Biggest Takeaways from the 2022 College Football Season so Far

It's hard to believe that the 2022 college football season is already halfway over. Through seven weeks of the year, we've seen plenty of surprises, notable upsets, as well as interesting storylines. We've already seen some big head coaching jobs open up, too.

Although 2022 hasn't given us quite as many Top 10 upsets as last season's first seven weeks, this year has been a fun one.

It's not easy to sum up everything that has happened this season in college football. But let's run through the biggest takeaways from the first half of the season.

Just take a minute to look at how much Tennessee beating Alabama for the first time in 15 seasons means to this fanbase:

Tennessee is absolutely a playoff contender, and this team is one of the biggest storylines of the 2022 season. For a team that finished 7-6 last season, the year the Vols have had so far is special.

What makes Tennessee so good is its offense. The unit is so explosive that it put up 567 yards and 52 points on the Tide's defense. Per ESPN Stats & Info, the 52 points is the most Alabama has given up in any game since 1907 against Sewanee (54). This was pretty significant for Nick Saban, too—52 points were the most any of his defenses had allowed since 1996, per Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger. On Sept. 7 that year, Saban's Michigan State team gave up 55 against Nebraska.

Against Alabama, Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker threw for 385 yards and five touchdowns with an interception. On the season, Hooker has 1,817 passing yards and 15 touchdowns. Tennessee has never had a Heisman winner before. Hooker could be the first.

Georgia will be the biggest test for Tennessee and its SEC East title hopes. But even if the Vols were to lose to Georgia and miss out on the SEC Championship Game, a playoff bid would still be on the table.

2022 looks like it might be a season of firsts for Tennessee, starting with beating Alabama for the first time since 2006. A first SEC East title since 2007 and first-ever playoff bid are also still in the cards for the Vols.

Heck of a time to be a Tennessee fan, right?

Yes, I am including Alabama here, Tennessee fans. Halfway through the season, the preseason Top Four of Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson are all still in the hunt to make the College Football Playoff.

Georgia is 7-0, coming off of a 55-0 win over Vanderbilt. With the exception of the close 26-22 win over Missouri in Week 5, Georgia hasn't looked like it will go through a rebuilding year this season.

But for Georgia to make it to the SEC Championship Game for the second season in a row, it has to get past Tennessee on Nov. 5. The Vols, coming off an unbelievable upset over Alabama on Saturday, look like the best team in the SEC East. Tennessee's offense ranks second nationally in scoring, averaging 47.7 points per game. The good news for Georgia is that the game in Athens.

Clemson also looks like its dominant self this season. The Tigers have done a great job at passing tests, too. Clemson needed double overtime to take care of Wake Forest in Week 4 and then beat then-No. 10 NC State at home in Week 5. In Week 7, Clemson went on the road to face a much-improved Florida State team and won 34-28. There are a few important tests remaining for the Tigers. First, Clemson will face undefeated Syracuse at home on Saturday. The Tigers then go on the road to play Notre Dame on Nov. 5. Clemson will close the season, per usual, against South Carolina.

Ohio State has also looked quite impressive through the first half of the year. Aside from the Buckeyes' 21-10 win in Week 1 over Notre Dame, their wins haven't been close. The second-closest margin of victory for OSU came in Week 6 against Michigan State—the Buckeyes won 49-20. The toughest games for OSU remaining include a road trip to Penn State on Oct. 29 and the regular-season finale at home against Michigan. OSU should be favorites in both of those.

And last but certainly not least, yes, Alabama is still alive in the playoff hunt despite losing to Tennessee. The Crimson Tide just have to get past Mississippi State next week and Ole Miss on Nov. 12 to win the SEC West. If the Tide win in the SEC Championship Game against whichever team comes out of the East, a playoff bid will be waiting for them.

The UCLA Bruins look like the best team in the Pac-12. And thanks to Utah upsetting undefeated USC on Saturday night, UCLA is on track to make it to the Pac-12 Championship Game.

The Bruins have a 42-32 win over that same Utah team. The biggest test remaining for UCLA will come this weekend against Oregon. The Bruins also will play USC on Nov. 19, but UCLA could make it into the playoff even with one loss as a Pac-12 champion.

Speaking of Oregon, the Ducks have a legitimate chance to make it into the playoff, as well. Oregon's only loss came Week 1 against Georgia. If Oregon beats UCLA on Saturday, the Ducks' toughest opponent remaining is Utah, whom Oregon will play at home on Nov. 19.

In the Big 12, TCU is the only undefeated team remaining. The Horned Frogs are coming off a huge come-from-behind victory over then-No. 8 Oklahoma State. TCU was down 30-16 but scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to tie it up and force overtime. TCU won in double overtime after scoring a touchdown following Oklahoma State's field goal.

Illinois is the leader in the Big Ten West. The Fighting Illini improved to 6-1 on Saturday with a 26-14 victory over Minnesota. Illinois still has remaining Big Ten West games against Nebraska, Purdue and Northwestern—games it should win. The Illini play at Michigan on Nov. 19, but by then they will have likely already clinched the division. Illinois' defense is one of the best in the country, giving up the fewest yards per game (221).

