If I had a Heisman ballot this is how I would fill it out.
Just Missed
5. Kellen Moore - Moore is the best quarterback in the country and thus is my highest ranked quarterback. Moore did everything he could possibly do to win this trophy, but with the competition he faced I just can't say he deserves it. On a more well known team, Moore would have won.
4. Toby Gerhart - I'd have no issue whatsoever if Gerhart were to win on Saturday. The gap in who deserves the trophy is the smallest since 2002 and Gerhart is in a situation very similar to Larry Johnson. Johnson had more yards (about 300) and less touchdowns (26 to 20) and played on a team that was good, but not top notch. Johnson ended in third to Palmer and Banks. I expect similar results for Gerhart, but the reason I have him at fourth is because I think the guy ahead of him is slightly better.
Making The Ballot
3. CJ Spiller - Gerhart seemed like a lock for the 2 spot or possibly the 1 and than Championship weekend happened. Carolina crushed Spiller's Heisman hopes, but Spiller deserved the invite instead of McCoy. Spiller's advantage over Gerhart isn't so much what he did to Georgia Tech, which did catch him up to Gerhart, but moreso his game breaking ability. Now this isn't dissing Gerhart, he is a game breaker which people including myself at times don't give him credit for. Gerhart carries defenders with speed, but if there's one player in the country that can truely change the game in one play, it's CJ Spiller. Consistency as a running back and Clemson's losses killed Spiller.
2. Ndamukong Suh
Disgusting. The one word I can think of to define Suh's performance in the Big 12 Championship game. 4.5 sacks as a defensive tackle is unheard of....against a Division 2 team, but against a 2nd ranked team is a performance for the ages. Suh is an unbelievable player and he still manages to put up the stats when teams key on him. I'm actually cheering for Suh to win the trophy and he deserves it, but I just couldn't give him the vote over Ingram for some reason.
1. Mark Ingram
Ingram is a picture perfect candidate for the Heisman. He is the undoubtable leader of the best team in the country. Ingram missed some time for injury and Saban never seemed to pad Ingram's stats. Ingram simply dominated the competition with the exception of a performance against Auburn. Ingram took it too the number one team in the country this week, which is what Heisman winners do.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Time for Bowl Season
It comes and goes in the blink of an eye. With the exception of Army-Navy this season is over and all college football fans have to look forward to are bowl games. Its the time of year when schools like Temple get the most attention of the season and schools like Florida State have to look back on their lackluster season and wonder what could have happened. The final week of the season ended with a bang. The Clemson-Georgia Tech game was a thriller, which sucked considering I only had one TV and had to miss portions of the Nebraska-Texas, one for the ages, game. The latter was going to come down to which team could get into field goal range, not whether they could make it. Henery and Lawrence are both very good kickers and I have full faith Henery would have made the same one Lawrence did. CJ Spiller just absolutely took it to Tech, but it wasn't enough. I've heard a lot of complaints towards the performance of Parker in the game, but how about blaming it on the defense. If I remember correctly, Georgia Tech scored on all but one possession. You have to help your offense out a little bit. And if you missed the best play of the week go youtube the end of the Illinois game. I won't spoil it if you haven't, but it could be the craziest play of the year.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Championship Week Rankings
1. Alabama
2. TCU
3. Texas
4. Boise State
5. Cincinnati
6. Florida
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Iowa
10. Penn State
11. Georgia Tech
12. Virginia Tech
13. LSU
14. BYU
15. Oregon State
16. Pittsburgh
17. Northwestern
18. Wisconsin
19. Miami
20. Oklahoma State
21. Stanford
22. West Virginia
23. Utah
24. Texas Tech
25. Nebraska
2. TCU
3. Texas
4. Boise State
5. Cincinnati
6. Florida
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Iowa
10. Penn State
11. Georgia Tech
12. Virginia Tech
13. LSU
14. BYU
15. Oregon State
16. Pittsburgh
17. Northwestern
18. Wisconsin
19. Miami
20. Oklahoma State
21. Stanford
22. West Virginia
23. Utah
24. Texas Tech
25. Nebraska
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Week 13 Thoughts
It all comes and goes so fast. The regular season is "unofficially" over, as the last arguably full week of college football is over. The Big Ten was off with the exception of Illinois, but the rest of the country finished up their season this week. This turned out to be the best week of the season in my opinion. Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, and Oklahoma State all fell victim to the rivalry game and made the BCS games more clear, as the only real question remaining is Iowa or Penn State and with Oklahoma State losing it looks to be Iowa. Mark Ingram and CJ Spiller took major hits to their Heisman campaigns, but it makes me mad that people take them off the board because of one game and than a guy like Colt McCoy is miraculously atop a lot of Heisman boards. McCoy sucked at the beginning of the season. The Heisman is given to the best player in college football for the 2009 season, not the last 4 weeks of the 2009 season. So people need to take a step back off the McCoy bandwagon. And don't even get me started if you consider Tebow a contender.
