2020 College Football: A Season of Adversity

What was supposed to be a season of lost hope, turned into a season of opportunities. The 2020 college football season brought a lot of adversity to the table. From the COVID-19 pandemic, to potentially not watching BIG 10 or PAC-12 football, 2020 sure threw us a lot of curveballs. However, in college football fashion, the game that we all know and love prevailed at the end of the day. 

With the 2020 college football season officially in the books, let’s take a look at one of college football’s craziest seasons.

To start this unforgettable season, each conference kicked off on different dates. In August, we got some heartbreaking news that BIG 10 AND PAC-12 football was canceled. Hearing this news sure made me upset, as a huge Trojans fan. What would I do without Trojan football? As upset as I was with the news, I was still thankful that I would get to see some type of college football in 2020. With the ACC, BIG 12, and SEC in full gear in September, college football was in for a wild ride.

After a few weeks into the season, the college football world got some amazing news. BIG 10 and PAC-12 FOOTBALL WAS BACK. You can just imagine the excitement I had on my face when I heard the news. I was jumping with joy!! Trojan football was returning to the gridiron in 2020 and my heart was full. All five power conferences were back and college football was starting to look somewhat normal. 

Every season we of course have some teams that excel and others that don’t. Let’s take a look at some of the teams that I thought had a pretty great season and some that didn’t.

TWO TEAMS THAT EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS

COASTAL CAROLINA

Going 11-1 this past season, I would say Coastal Carolina had a memorable season. Playing in the Sun Belt East Division, the Chanticleers made a name for themselves and made their way up in the AP poll. The Chanticleers did lose one game this season against Liberty in the Mortgage Cure Bowl (37-34) in overtime.

After pulling off an incredible win against BYU and head coach Jamey Chadwell winning the AP Coach of the Year award, Coastal Carolina had a pretty great 2020 season. QB Grayson McCall had close to 2,500 passing yards, while RB CJ Marable had 887 rushing yards. Coastal Carolina missed the college football playoffs and played in the Cure Bowl against Liberty. The game was the only loss on the Chanticleers’ resume. The Chanticleers finished 14th in the final AP poll of the 2020 season. 

TEXAS A&M

The Aggies had one memorable season in 2020. After going 9-1 overall to knocking on the door of the college football playoffs to beating the Florida Gators, Jimbo Fischer led his team to one successful season. The only loss on the Aggies resume was against the number one team in the country, the Alabama Crimson Tide (24-52).

However, the Aggies managed to pull out a 41-27 victory against the Tarheels at the Capital One Orange Bowl last month. Having some pretty impressive wins on their resume, the Aggies had hopes of making it into the college football playoffs. However, with Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, and Notre Dame in the playoffs, the Aggies were left in the dust. Do you guys believe the Aggies should have made the playoffs? With not making the playoffs in 2020, the 4th ranked Aggies have a shot at going playoff-bound next season.

TWO TEAMS THAT STRUGGLED

LSU

The 2020 National Champions sure had a downhill season. After losing 14 players to the 2020 NFL Draft, including their star QB in Joe Burrow (now with the Cincinnati Bengals), the Tigers were on board the struggle train. To kick off their season, the Tigers lost to a struggling Mississippi State team. With the Tigers trying to find their footing in 2020, disaster was ahead.

From playing on a national stage last season to struggling to win ball games this season, the Tigers have some reevaluating to do heading into the 2021 season. QB Myles Brennan was under center for the Tigers at least for the first few games. Brennan unfortunately was dealing with an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Throughout the first few games that we saw Brennan in, he looked like a promising starter for the Tigers. Brennan accumulated a total of 11 touchdowns with three interceptions and 1,112 yards.

With Brennan out for the season, TJ Finley and Max Johnson were in. Finley had five touchdowns and five interceptions with 941 yards. While Johnson had eight touchdowns and one interception with 1,069 yards. One of LSU’s top wins this season was against the Florida Gators. The Tigers won 37-34 and knocked the Gators out of playoff contention. Hopefully, the Tigers will produce more wins next season. Who knows, they might make an appearance on the National Stage again.

BAYLOR

Coming off a hot 2019 season, the Bears disappointed in 2020. From going 11-3 to 2-7, the Bears sure had a rocky season, to say the least. The Bears lose their head coach in Matt Rhule (now the Carolina Panthers head coach) and lost a few players to the 2020 NFL Draft like Denzel Mims(New York Jets) and Clay Johnston(Carolina Panthers). With Charlie Brewer coming back under center, the Bears were still struggling. The two games the Bears won were against Kansas and Kansas State. Their worst loss of the season was against Oklahoma State which was 3-42. Some big news did come out of Waco. QB Charlie Brewer was transferring. Brewer is headed to the Beehive State where he will be joining the Utes in 2021. Wishing Brewer the best of luck at Utah. 

2020 was sure a wild season. With each conference returning to play on different dates to a plethora of cancellations and postponements. College football still prevailed at the end of the day. The top four teams to make it into the college football playoffs were Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide beat the Fight Irish at the Rose Bowl while the Buckeyes defeated the Tigers at the Sugar Bowl. The Crimson Tide and the Buckeyes were the final two teams standing at the end of the day.

On January 11, 2021, the Buckeyes and the Crimson Tide battled it out in Miami at the National Championship Game. At the end of the evening, the Crimson Tide were crowned the 2020 season champions. Congratulations to the Crimson Tide for another outstanding season. Like I have been saying, the Crimson Tide are the most dominant team in college football.  

Thank you all for an amazing 2020 college football season. It was a bumpy one, but we all got through it. As for me, I will be counting down the days until the 2021 season. Until then, I hope you all have a great offseason. 

The next stop for these college football players is the NFL Draft. See you on April 29th and good luck to all the draftees.