Ole Miss is also undefeated through the first seven weeks of the season. But the Rebels have beaten just one ranked team, knocking off then-No. 7 Kentucky on Oct. 1. Ole Miss has a tough back end of the season—the Rebels go on the road to play LSU next week, followed by a road trip to Texas A&M. Ole Miss then has a bye before playing Alabama at home, followed by a road trip to Arkansas before ending the year against Mississippi State. Ole Miss winning all of those games to win the SEC West seems unlikely, but if it does a playoff bid would be on the table.

Michigan isn't exactly a surprise contender. But it did pass its first test of the season with flying colors with a 41-17 win over No. 10 Penn State on Saturday. If the Wolverines can beat Ohio State for the second season in a row and make it into the playoff over the the Buckeyes, that would be a surprise.

The coaching carousel in 2022 likely won't be as wild as it was in 2021. But the one thing that is standing out this year is how quickly schools are willing to move on from head coaches in the middle of the season.

Nebraska's Scott Frost was the first head coach to be fired this season. The move came less than 24 hours after Nebraska fell 45-42 to Georgia Southern at home on Sept. 11. The move to fire Frost—who went 16-31 over five seasons in Lincoln—wasn't all that surprising. What was surprising was that if Nebraska had waited until Oct. 1 to fire Frost, his buyout would have dropped from $15 million to $7.5 million.

Wisconsin will also be searching for a new head coach. Paul Chryst was fired by Wisconsin after the Badgers' 2-3 start to the season. The move came shortly after Wisconsin's 34-10 loss to Illinois on Oct. 2. It may not be related, but Illinois head coach Bret Bielema was Wisconsin's head coach from 2006 to '12. Wisconsin lost 17-14 at home to Washington State in Week 2, despite entering as a heavy favorite. The Badgers lost 52-21 to Ohio State before the Illinois game. Chryst went 67-26 over eight seasons at Wisconsin, so the move was a bit surprising.

Georgia Tech will also be searching for a new head coach. In late September, the school announced that it would be parting ways with both head coach Geoff Collins and athletic director Todd Stansbury. Tech went 10-28 over Collins' four seasons in Atlanta.

Programs opt to make head coaching changes every year. But it does seem like more and more schools aren't waiting until the end of a season to start finding a replacement. There's more money in college football than ever before, so I guess having the money to pay whatever a coach's buyout may be is another factor here.

There were 29 head coaches that made their debuts at new schools in 2022. We won't run through every one of them, but let's check in on some at big-name schools.

Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame head coaching tenure got off to a disastrous start. He became the first ND head coach to start off 0-3, following the Irish's season-opening losses to Ohio State and Marshall. Freeman lost to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2021 season. The Fighting Irish are 3-3, coming off a 16-14 loss to a struggling Stanford program. In fact, the win for Stanford marked its first FBS victory in a year.

There are some first-year head coaches that have real chances to make it into the playoff. Coaching Oregon, Dan Lanning is one of them. So does USC's Lincoln Riley, even with the loss to Utah. A Trojans win over UCLA paired with a Pac-12 Championship Game victory would likely be enough to get USC back into the playoff conversation.

In the SEC, Florida is 4-3, coming off a 45-35 home loss to LSU on Saturday. It looks like the best-case scenario for Billy Napier's first season is to make it to a bowl game. Brian Kelly improved to 5-2 with the victory over Florida. The Tigers still have to play Alabama and Ole Miss this season. Getting an upset in either one of those—preferably against Alabama for LSU fans—would make 2022 a pretty decent season for Kelly.

Although Oklahoma was projected to be a preseason contender in 2022, things haven't exactly panned out like that in Brent Venables' first season in Norman. The Sooners are 4-3 and currently ninth in the Big 12. TCU's Sonny Dykes, on the other hand, has the Horned Frogs as a surprising playoff contender. TCU handed Oklahoma its second straight loss in Week 5, winning 55-24.

At Miami, Mario Cristobal got the Canes off to a 2-0 start. But Miami then dropped three straight to Texas A&M, Middle Tennessee State and North Carolina. The Canes' remaining schedule includes games against Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Pitt. If Miami keeps playing like it has, this season might get ugly.

Per DraftKings, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud has the best odds to take home the hardware, sitting with +100 odds (bet $100 to win $100). Stroud has thrown for 1,737 yards and 24 touchdowns with three interceptions on the season.

A new face likely to make it as a Heisman finalist is Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker, like we mentioned previously. Hooker has the second-best odds behind Stroud at +500. Hooker beating Alabama twice in the same season—if the two meet again in the SECCG—would be a great way to boost his chances for the hardware.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams, even after suffering the first loss of the season to Utah, still is +800 to win. Michigan running back Blake Corum, who has rushed for 901 yards and 13 touchdowns, is at +1200. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, is at +1800 despite missing Oct. 8's Texas A&M game due to injury, as well as most of the Arkansas game the week prior.

Outside of this group of front-runners, Clemson's DJ Uiagalelei, UCLA's Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Bama running back Jahmyr Gibbs could be in the mix to be finalists, as well.

Stroud, a Heisman finalist last year, looks like the clear front-runner, but several could threaten his chances.

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