Yahoo Sports' 2018 midseason college football awards
With the 2018 college football season now six weeks old, it’s time to hand out some midseason hardware and deal out some superlatives. Here are the best and worst performers of the first half of the 2018 season. If the second half is anything like the first six weeks, we’re in for a treat.
Heisman Trophy
Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama
This one is no contest. Tagovailoa has been even better than the most ardent Alabama supporters could imagine. That his incompletion total (25) is within spitting distance of his touchdown total (18) is a testament to how efficiently explosive Alabama’s offense has become. The Alabama pass game looked one-dimensional in 2017 with Calvin Ridley being the team’s Nos. 1-5 options. With Tagovailoa and a host of exceptionally talented young receivers, Alabama has gone from juggernaut to seemingly invincible.
Also considered: Dwayne Haskins (QB, Ohio State), Kyler Murray (QB, Oklahoma)
National Champion
Alabama
Could it be any other team? Alabama has cruised through the first half of the season and reached 6-0 without much resistance whatsoever (average margin of victory: 40 points). With Tagovailoa at quarterback, the Crimson Tide offense has taken off to new heights. Tagovailoa hasn’t even thrown a pass in the fourth quarter so far this year, yet the Tide still ranks sixth nationally (345.3 ypg) in passing offense and fourth in total offense (567.5 ypg). Nick Saban has expressed some concern about the defense in recent weeks, but the offense has put the Tide so far ahead it hasn’t mattered.
Coach of the Year
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
You can make a strong case that Notre Dame has a clearer path to the College Football Playoff than Alabama does. And that’s in large part because of Kelly’s decision to switch from Brandon Wimbush to Ian Book as the team’s starting quarterback.
Book has been fantastic since taking over as the starter against Wake Forest. He’s completing over 73 percent of his passes — Wimbush is at 55 percent — and has thrown nine touchdowns to just one interception. Book is also averaging 0.7 yards more per attempt than Wimbush. Add in the return of RB Dexter Williams from a suspension — Williams has 339 yards and four touchdowns in two games — and Notre Dame’s offense is suddenly a two-pronged threat.
Also considered: Tom Herman (Texas), Ed Orgeron (LSU)
Offensive Player of the Year
Laviska Shenault, WR, Colorado
Shenault caught the game-winning touchdown against Nebraska in Week 2 as Colorado beat the Huskers 33-28 in new Nebraska coach Scott Frost’s first game with the team. That TD catch was part of a. 10-reception, 177-yard performance and Shenault’s second straight game with double-digit catches.
He hasn’t slowed down. Shenault has scored at least one receiving touchdown in each of Colorado’s first five games and has also added four rushing touchdowns. Shenault was responsible for all four of Colorado’s scores in a 28-21 win over Arizona State on Saturday and has 51 catches for 708 yards and 10 total touchdowns.
Also considered: Travis Etienne (RB, Clemson), Darrell Henderson (RB, Memphis)
Defensive Player of the Year
Jerry Tillery, DL, Notre Dame
Tillery gets the edge over a crowded defensive field because of his performance against Stanford and the fact that his team is undefeated. Tillery has six sacks through Notre Dame’s first six games and is part of a rushing defense that’s allowing less than 3.5 yards a carry.
Also considered: Montez Sweat (DL, Mississippi State), Josh Allen (LB, Kentucky)
Freshman of the Year
Caden Sterns, DB, Texas
Texas’ bounceback from a Week 1 loss to Maryland has been spurred on by its defense. Sterns is a big part of that defense with 25 tackles and three interceptions. Two of those interceptions came against TCU, Texas’ first win over the Horned Frogs since 2013. He had six tackles against Oklahoma in Texas’ 48-45 win over the Sooners on Saturday.
Also considered: Rondale Moore (WR, Purdue), Jermar Jefferson (RB, Oregon State)
Game of the Year
This Big Ten matchup gets the edge over the Red River Shootout for one big reason. It’s very possible that both Oklahoma and Texas will make the Big 12 Championship Game. Only one of Penn State or Ohio State will make the Big Ten title game.
The Nittany Lions were in control for most of the game as Trace McSorley’s Heisman campaign looked like it was about to take off. Alas, Ohio State scored two touchdowns in a span of less than five minutes in the second half of the fourth quarter to take a 27-26 lead. Throw in Penn State’s controversial fourth-down play call after using two timeouts in the Nittany Lions’ attempted comeback and you’ve got an unforgettable game that could loom large in the playoff picture at the end of the season.
