College Football 2017-2018 Season Review

Blake Donaldson, Staff Writer

 

There was no letting up this season, as each week featured landscape-altering drama and at least one stunning upset. Below, we take a look back at the best moments from the college football 2017-2018 season.

One team that has been known for ruining teams season is the Iowa Hawkeyes. In the 2016 and 2017 season, this team did not have the most appealing record but managed to pull off some of the biggest upsets. In 2016 the Hawkeyes pulled an upset against the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines with a final score of 14-13. But in the 2017 season, Iowa flew right by the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes with a 55-24 win keeping them out of the playoffs. The team also lead the NCAA in interceptions with a total of 21 and the team leader being Josh Jackson with eight.

Phil Roeder
Iowa quarterback Jake Ruddock gets set for snap

A team that came out of nowhere was the Miami Hurricanes. In 2016 they went 9-4 but played a bunch of bad teams. In 2017 however they went 10-3 only losing to No.1 Clemson, Pittsburg, and in the Orange bowl, the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers. Miami was one of the biggest surprises on the season and showed everyone that they are a championship caliber team and can be that way for years.

 

A star heading into the 2018 NFL draft is best compared to New Orleans Saints rookie running back, Alvin Kamara. Saquon Barkley is explosive off the lands and runs with power. Barkley can be thrown around anywhere on the offense. Barkley had 217 rushing attempts and racked up a total of 1271 yards averaging 5.9 yards per carry and ended up with 18 rushing touchdowns. He also helped the team on the receiving side of it by catching 54 passes for 632 yards with three touchdowns. Barkley is a top prospect in the 2018 NFL draft but has good competition such as Stanford running back, Bryce Love, and Wisconsin running back, Jonathan Taylor.

Chris Sponagle
Saquon Barkely runs against Ohio Stat

This year was meant for quarterbacks. The NCAA had eight quarterbacks above 4,000 yards. Heisman winner, Baker Mayfield, was one of the most recognized quarterback this  past season by putting up “video game” stats every single game. Mayfield had the highest passer rating with 198.9 setting an FBS single season record. The NCAA has top quarterbacks entering the 2018 NFL draft, and analysis expect them to go extremely fast, so many NFL teams are looking towards quarterbacks in the first round.

The NCAA had quite the playoffs this year including a rematch of the 2017 national championship in the first round leaving only one of them to advance. The Oklahoma Sooners had quite a shoot out against the Georgia Bulldogs in the first round, but had a heartbreaking defeat in overtime with a final score of 54-48. In the 2018 Nation Championship the Bulldogs faced up against the Alabama Crimson Tide who returned to their third national championship in a row. Georgia had a 13 point lead with 6:34 left in the third quarter. But Georgia ended up blowing the lead losing the game 26-23 handing Alabama their 17th national championship win.

Wikimedia
Alabama Setting up to Block a Field Goal

The 2017-2018 brought loads of heartbreaking defeats and lots of excitement and is just a cliff hanger to the 2018-2019 season. The upcoming season is going to have lots of tension between many teams hopefully making a more exciting season for fans.