This article documents the year 2013 in American football.
College football NCAA Division I FBS
The 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season began on Thursday, August 31 at 6:00 p.m. EDT, with both the kickoff of a game between North Carolina and South Carolina and a game between Kent State and FCS member Liberty. The Alabama Crimson Tide were voted as the preseason No. 1, receiving 58 of the 60 allotted first-place votes.
As part of the 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment, the Western Athletic Conference discontinued football and the Big East Conference went through a massive change in membership that saw the conference discontinue football and many of the original members rebrand as the American Athletic Conference, which began play in 2013.
On September 7, the contest between Michigan and Notre Dame at Michigan Stadium set a new NCAA record for attendance at a college football game, with 115,109 people in attendance. This record would not be broken until the Battle at Bristol in 2016.
On November 30, in the Iron Bowl game between Auburn and Alabama at Jordan–Hare Stadium, Alabama attempted a game-winning 57-yard field goal as time expired; however, the kick was short and was returned 109 yards for a walk-off Auburn touchdown, dubbed the "Kick Six". This came just two weeks after the so-called "Prayer at Jordan–Hare", in which Auburn defeated Georgia after a deep pass on 4th down late in the game was tipped by 3 Georgia defenders and fell into the hands of receiver Ricardo Louis, who then ran into the end zone for what would be the game-winning touchdown.
UCF and Baylor were named champions of the American Athletic and Big 12 Conferences, respectively, based on their superior conference records. Arkansas State and Louisiana–Lafayette were named co-champions of the Sun Belt, though Louisiana–Lafayette would later vacate this championship along with eight of their nine wins from the season. In the first of the conference championship games to be played, Bowling Green defeated Northern Illinois to win the MAC Championship. Other teams who won their conference championship games included Florida State (ACC), Michigan State (Big Ten), Rice (Conference USA), Fresno State (Mountain West), Stanford (Pac-12), and Auburn (SEC).
2013 BCS Bowl GamesRose – Michigan State 24, Stanford 20Fiesta – UCF 52, Baylor 42Sugar – Oklahoma 45, Alabama 31Orange – Clemson 40, Ohio State 35BCS Championship – Florida State 34, Auburn 31
On December 14, Florida State freshman quarterback Jameis Winston was announced as the winner of the 79th Heisman Trophy, defeating Alabama senior quarterback A. J. McCarron and Northern Illinois senior quarterback Jordan Lynch, who finished second and third, respectively. Winston was the second consecutive freshman to win the award.
The bowl game season kicked off with the New Mexico Bowl on December 21, and concluded with the 2014 BCS National Championship Game on January 6. The National Championship, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, saw the No. 1 Florida State Seminoles defeat the No. 2 Auburn Tigers, 34–31, to win the school's third national championship. This year was the last of the BCS era, as the College Football Playoff system would be introduced the following season.
NCAA Division I FCS Similarly to the FBS, the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season began on Thursday, August 31 at 6:00 p.m. EDT, as Liberty kicked off against Kent State. The first matchup between two FCS teams began an hour later, with the start of a contest between Robert Morris and Eastern Kentucky at Roy Kidd Stadium. As the back-to-back defending national champions, North Dakota State received the preseason No. 1 ranking, along with 127 of the 134 first-place votes.
The 2013 season saw the debuts of two new football programs, Charlotte and Houston Baptist, as well as the fielding of a football team at Mercer for the first time since 1941 and at Stetson for the first time since 1956.
On August 31, No. 4 Eastern Washington defeated FBS opponent Oregon State, who was ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll at the time of the game. This marked only the third time that an FCS team had defeated a ranked FBS opponent, after Appalachian State in 2007 (def. No. 5 Michigan) and James Madison in 2010 (def. No. 13 Virginia Tech). Three more Power Five teams were upset by FCS opponents: Kansas State fell to No. 1 North Dakota State the day before the Eastern Washington–Oregon State game, August 30, and later on August 31 Iowa State was defeated by No. 17 Northern Iowa. The fourth and final instance came much later in the season, on November 23, when Georgia Southern upset Florida, extending the Gators' losing streak to six games.
On December 16, Eastern Illinois senior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was announced as the winner of the 27th Walter Payton Award, the award for the most outstanding player in Division I FCS football.
The top eight seeds in the FCS Playoffs were given to, in order, North Dakota State, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Washington, Southeastern Louisiana, Maine, McNeese State, Towson, and Montana. No. 5 Maine, No. 6 McNeese State, and No. 8 Montana were the only three seeded teams to lose in their first playoff game. The national semifinals consisted of No. 1 North Dakota State, No. 3 Eastern Washington, No. 7 Towson, and unseeded New Hampshire. NDSU and Towson won their respective semifinal matchups, and the season ended on January 4, 2014, with the 2014 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, which saw No. 1 North Dakota State defeat No. 7 Towson, 35–7, to win their third consecutive national championship.
NCAA Division II
The 2013 NCAA Division II football season began on August 31, 2013. Defending national champions Valdosta State received the preseason No. 1 ranking for the third time in school history.
Division II saw the loss of two programs to the Division I FCS ranks, Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word, but also saw the debuts of two new programs in Alderson Broaddus and Florida Tech.
On December 20, Bloomsburg running back Franklyn Quiteh was announced as the winner of the 28th Harlon Hill Trophy, the award for the best player in Division II football.