Also considered: Texas 48, Oklahoma 45
Upset of the Year
Old Dominion 49, Virginia Tech 35
Old Dominion has just one win in 2018. The Monarchs hosted No. 13 Virginia Tech on Sept. 22 and somehow emerged with a two-touchdown victory in a game in which the Hokies were favored by 28 points. ODU trailed 28-21 entering the fourth quarter, but exploded for 28 points in the final frame to pull out a miraculous victory. Blake LaRussa, ODU’s backup quarterback, gashed the Virginia Tech secondary for 495 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
The win is even more unlikely when you look at the rest of ODU’s schedule. The Monarchs have lost every other game they’ve played in 2018 to this list of opponents: Liberty (52-10), Florida International (28-20), Charlotte (28-25), East Carolina (37-35) and Florida Atlantic (52-33). The combined record of those teams is 12-14.
Also considered: BYU 24, No. 6 Wisconsin 21
Best Group of Five team
Central Florida
Even with Scott Frost making the move to Nebraska, UCF is still riding high. With 17 straight wins in the books, the Knights, the self-proclaimed 2017 national champions, are up to No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25. Josh Heupel is now the head coach, but the offense remains high-powered. McKenzie Milton, one of the best quarterbacks in the country, already has 20 total touchdowns on the year. The schedule is about to pick up with a trip to Memphis, visits from Navy and Temple plus games against fellow undefeateds Cincinnati and South Florida still to come.
Also considered: Cincinnati, Appalachian State
Surprise team
Colorado
The 19th-ranked Buffaloes are the only undefeated team remaining in the Pac-12. CU, which improved to 5-0 by knocking off Arizona State over the weekend, has some standout players on offense, led by the aforementioned Shenault. But quarterback Steven Montez and running back Travon McMillian, a transfer from Virginia Tech, are worthy of praise, too. Montez has thrown for 1,420 yards and 11 touchdowns while completing 75.2 percent of his passes. McMillian is sixth in the Pac-12 with 528 rushing yards. Next for the Buffs is a trip to USC to keep their status as the front-runner in the Pac-12 South.
Also considered: LSU, NC State
Disappointing team
Nebraska
Nebraska is one of four college football teams without a win in 2018. The team’s 0-5 record matches the worst start to a season in program history. Scott Frost has been candid about the rebuild the program was set to endure, but there were still hopes for a bowl game in his first season. Barring some sort of miraculous run through October and November, that won’t happen. Before a bowl even enters the realm of possibility, the Huskers are hoping to halt their record nine-game losing streak.
[Our Five: Most disappointing teams in college football]
Team that will improve
USC
Anytime USC starts 1-2, it’s going to bring some angst. So when the Trojans lost on the road to Stanford and Texas in consecutive weeks, the calls for Clay Helton’s job resurfaced (they’re never too far below the surface anyway). Since then, the Trojans rebounded with close wins over Washington State (WSU’s only loss) and Arizona. True freshman quarterback JT Daniels seemed to take a big step forward in the Wazzu win, but the Trojans as a whole were sluggish in the second half vs. Arizona after jumping out to a big lead.
A bye week gave the team a chance to catch its breath going into the heart of Pac-12 play, beginning with No. 19 Colorado on Saturday night. A win over the Buffs would place the Trojans atop the Pac-12 South standings with a trip to Utah another chance to create some separation in the division. After the Utah game, USC will likely be favored in every game it plays until the finale against Notre Dame. Don’t be surprised to see the Trojans back in the Pac-12 title game.
Also considered: Utah, Virginia Tech
Team that will decline
LSU
LSU’s 5-0 start, with wins over Miami and Auburn, was rather unexpected and coach Ed Orgeron deserves credit for his team’s hot start. But the Tigers dropped their first game of the year, a 27-19 decision to Florida in The Swamp, over the weekend. It was the first of four straight games against ranked opponents — a stretch we think will knock LSU out of the College Football Playoff race altogether. Over the next month, LSU hosts No. 2 Georgia, No. 24 Mississippi State and No. 1 Alabama with a bye week sprinkled in between MSU and Bama. Playing those games in Death Valley gives the Tigers a shot, but they’ll surely be underdogs against UGA and Alabama.
Also considered: Michigan, West Virginia
More from Yahoo Sports:
• After UFC brawl, Khabib’s dad promises punishment
• Umpire has an even worse night than Yankees
• Saints’ Kamara makes statement with clothing
• Brees becomes NFL’s all-time passing yardage king
