Without a doubt, the 2011 NCAA college football season will be remembered more for what happened off the field rather than what happened on it. That said, there has been some wonderful moments on the gridiron and in the shadow of NCAA scandals, continued conference realignment, and the sad affair that unfolded late in the season at Penn State University, and they deserve to be recorded for posterity.
It was the year of the quarterback in 2011. Houston's Case Keenum capped his sixth campaign as starting QB for the Houston Cougars and graduated with basically every major passing record, putting Houston back on the map, and putting on a show that everyone - defensive coordinators around C-USA - enjoyed. We've rarely seen a quarterback with such control over the offense, and his eye-popping numbers, recording 48 touchdowns to a mere 7 interceptions, throwing for 5631 yards at a 71.0% completion percentage. I don't care what opposition you're playing against, those numbers are insane. Had it not been for Houston's flub in the C-USA Championship Game vs. Southern Miss, Keenum might've ended his spectacular career in a BCS game.
Baylor's eye-popping quarterback Robert Griffin III continued the theme of signal callers dominating, bringing home Baylor's first ever Heisman Trophy, and putting himself in a position to go as the second QB in April's NFL Draft. Like with Keenum, it was excitement-plus whenever he had the football. The opening game shoot-out against TCU on a swelteringly hot Waco, TX evening was one of the most entertaining football games I've ever seen. Griffin beat out a very good field, including pre-season favourite Andrew Luck, to win the greatest individual honour in all of college football.
We also got to see perhaps the greatest college QB of all time - speaking strictly in wins, he is the greatest - on the Blue Rug in Boise, Idaho. Kellen Moore closed out the Golden Era of Boise State Bronco Football, leading BSU to a one-loss season, and a resounding victory in the Las Vegas Bowl against Arizona State. The Broncos had been on the edge of talk about a berth in the National Championship Game, but a last-second loss to Texas Christian put an end to those hopes. For the second season in a row, Boise State cost themselves a chance at a BCS bowl berth because their kicker could not make an intermediate field goal attempt. We may never see Moore's like again. His legacy at Boise State will remain. Replacing Moore, in terms of what he's done at the school, will be nigh on impossible.
Forgotten nationally due to a two-year bowl ban, the USC Trojans burst back onto the big stage, pushing Andrew Luck and Stanford close one week, the beating Oregon in Eugene the next, and ending their season with a 50-0 drubbing of cross-town rivals the UCLA Bruins. They also recorded an impressive win against Notre Dame in South Bend, the combination of QB Matt Barkley and WRs Marquise Lee and Robert Woods backed up by a vastly-improved defense. With Barkley back with Woods and Lee and most of the defense, the Trojans, eligible for a bowl game in 2012 but still facing scholarship sanctions, might be primed for a serious run at the National Championship.
On the flip side, it was another season of great defense in the SEC. The Alabama vs. LSU game in the middle of the season - dubbed the Game of the Century - was a marvellous game between two defensive units that would be well at home in the NFL. As much as the rest of the nation hates to admit it, there's little doubt that the SEC is the best conference around, as referenced by six straight national championships. It's just a shame that the return meeting between the Tide and the Tigers didn't at all live up to the hype; a serious let-down for the last game of the season.
More offense. There was plenty of that in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where QB Brandon Weeden engaged in a seemingly endless game of pitch-and-catch with WR Justin Blackmon for Oklahoma State, who ended their season with a tremendous OT victory against Andrew Luck and Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl, OSU's first BCS bowl berth. Like Boise State with Kellen Moore, Blackmon and Weeden combined for what will surely be looked back upon as the golden age of Cowboy football. Also like Boise, Oklahoma State are going to have trouble replacing those guys next year.
Surprises of the 2011 season: Kansas State, Baylor, Vanderbilt, USC, Houston, Michigan.
Disappointments of the 2011 season: Ohio State, Texas, Florida, Nebraska.
I personally got sick and tired of hearing about conference realignment. Texas A&M and Missouri left the Big Twelve for the SEC after Nebraska had left the year before. Texas Christian left the Big East Conference before they even joined. Pittsburgh and West Virginia and Syracuse are gone from the Big East to the ACC to give that conference 14-teams, so the Big East brought in Boise State and San Diego State from the Mountain West, where the Broncos had played just one season. The only problem there is that neither team is from the East Coast. Yep, crazily, the Big East conference is going to have a west division. Navy gave up their independent status to join the Big East. Confused yet?
Sadly, we can't talk about the 2011 season without mentioning the sad events unfolding - still unfolding - at Penn State. I don't think anyone could have imagined the downfall of Joe Paterno, and then the great man's subsequent death. For a university so long lauded for conducting their college athletics the right way, with honestly, morality and with good people in the right places, the Sandusky scandal was an unimaginably rapid implosion. For more on this, read my post from November of 2011 here
Thanks for reading in 2011. See you in late August for the 2012 season - only about seven months away!!!