Top Players of the Week
1. Colt McCoy
McCoy is the player of the last 4 weeks, he's just not the player of the year. McCoy put up POTWOTY, which is Player of the week of the year numbers, this week. He threw for 304 yards with 4 touchdowns and no picks. That is a great day at the ballpark for any quarterback playing his rival, but he wasn't done there. McCoy had 175 yards on the ground with another touchdown. For you guys not wanting to do math, that is 479 total yards and 5 touchdowns. McCoy is peaking at the right time and the Texas defense can recover from this showing, they are the favorites to win the National Championship right now. Florida and Alabama are solid teams, but not at the level Texas is playing right now.
2. Tony Pike
Cincinnati didn't look very good on defense against Illinois. Yes, one could argue the game was worse than the 13 points the score indicated, but you could argue it should have been even closer. The Cincinnati secondary was giving Juice Williams fields of room to throw to his receivers and he still couldn't hit the pass at some points. With a little better throwing quarterback, Illinois could have torched the Bearcat secondary. Tony Pike was prepared, though, to outscore whatever the Illini offense could do. Pike was a yard short of 400, but he threw an amazing 6 touchdown passes, which outdid McCoy's total touchdown effort for the week.
3. Anthony Dixon
Mississippi held Mississippi State to less than 100 yards through the air, but they couldn't handle Dixon, as he just wore the Ole Miss defense and their strong defensive line down. Dixon along with quarterback Chris Relf torched the Ole Miss defense for 264 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground, one of those being Dixon to go along with his 133 rushing yards. Dixon had two receptions for 12 yards to put his total yards at 145 for the day. Mississippi blanked Mississippi State 45-0 last season and put 27 on the board this season. The difference was the Bulldog offense putting up 34 points of their own this time and they added a pick 6 on defense. Mississippi State broke the game open in the third quarter and Ole Miss wasn't able to fight back.
4. Ryan Williams
Virginia looked like they were going to keep it close for awhile, but Ryan Williams and Virginia Tech were just to much for Al Groh's team and Groh's job. Groh was fired today after failing to beat the instate rivals and having another subpar season. Williams had 183 yards on the ground and had 4 touchdowns, as the freshman wonder finished the regular season. Darren Evans is going to have to fight for carries next season, cause stealing them from a guy that ran for over 1500 yards and had 19 touchdowns through the regular season isn't going to be easy. Williams should pass the 20 touchdown barrier in the bowl game, and could easily finish with 1600 yards if not 1700. Before a bad stretch cost him, Williams was a Heisman candidate and he should be a candidate next year with more experience.
5. Ealey/King
Washaun Ealey and Caleb King both torched the Georgia Tech defense and it would be unfair to give the honor to one over the other. Ealey finished with 183 yards and got his carries more consistenly but failed to score a touchdown. King had 166 with 75 coming off a long run, but he finished with a pair of touchdowns. Its fair to say both had a major impact on the upset in the Georgia state rivalry game. Their output meant Joe Cox, who has had a less than stellar season, only needed to attempt 14 passes and they kept the clock moving on a team that thrives in ball control offense themselves. King lost a fumble in the game, but it shouldn't take away from what this duo acccomplished.
Top Players of the Week
1. Colt McCoy
McCoy is the player of the last 4 weeks, he's just not the player of the year. McCoy put up POTWOTY, which is Player of the week of the year numbers, this week. He threw for 304 yards with 4 touchdowns and no picks. That is a great day at the ballpark for any quarterback playing his rival, but he wasn't done there. McCoy had 175 yards on the ground with another touchdown. For you guys not wanting to do math, that is 479 total yards and 5 touchdowns. McCoy is peaking at the right time and the Texas defense can recover from this showing, they are the favorites to win the National Championship right now. Florida and Alabama are solid teams, but not at the level Texas is playing right now.
2. Tony Pike
Cincinnati didn't look very good on defense against Illinois. Yes, one could argue the game was worse than the 13 points the score indicated, but you could argue it should have been even closer. The Cincinnati secondary was giving Juice Williams fields of room to throw to his receivers and he still couldn't hit the pass at some points. With a little better throwing quarterback, Illinois could have torched the Bearcat secondary. Tony Pike was prepared, though, to outscore whatever the Illini offense could do. Pike was a yard short of 400, but he threw an amazing 6 touchdown passes, which outdid McCoy's total touchdown effort for the week.
3. Anthony Dixon
Mississippi held Mississippi State to less than 100 yards through the air, but they couldn't handle Dixon, as he just wore the Ole Miss defense and their strong defensive line down. Dixon along with quarterback Chris Relf torched the Ole Miss defense for 264 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground, one of those being Dixon to go along with his 133 rushing yards. Dixon had two receptions for 12 yards to put his total yards at 145 for the day. Mississippi blanked Mississippi State 45-0 last season and put 27 on the board this season. The difference was the Bulldog offense putting up 34 points of their own this time and they added a pick 6 on defense. Mississippi State broke the game open in the third quarter and Ole Miss wasn't able to fight back.
4. Ryan Williams
Virginia looked like they were going to keep it close for awhile, but Ryan Williams and Virginia Tech were just to much for Al Groh's team and Groh's job. Groh was fired today after failing to beat the instate rivals and having another subpar season. Williams had 183 yards on the ground and had 4 touchdowns, as the freshman wonder finished the regular season. Darren Evans is going to have to fight for carries next season, cause stealing them from a guy that ran for over 1500 yards and had 19 touchdowns through the regular season isn't going to be easy. Williams should pass the 20 touchdown barrier in the bowl game, and could easily finish with 1600 yards if not 1700. Before a bad stretch cost him, Williams was a Heisman candidate and he should be a candidate next year with more experience.
5. Ealey/King
Washaun Ealey and Caleb King both torched the Georgia Tech defense and it would be unfair to give the honor to one over the other. Ealey finished with 183 yards and got his carries more consistenly but failed to score a touchdown. King had 166 with 75 coming off a long run, but he finished with a pair of touchdowns. Its fair to say both had a major impact on the upset in the Georgia state rivalry game. Their output meant Joe Cox, who has had a less than stellar season, only needed to attempt 14 passes and they kept the clock moving on a team that thrives in ball control offense themselves. King lost a fumble in the game, but it shouldn't take away from what this duo acccomplished.
Week 13 Rankings
I wanted to note there was no Heisman Contenders last week, nor will there be one this week. I will release my "pretend" official ballot after this week's games. I already said who the final three were, so Colt McCoy will not be my Heisman choice, but I'm not guaranteeing the top 3 are the final 3, but one of them will be my choice for winner.
I'm making one notable change this week in my rankings. I believe Boise State is a better team than Cincinnati. Boise State plays better defense in my opinion and Kellen Moore is better than Tony Pike. Don't even get me started on running back comparisons.
1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. TCU
5. Boise State
6. Cincinnati
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Iowa
10. Penn State
11. Virginia Tech
12. Oregon State
13. Georgia Tech
14. USC
15. LSU
16. BYU
17. Pittsburgh
18. Northwestern
19. Wisconsin
20. Miami
21. Oklahoma State
22. Stanford
23. West Virginia
24. Utah
25. Texas Tech
I'm making one notable change this week in my rankings. I believe Boise State is a better team than Cincinnati. Boise State plays better defense in my opinion and Kellen Moore is better than Tony Pike. Don't even get me started on running back comparisons.
1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. TCU
5. Boise State
6. Cincinnati
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Iowa
10. Penn State
11. Virginia Tech
12. Oregon State
13. Georgia Tech
14. USC
15. LSU
16. BYU
17. Pittsburgh
18. Northwestern
19. Wisconsin
20. Miami
21. Oklahoma State
22. Stanford
23. West Virginia
24. Utah
25. Texas Tech
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Week 12 Thoughts
This was the last full week of college football, as Illinois is the only Big 10 team that still has a game on their schedule. Iowa and Penn State are now in a beauty pageant to see who deserves a BCS bid, while other conference's are still trying to sort out their champion. Ohio State sealed the deal this weekend as sole winners of the conference, but while the SEC, Big 12, and ACC have their two championship teams, we still have 2 weeks before winners are crowned. The Pac-10 comes down to a Oregon-Oregon State that no one predicted at the beginning of the season would have those kind of implicatioins. Rivalry week is over for the Big Ten, but it is just starting for the rest of the country and it should be interesting to see if any mammoth upsets are seen, notably one in a game like Alabama - Auburn. With conference championship games decided this week is mainly about jocking for bowl position.
Players of the Week
1. Mike Mohamed, Cal
The Cal linebacker was everywhere for the defense Saturday. Mohamed totaled 10 tackles, including 0.5 TFL for a loss, but it was his game preserving interception inside the 5 yard line at the end of the game that clinched the player of the week honors for the linebacker. Cal upset a surging Stanford team and officially ended their hopes to go to the Rose Bowl. Oregon and Oregon State now have a Rose Bowl determining game next week, which will showcase the matchup of running backs LaMichael James and Jacquizz Rodgers. Cal gets back on track as they try to finish the season strong after having a couple more setbacks this season than they would have liked. One positive from this season was Vereen's performance in place of an injured Best.
2. Daryll Clark, Penn State
Clark preserved Penn State's BCS hopes as Penn State came back from a lack luster first half to dominate a Michigan State team up and down the field in the second half. Clark finished the game with 310 yards, but more importantly he didn't throw any picks to go with his 4 touchdown passes. Add in Curtis Drake had a touchdown pass, the Nittany Lions had 5 touchdowns through the air. Clark has had an up and down year, but with the other competition he'll be named my first team All-Big Ten quarterback, but he won't be named Big Ten offensive player of the year. [A hint - he's a running back] Penn State and Iowa play the waiting game now with one most likely going to a BCS game.
3. Sam Maxwell, Kentucky
Maxwell and the Kentucky Wildcats made a forgettable season for Bulldog fans even worse as Kentucky hung on to beat Georgia. Maxwell had 11 tackles, a career high, but it was his big plays that earned him player of the week honors. Maxwell added an interception to his totals and had a crucial tackle against Caleb King at the end of the game. Kentucky's performance will only add speculation to Mark Richt and his job security. Kentucky themselves have done a good job this season in taking advantage of a weak SEC East. Behind Florida, there is no one in the SEC East this season and Kentucky quietly had a solid season.
4. Larry Asante, Nebraska
Nebraska and Kansas State played for the right to play Texas in the Big 12 Championship game and the game quickly became a defensive grudge match. Nebraska held Kansas State to three points and safety Larry Asante was a big reason why. Asante totaled 10 tackles, but like Maxwell it wasn't the tackles that were pivotal. Asante had a pick for the Cornhuskers, but he also forced a fumble at the Nebraska 1 yard line that held Kansas State out of the endzone. Nebraska now gets to play Texas in the Championship game and while it is unlikely they'll win, the opportunity presents itself for them to qualify for the Fiesta Bowl if they can pull the improbable.
5. Danario Alexander, Missouri
Alexander had another great game for Mizzou. At the beginning of the year, I fully expected Jared Perry to try to replace Jeremy Maclin, but it has been Alexander that has been providing the spark for the Mizzou offense and his quarterback Blaine Gabbert has had a quietly solid first season. Alexander had 11 catches this week for 173 yards and a touchdown. Alexander is on pace to finish the season with over 100 catches, 1500 yards, and about 15 touchdowns. If he played on a better team, Alexander would be being hailed as the top receiver in the country and it's a shame he isn't. If you haven't seen Alexander yet, you need to.
Players of the Week
1. Mike Mohamed, Cal
The Cal linebacker was everywhere for the defense Saturday. Mohamed totaled 10 tackles, including 0.5 TFL for a loss, but it was his game preserving interception inside the 5 yard line at the end of the game that clinched the player of the week honors for the linebacker. Cal upset a surging Stanford team and officially ended their hopes to go to the Rose Bowl. Oregon and Oregon State now have a Rose Bowl determining game next week, which will showcase the matchup of running backs LaMichael James and Jacquizz Rodgers. Cal gets back on track as they try to finish the season strong after having a couple more setbacks this season than they would have liked. One positive from this season was Vereen's performance in place of an injured Best.
2. Daryll Clark, Penn State
Clark preserved Penn State's BCS hopes as Penn State came back from a lack luster first half to dominate a Michigan State team up and down the field in the second half. Clark finished the game with 310 yards, but more importantly he didn't throw any picks to go with his 4 touchdown passes. Add in Curtis Drake had a touchdown pass, the Nittany Lions had 5 touchdowns through the air. Clark has had an up and down year, but with the other competition he'll be named my first team All-Big Ten quarterback, but he won't be named Big Ten offensive player of the year. [A hint - he's a running back] Penn State and Iowa play the waiting game now with one most likely going to a BCS game.
3. Sam Maxwell, Kentucky
Maxwell and the Kentucky Wildcats made a forgettable season for Bulldog fans even worse as Kentucky hung on to beat Georgia. Maxwell had 11 tackles, a career high, but it was his big plays that earned him player of the week honors. Maxwell added an interception to his totals and had a crucial tackle against Caleb King at the end of the game. Kentucky's performance will only add speculation to Mark Richt and his job security. Kentucky themselves have done a good job this season in taking advantage of a weak SEC East. Behind Florida, there is no one in the SEC East this season and Kentucky quietly had a solid season.
4. Larry Asante, Nebraska
Nebraska and Kansas State played for the right to play Texas in the Big 12 Championship game and the game quickly became a defensive grudge match. Nebraska held Kansas State to three points and safety Larry Asante was a big reason why. Asante totaled 10 tackles, but like Maxwell it wasn't the tackles that were pivotal. Asante had a pick for the Cornhuskers, but he also forced a fumble at the Nebraska 1 yard line that held Kansas State out of the endzone. Nebraska now gets to play Texas in the Championship game and while it is unlikely they'll win, the opportunity presents itself for them to qualify for the Fiesta Bowl if they can pull the improbable.
