Let’s be real. This wasn’t a great year for college football. It’s nice we managed to have a season but finding the best of college football in 2020 wasn’t a difficult task. That’s because there wasn’t a whole lot to choose from. There were some exciting games, outstanding performances and incredible highlights. However, these were few and far between.
The year wasn’t a total bust though. Our best of college football in 2020 list may be comprised of mostly no brainer decisions, these were still awesome moments in their own right. And if you’re feeling salty, checkout our video of the dumbest things from college football in 2020.
Related: 4 things we’ve learned from the 2020 NFL season
5 of the best things to happen college football in 2020
Alabama vs. Ole Miss
If we’re being honest, it never really felt like Ole Miss was going to upset Alabama. But that didn’t make this game any less fun to watch. The first matchup between Lane Kiffin and Nick Saban was an amazing offensive spectacle that featured more than 1,300 yards of offense and a long list of record-breaking performances. To call it wild would be an understatement.
Petros Papadakis
Here’s some west coast bias for you. Petros Papadakis is one of the best college football color commentators despite the fact he gets stuck calling late-night, Pac-12 and Mountain West games. He’s insightful, knows his stuff and is entertaining. Hearing him also makes me miss Pros vs. Joes, but I digress.
With ESPN hellbent on running out a generic collection of color commentators behind Kirk Herbstreit, Papadakis is a refreshing change of pace. He’s also a hell of lot better than Joel Klatt and the rest of his colleagues of Fox Sports. Finally, it’s criminal that Pat McAfee continues to earn plaudits when Papadakis is better than the former punter at broadcasting, commentating and punditry.
An 88-point fantasy performance
Not many people play college fantasy football, but if you do have a team, hopefully you started Buffalo running back Jaret Patterson in week 13. All he did was score eight touchdowns and rush for 409 yards which is good for 88.9 points in standard fantasy.
The one thing that gets lost Patterson amongst amazing performance is the fact his backup, Kevin Marks Jr., rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns in the same game. That’s right, Patterson could have had an even bigger day. In a very forgettable year in the MAC, this showing gave the conference something to shout about.
Indiana knocks off Penn State
In hindsight, Penn State sucked this season, and this win wasn’t very good in the grand scheme of things. However, Indiana knocking off the then eighth ranked Nittany Lions was a huge deal when it happened. This matchup had a bit of everything with the Hoosiers tying the game with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter. And that came after Penn State scored a little more than a minute earlier.
However, the effort of Michael Penix Jr. to convert a two-point conversion in the first overtime was simply unbelievable, although the seemingly 15-minute replay review to confirm the call was kind of a buzzkill. Of course, you could look at the image at Penix Jr. extending the ball towards the pylon and still not know if he was out of bounds or not.
BYU vs. Coastal Carolina
In a season lacking memorable matchups, the game between BYU and Coastal Carolina delivered. Were either of these teams worthy of making the College Football Playoff? Probably not. But this contest featured two evenly matched sides playing in what essentially amounted to an elimination game.
It was a back-and-forth encounter that ended with the Cougars finishing one yard shy of winning. The image of Dax Milne unable to get the football across the goalline has to be one of the images of the 2020 season.
