College Football 2015: Five biggest disappointments of first half

Sep 19, 2015; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich talks with an official in the third quarter against the Georgia State Panthers at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

3. Oregon Ducks

Oregon lost Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota to the NFL but the expectations were that the Ducks would still make it back to the Pac-12 Championship Game and possibly the College Football Playoff. Transfer quarterback Vernon Adams was supposed to step right in and not miss a beat, which is preposterous for a FCS transfer — no matter how successful — to step right in and replace the program’s best player.

Adams is a fine player who should have a better second half now that he’s getting healthy, but he struggled with a broken finger on his throwing hand and the rest of the team struggled in shocking losses to Utah and Washington State.

The Ducks allowed 62 points in a home loss to the Utes and lost to the dreadful Cougars in double overtime, which is on the short list for one of the more stunning losses of the first half. Oregon should be better in the second half, but they still have Stanford, Cal, Arizona State and USC to contend with. They may go 4-1 in their last five games, but they won’t be the Pac-12 North champs.

Next: Auburn