The first half of the college football season has turned just about everything we thought we knew about the sport on its head. Sure, Ohio State is still in the heat of the College Football Playoff discussion, but Miami, Indiana and Texas Tech were not widely expected to be on a similar level. It looked like Kalen DeBoer's days were numbered after Week 1—now the Crimson Tide are in the national title mix. Penn State was a preseason championship favorite, and now James Franklin is updating his résumé.
Our expectations for some of the sport’s biggest stars have been reset after seven full weeks of football as well. Many of the preseason Heisman Trophy favorites—quarterbacks like Arch Manning, Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier—have struggled to live up to the preseason hype foisted upon them during the summer. Other elite skill position players looked set to make a huge impact on the national stage after transferring to new programs, only to find themselves down the depth chart.
