This year’s college football season was one for the history books, and that is not just because the league had to hurdle over the challenges caused by the pandemic. Controversial playoff eligibility, a historic Heisman trophy winner, and much more contributed to the 2020-2021 season.
Due to the rise in COVID-19 cases around the country, many conferences shortened their 12-game regular season. The ACC announced that they would be playing an eleven-game season. Additionally, the SEC and Big 12 announced they would be playing a ten-game season. After initially opting out of the 2020 season, the Big Ten decided to attempt an eight-game season, starting at week 8 of the regular season.
The league guidelines for the 2020-2021 season stated that each team must play at least six games to be eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game. Due to this, there was no bye week instated into the shortened schedule.
WordsWorth took a look back at the highlights of some of the best teams this season:
Alabama Crimson Tide: 13-0
After missing the playoffs last season, Alabama has reclaimed their top spot as the College Football National Champions. The Crimson Tide wrapped up their season with a championship win against the Ohio State Buccaneers in Miami, Florida. Quarterback and Heisman finalist Mac Jones threw a total of 4,500 yards, 41 TDs, and only 4 INTs for the season. Despite his amazing season, all eyes were drawn toward Heisman trophy winner DeVonta Smith. The 6’1” wide receiver from Amite, Louisiana, was the first wide receiver to win the award since 1991. His 215 yards on 12 receptions in the National Championship game helped lead Alabama to a dominant victory.
Clemson Tigers: 10-2
After losing in the National Championship last season, the Clemson Tigers bounced back, finishing 2 overall in the league and in the ACC. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough and they ended the season with a loss to Ohio State in the semifinals. Trevor Lawrence decided to forgo his remaining year of eligibility and enter the NFL draft. The quarterback has been dominating the league since 2018, despite only being a junior. Lawrence finished in second place in the Heisman Trophy race. Freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei threw for a total of 914 yards behind Trevor Lawrence, and is looking to be the next starting quarterback for the Tigers.
Ohio State Buccaneers: 7-1
Although their biggest game of the regular season against the Michigan Wolverines was cancelled, quarterback Justin Fields and the Ohio State Buccaneers won important games against Penn State and Indiana. Fields threw for over 2,000 yards this season with a 70.2 completion percentage. His six TDs in the semifinals helped knock the Clemson Tigers off the board, and sent Ohio State to the National Championship. Senior running back Trey Sermon rushed for a total of 870 yards this season. His final season as a Buckeye was unfortunately ended with a knee injury early in the National Championship Game. Both Fields and Sermon have officially declared for the NFL Draft. Ohio State was also the subject of major controversy this season, as some fans argued that the Buccaneers should not have been eligible for the playoffs because of their lack of regular season games compared to other teams.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 10-2
Bouncing back from the number 12 spot in the league in 2019-2020, Notre Dame rose to the number 4 spot this season. Quarterback Ian Book threw for 2,830 yards, but a mere 15 TDs this season. The senior quarterback’s number of TDs were cut in more than half from his previous season’s 34 TDs. However, this did not change his title as the one of the most successful quarterbacks in team’s history, tied with other alumni such as Brady Quinn. Running back Kyren Williams rushed for a total of 1,125 yards and helped put his team on the board 13 times this season. Despite a loss to Clemson 34-10 in their final game of the regular season, Notre Dame earned themselves a spot in the playoffs. They finished off their season with a loss to Alabama in the first round of the playoffs.
Florida Gators: 8-4
Disregarding their loss against Texas A&M in week 3, the Florida Gators had an almost perfect season until the final two games of the season. The team fell to the 5-5 LSU Tigers in the final 23 seconds of the game, which was followed by another conference loss to Alabama. Despite quarterback Kyle Trask’s combined 882 yards in the last 2 games, the Gators ended up sitting on the sideline for this year’s playoffs. Heisman finalist Trask was first in the league for TDs with an amazing 43 this season. The senior quarterback declared for the draft via Twitter at the end of 2020. Florida wrapped their season up with a loss against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Cotton Bowl.
