auburn.
Warmer
Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Steve Addazio, Boston College; Charlie Strong, Texas.
Toasty
David Bailiff, Rice
Cooked
Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State
Hot coaches in the Group of Five (not named Tom Herman)
Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky
P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan
Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State
Willie Taggart, USF
Halfway Heisman
1. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
2. Jake Browning, QB, Washington
3. Greg Ward Jr., QB, Houston
Three more to watch
Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State
Jalen Hurts, QB, Alabama
Top four teams now (doesn't matter)
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Clemson
Top four on Dec. 4 (matters)
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Washington
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP