By Kevin McNamara, BowlSeason.com

We made it.

The 2020 college football season will be one we will never forget. The fact that it was played is a testament to the thousands of student-athletes, coaches, staff and support personnel who made it possible. Playing the games was important to so many, and the hard work and small sacrifices endured by many are to be commended.

Not only was the season played, but the better news is that the fractured, postponement-filled, Season of COVID came to a close at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami with a positive check mark attached towards the health of everyone involved.

As Nick Saban and perhaps his best-ever band of Alabama Crimson Tide players celebrated another College Football Playoff national title, the sport as a whole released a collective exhale. A season dominated by adherence to COVID testing, surveillance and mitigation was far from easy. But in the end the student-athletes and coaches remained vigilant, the vast majority of games were contested and the 50 teams that reached Bowl Season were properly rewarded.

"We told the players back in March that they would have to adapt or die in terms of all the things that would happen this year," said Saban, who won his record seventh national title. "We also told them in the beginning, whoever manages these circumstances and situations and disruptions is going to be the team that had the best chance to be successful."

Even a team as chock-full of NFL talent as Alabama needed to showcase its ability to adapt this season. Due to conference adjustments the Tide played 11 Southeastern Conference opponents on its 13-0 championship ride. That's the most in school history.

Teams in every other conference showed the same adaptation skills. Notre Dame, for example, played a full ACC schedule for the first time. That was enough to cash an Irish ticket into the CFP semifinals.

Then came Bowl Season. 

Several bowl games were cancelled due to COVID-related opt-outs by schools and local health restrictions. Some simply chose to end their seasons out of an abundance of caution. The constant changes placed bowl officials in a constant state of flux, but they were the same challenges that coaches and athletic departments played all season.

The biggest go-with-the-flow sign of all likely came when the Rose Bowl, the Granddaddy of Them All, was moved out of Pasadena to give families the opportunity to see their sons and brothers play. AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., happily welcomed Alabama and Notre Dame.

"It was a difficult year for everyone and we all did the best we could. In the end, Bowl Season was played with 25 games and 50 teams being provided an experience that they will remember forever," said Bowl Season executive director Nick Carparelli. "We owed it to those student-athletes to provide them with these experiences and feel badly for those that were not able to participate."

Of course Bowl Season is always about the games, the experiences and the moments that make college football special. While the community visits and pre-game pep rallies were shelved for this year, the games lived up to the hype. 

Take for example the very first contest, the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Appalachian State gave star running back Camerun Peoples the ball early and often in what turned into a 56-28 rout of North Texas. Peoples rolled up an FBS bowl rushing record 317 yards and scored five touchdowns. When Peoples needed a breather, the Mountaineers gave the ball to teammate Marcus Williams Jr. and he rolled to 101 rushing yards. App State finished with 500 rushing yards on 39 carries (12.8 per carry) and is now a perfect 6-0 in bowl games in six eligible seasons since its move from FCS to FBS.

Several programs capped off their best seasons in years (hello, Indiana) but maybe no one more impressively as Iowa State. The Cyclones (9-3) tied a school record for wins after shutting out Oregon in the second half of a 34-17 win in the Fiesta Bowl.

Wildest game? Had to be the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl in Orlando. Coastal Carolina was looking to finish off a perfect season but could not close the deal. Liberty (10-1) blew a chance to win in the final seconds of regulation after a fumble on the 1-yard line. But in overtime, the Flames' Elijah James blocked a 42-yard field goal to seal the win.

The Cheez-It Bowl was far from a sleeper either. Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders completed 12-of-14 passes for a TD and ran in another score as the Cowboys raced out to a 21-0 lead over Miami. While that start may have sparked channel changers everywhere, the Hurricanes didn't fold. The 'Canes closed to within two points by the end of the third quarter before falling, 37-34.
 

Can games in Bowl Season help a player's NFL Draft stock? You bet. Scouts' eyes had to be popping after watching BYU quarterback Zach Wilson throw for 425 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 49-23 win over Central Florida in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl.

"I have no doubt that years from now these young men – especially the seniors playing their final collegiate game – will look back and be grateful for having the chance to compete in a bowl game," Carparelli said.

There are many lessons that come with participating in a bowl game, as well for a national championship. Perhaps the best example of all came on the stage at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. As the Crimson Tide smiled for photos and dodged confetti, senior quarterback Mac Jones pulled Saban aside and shared some valuable perspective.

 "Mac actually said to me on the stage when we were getting the championship trophy, he said, 'can you believe this, from a scout team quarterback to winning a national championship?'" Saban said. "It's a lesson for a lot of people out there to look at how important it is to emphasize your development each year."

Another lesson to remember? Encountering tough times is never easy, but often unavoidable. College football players everywhere met that life challenge head-on in a season no one will ever forget.