Lessons learned in 2021 college football season

On Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium, the college football season wrapped up with another SEC program taking home the crown. Believe it or not, another season is now officially a part of the history books.

Things got weird for college football this past season. Pittsburgh and Utah brought home their first power conference crowns, and the Big 12 had a conference title game without Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh finally got the monkey off his back and gave Michigan their first Big Ten title since 2004.

The 2021 season gave us a lot of firsts as it was an entertaining ride from Week Zero until Championship Monday.

Along the way, many lessons were learned as the sport enters a very big offseason with realignment, pod scheduling, and playoff expansion on the horizon. Things are fluid in college football, and more change is on the way.

After another season spent watching games, visiting multiple stadiums, and following storylines, here are the biggest lessons learned from another fun-filled season.

Recruiting matters

After beginning the season 6-0 riding consecutive home wins over Florida and LSU, things were good in the Bluegrass. Kentucky was heading to No. 1 Georgia with College GameDay in town for an SEC East showdown. The winner had the inside track to a division title.

After hanging in for a half at Sanford Stadium, Georgia’s Jimmies and Joes flexed their muscles in the second half.

The Bulldogs cruised to a 30-13 victory over Kentucky behind a dominant defensive line and a five-star tight end that the Wildcats just didn’t have a matchup for.

Fast forward to the playoff, and that repeated itself. Both Cincinnati and Michigan entered the semifinals with a ton of momentum, good coaching, and a ton of quality wins. Still, the talent won out to teams that consistently land top-four classes.

Recruiting needs to be the lifeblood of any college football program. For Kentucky, the Wildcats are slowly starting to close the gap.

Quarterback play also matters

How did Pittsburgh win 11 games? Kenny Pickett gave the Panthers their best quarterback play since Dan Marino. How did Wake Forest win 11 games? Sam Hartman accounted for 50 total touchdowns.

For Alabama, sophomore Bryce Young helped lift the play of a young roster and carried the Crimson Tide to another national championship game appearance. At Kentucky, Will Levis accounted for 33 touchdowns and averaged eight yards per attempt to give the Wildcats their best quarterback play in over a decade.

Typically, good seasons and great seasons are separated from what teams get from under center. Breakthrough years can happen when the triggerman has it rolling.

The hope is that Levis can build off a strong season as a redshirt senior in 2022.

Transfer portal can be a program changer

With thousands of players entering the portal every season, free agency in college football is here to stay. To keep pace, using this new tool effectively must be a necessity for every program in college football.

In 2021, portal additions help change programs and lead to big seasons.

At Michigan State, nearly half of Mel Tucker’s defense and star tailback Kenneth Walker III came from the portal. That addition of talent powered the Spartans to an 11-2 season. In the national championship game, both Alabama and Georgia used the portal to enhance their roster. Former Ohio State wideout Jameson Williams became the No. 1 option for the Tide, and former Clemson cornerback Derion Kendrick was Georgia’s best cover guy.

At Kentucky, Nebraska transfer Wan’Dale Robinson gave the Wildcats a true No. 1 receiver, and offensive coordinator Liam Coen took advantage. Robinson joined forces with fellow transfers Levis and Dare Rosenthal to give Kentucky some passing game punch for the first time in years on his way to 104 receptions for 1,348 yards and seven touchdowns.

Getting players from the portal must be a part of everyone’s winning formula in modern-day college football.

Winning close games is a skill

On their way to a 10-3 season, Kentucky logged a 5-1 record in one-possession games. Since 2016, the Wildcats are 47-29 overall with a 19-9 mark in one-possession games. Mark Stoops has not finished with a below .500 record in any season.

Doing this year over year is a skill.

At Nebraska, Scott Frost heads into a win or get fired year five for the Huskers with a 15-29 overall record. However, the former UCF head coach is just 5-20 in one-possession games with a 0-8 mark in 2021. Frost has yet to log a winning season in one-score games and is firmly on the hot seat because of this lack of close game success.

At Louisville, Scott Satterfield is 10-14 over the last two years and is heading into a hot-seat season. Why is the record that bad despite consistently producing top-20 offenses? The Cardinals are 2-8 in one-possession games.

The margins can be thin in college football. At the end of the day, winning is all anyone cares about. Coaches must be able to close in tight games. Stoops has the right formula working in Lexington.

That success has allowed Kentucky to continually build and raise its recruiting ceiling.

Plus-one model has given us more true national championship matchups

On Monday, playoff expansion talk took up a lot of the oxygen before the national championship game as conference commissioners are having a hard time agreeing on what should be next for college football. Therefore, the plus-one model will likely be here through 2026.

That’s not a bad thing.

Through eight years of the College Football Playoff, the semifinal round has mostly been a snoozefest with plenty of blowouts. However, that has paved the way for some rightful championship matchups.

In both 2017 and 2021, chalk had to break for Alabama and Georgia to meet in the final. In 2014, No. 4 Ohio State burst through to give Urban Meyer his third natty. Only three times in the eight-year history has the playoff given us No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the final.

There is a lot wrong with the college football postseason, and things need to be fixed. However, the playoff has done its job. The committee gets the right four teams every season, and the semifinals assure college football of getting the rightful national championship game.

Due to this, the playoff has been an upgrade over the BCS. Now if we can just get the games played on New Year’s Day every season.