The NCAA Playoffs were divided into four super regions, each of which contained six teams seeded 1–6. Shepherd, Lenoir–Rhyne, Northwest Missouri State, and CSU–Pueblo received the four No. 1 seeds. CSU–Pueblo was upset by No. 4 seed Grand Valley State in its first game, and Shepherd was defeated by No. 3 seed West Chester in its second game; both lower-seeded teams made the semifinals. The 2013 NCAA Division II Football Championship Game, played on December 21 at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, saw No. 1 seed Northwest Missouri State defeat No. 1 seed Lenoir–Rhyne, 43–28, to win the school's fifth national championship.
NCAA Division III
The 2013 NCAA Division III football season began on August 31, and the regular season concluded on November 16. The following Saturday, November 23, the playoffs began, with opening round games played at campus sites.
In the first round, which consisted of sixteen games, only three home teams lost: Centennial Conference champions Johns Hopkins were defeated by Wesley, Illinois Wesleyan lost to IIAC champions Wartburg, and John Carroll fell to St. John Fisher. St. John Fisher was the only away team to win in the second round, as they upset Liberty League champions Hobart. The third round again saw only one away team prevail, CCIW champions North Central defeated MIAC champions Bethel on the road.
This set up the semifinals, which consisted of OAC champions No. 3 Mount Union, CCIW champions No. 5 North Central, WIAC champions No. 1 Wisconsin–Whitewater, and ASC champions No. 2 Mary Hardin–Baylor. In one semifinal, Mount Union defeated North Central at home, 41–40, after a passing touchdown gave the Purple Raiders the lead with just 1:26 left in the game. The other semifinal saw Wisconsin–Whitewater edge Mary Hardin–Baylor on the road, 16–15, despite a scoreless fourth quarter from the Warhawks.
This set up the national championship game, played on December 20 at Salem Stadium in Salem, Virginia, between No. 3 Mount Union and No. 1 Wisconsin–Whitewater. Two days prior, on December 18, Mount Union quarterback Kevin Burke was named the winner of the 21st Gagliardi Trophy, the award for the most outstanding player in NCAA Division III football. The championship game, unlike the semifinals, was not a close matchup; the Warhawks defeated the Purple Raiders 52–14 to win the national championship, Wisconsin–Whitewater's fourth.
NAIA
The 2013 NAIA football season began with the Morningside (IA) Mustangs holding the No. 1 spot in the NAIA Coaches' Poll, despite only receiving four of the thirteen first-place votes, eight of which went to No. 2 Marian (IN). A Marian loss to No. 4 Saint Xavier (IL) on September 7 dropped them to No. 16, and the Knights would drop out of the poll entirely after another loss the following week to Wisconsin–Oshkosh, ranked No. 10 in the NCAA Division III polls. Morningside would retain the No. 1 spot until they lost on November 9 to No. 19 Northwestern (IA) and dropped to No. 5, opening the door for the Cumberlands (KY) Patriots to take the top spot in the November 11 poll. In the final poll before the NAIA Playoffs began, released on November 17, Cumberlands (KY) retained the top spot, followed by No. 2 Grand View (IA), No. 3 Carroll (MT), No. 4 Baker (KS), and No. 5 Morningside (IA).
The opening round of the NAIA Championship tournament was played on November 23, with sixteen teams earning tournament berths. No. 8 Benedictine (KS) was the only team to be upset in the first round, as they lost 13–14 at the hands of No. 11 Tabor (KS). No. 5 Morningside provided the only upset of the quarterfinals, as they knocked off No. 4 Baker by a score of 36–28. The semifinals of the tournament saw No. 1 Cumberlands defeat No. 3 Carroll 34–27 in overtime, and No. 2 Grand View dismantle No. 5 Morningside 35–0. This set up a national championship matchup on December 21 at Barron Stadium in Rome, Georgia, between the top-ranked Cumberlands Patriots and the second-ranked Grand View Vikings, both a perfect 13–0 entering the contest. The Vikings jumped out to an early 14–3 lead, and had a 21–17 advantage at halftime. A scoreless third quarter kept the lead with Grand View going into the final quarter. The Vikings extended their lead to 28–17, and Cumberlands responded with six points of their own; however, Grand View scored one final time and the contest finished with the Grand View Vikings improving their record to 14–0 and being crowned national champions, by a score of 35–23, for the first time in school history.
NFL
The 2013 NFL draft took place from April 25–27, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher was selected first overall by the Kansas City Chiefs, followed by Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel (Jacksonville Jaguars), Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan (Miami Dolphins), Oklahoma offensive tackle Lane Johnson (Philadelphia Eagles), and BYU defensive tackle Ezekiel Ansah (Detroit Lions). West Virginia wide receiver Tavon Austin was the first skill player drafted, taken eighth overall by the St. Louis Rams. Other notable selections included Desmond Trufant (22nd, Falcons), DeAndre Hopkins (27th, Texans), Cordarrelle Patterson (29th, Vikings), Zach Ertz (35th, Eagles), Le'Veon Bell (48th, Steelers), Eddie Lacy (61st, Packers), Travis Kelce (63rd, Chiefs), and Tyrann Mathieu (69th, Cardinals), among others. South Carolina tight end Justice Cunningham was selected last by the Indianapolis Colts, making him the 2013 Mr. Irrelevant.