It was the year of the quarterback in 2011. Houston's Case Keenum capped his sixth campaign as starting QB for the Houston Cougars and graduated with basically every major passing record, putting Houston back on the map, and putting on a show that everyone - defensive coordinators around C-USA - enjoyed. We've rarely seen a quarterback with such control over the offense, and his eye-popping numbers, recording 48 touchdowns to a mere 7 interceptions, throwing for 5631 yards at a 71.0% completion percentage. I don't care what opposition you're playing against, those numbers are insane. Had it not been for Houston's flub in the C-USA Championship Game vs. Southern Miss, Keenum might've ended his spectacular career in a BCS game.
Baylor's eye-popping quarterback Robert Griffin III continued the theme of signal callers dominating, bringing home Baylor's first ever Heisman Trophy, and putting himself in a position to go as the second QB in April's NFL Draft. Like with Keenum, it was excitement-plus whenever he had the football. The opening game shoot-out against TCU on a swelteringly hot Waco, TX evening was one of the most entertaining football games I've ever seen. Griffin beat out a very good field, including pre-season favourite Andrew Luck, to win the greatest individual honour in all of college football.
We also got to see perhaps the greatest college QB of all time - speaking strictly in wins, he is the greatest - on the Blue Rug in Boise, Idaho. Kellen Moore closed out the Golden Era of Boise State Bronco Football, leading BSU to a one-loss season, and a resounding victory in the Las Vegas Bowl against Arizona State. The Broncos had been on the edge of talk about a berth in the National Championship Game, but a last-second loss to Texas Christian put an end to those hopes. For the second season in a row, Boise State cost themselves a chance at a BCS bowl berth because their kicker could not make an intermediate field goal attempt. We may never see Moore's like again. His legacy at Boise State will remain. Replacing Moore, in terms of what he's done at the school, will be nigh on impossible.
Forgotten nationally due to a two-year bowl ban, the USC Trojans burst back onto the big stage, pushing Andrew Luck and Stanford close one week, the beating Oregon in Eugene the next, and ending their season with a 50-0 drubbing of cross-town rivals the UCLA Bruins. They also recorded an impressive win against Notre Dame in South Bend, the combination of QB Matt Barkley and WRs Marquise Lee and Robert Woods backed up by a vastly-improved defense. With Barkley back with Woods and Lee and most of the defense, the Trojans, eligible for a bowl game in 2012 but still facing scholarship sanctions, might be primed for a serious run at the National Championship.
On the flip side, it was another season of great defense in the SEC. The Alabama vs. LSU game in the middle of the season - dubbed the Game of the Century - was a marvellous game between two defensive units that would be well at home in the NFL. As much as the rest of the nation hates to admit it, there's little doubt that the SEC is the best conference around, as referenced by six straight national championships. It's just a shame that the return meeting between the Tide and the Tigers didn't at all live up to the hype; a serious let-down for the last game of the season.
More offense. There was plenty of that in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where QB Brandon Weeden engaged in a seemingly endless game of pitch-and-catch with WR Justin Blackmon for Oklahoma State, who ended their season with a tremendous OT victory against Andrew Luck and Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl, OSU's first BCS bowl berth. Like Boise State with Kellen Moore, Blackmon and Weeden combined for what will surely be looked back upon as the golden age of Cowboy football. Also like Boise, Oklahoma State are going to have trouble replacing those guys next year.
Surprises of the 2011 season: Kansas State, Baylor, Vanderbilt, USC, Houston, Michigan.
Disappointments of the 2011 season: Ohio State, Texas, Florida, Nebraska.
I personally got sick and tired of hearing about conference realignment. Texas A&M and Missouri left the Big Twelve for the SEC after Nebraska had left the year before. Texas Christian left the Big East Conference before they even joined. Pittsburgh and West Virginia and Syracuse are gone from the Big East to the ACC to give that conference 14-teams, so the Big East brought in Boise State and San Diego State from the Mountain West, where the Broncos had played just one season. The only problem there is that neither team is from the East Coast. Yep, crazily, the Big East conference is going to have a west division. Navy gave up their independent status to join the Big East. Confused yet?
Sadly, we can't talk about the 2011 season without mentioning the sad events unfolding - still unfolding - at Penn State. I don't think anyone could have imagined the downfall of Joe Paterno, and then the great man's subsequent death. For a university so long lauded for conducting their college athletics the right way, with honestly, morality and with good people in the right places, the Sandusky scandal was an unimaginably rapid implosion. For more on this, read my post from November of 2011 here
Thanks for reading in 2011. See you in late August for the 2012 season - only about seven months away!!!
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