5. Danario Alexander, Missouri
Alexander had another great game for Mizzou. At the beginning of the year, I fully expected Jared Perry to try to replace Jeremy Maclin, but it has been Alexander that has been providing the spark for the Mizzou offense and his quarterback Blaine Gabbert has had a quietly solid first season. Alexander had 11 catches this week for 173 yards and a touchdown. Alexander is on pace to finish the season with over 100 catches, 1500 yards, and about 15 touchdowns. If he played on a better team, Alexander would be being hailed as the top receiver in the country and it's a shame he isn't. If you haven't seen Alexander yet, you need to.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Week 12 Rankings
1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech
8. Ohio State
9. Pittsburgh
10. Oregon
11. Iowa
12. Penn State
13. Oklahoma State
14. Clemson
15. Virginia Tech
16. Oregon State
17. Mississippi
18. USC
19. LSU
20. BYU
21. Utah
22. Northwestern
23. Stanford
24. Wisconsin
25. Texas Tech
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech
8. Ohio State
9. Pittsburgh
10. Oregon
11. Iowa
12. Penn State
13. Oklahoma State
14. Clemson
15. Virginia Tech
16. Oregon State
17. Mississippi
18. USC
19. LSU
20. BYU
21. Utah
22. Northwestern
23. Stanford
24. Wisconsin
25. Texas Tech
Friday, November 20, 2009
Heisman Contenders - Week 11
1. Mark Ingram
This is still Ingram's award to lose more than it's Spiller or Gerhart's to win. Ingram is leading an undefeated Alabama team that looks to win the National Championship. Including rushing and receiving yards, Ingram has over 1500 total yards on the season with 4 games to play, so 2000 yards should happen. Ingram has 13 touchdowns, but unlike Gerhart or Spiller, Ingram has a backup that could be starting on a lot of teams in Trent Richardson. No matter what happens it seems this is the year of the running back. At this point in the season, it would be a dishonor to the Heisman and college football in general if McCoy or Tebow were to win. Ingram, Spiller, and Gerhart should be named the 3 finalists TODAY and let them battle it out over the next couple weeks.
2. CJ Spiller
The interesting case of CJ Spiller. Spiller is the reason Clemson is slowly becoming one of the hottest teams as the team approaches the bowl season. Spiller fills up the stat columns, but not just in one category. He has 836 rushing yards and 6 TDs. Most running backs call that an average to good year, but you have to look deeper to find Spiller's impact. He has 24 catches for 382 yards and 4 touchdowns. Did I mention he has a touchdown pass and even has 1 tackles for giggles? The most impressive stat out of all though is the amazing 4 TDs he has logged on special teams. Gerhart's team might be hotter, but Stanford isn't all that much better, if at all, than Clemson so I give the edge to the more dynamic player right now.
3 Toby Gerhart
What makes this Heisman race come down to the final weeks is the fact that the guy I have at third on my "imaginary" ballot is on the hottest team and averages the most rushing yards of all of them and has the most rushing touchdowns. Statistically speaking, Gerhart is the best player in the Heisman race and in the country, but can he even garner All-American status? Gerhart is 5 yards short of 1400 yards on the season right now with a grand 19 touchdowns. What hurts Gerhart is that his yac is only 5.3 and his yard totals come from so many carries each game. But when you're a powerback that is to be expected. If you're a coach would you rather get 3, 4, or 5 yard carries or 1, 1, 2, 1, 50 yard carries. Gerhart has deceptive speed but he thrives more between the tackles than a CJ Spiller.
Since I have made a cut for the Heisman race, here are the people that deserve some recognition.
Quarterback
Kellen Moore
Case Keenum
Jimmy Clausen
Running Back
Dion Lewis
LaMichael James
Jacquizz Rodgers
Wide Receivers
Golden Tate
Jordan Shipley
Austin Pettis
Defense
Ndamukong Suh
Rahim Moore
Earl Thomas
This is still Ingram's award to lose more than it's Spiller or Gerhart's to win. Ingram is leading an undefeated Alabama team that looks to win the National Championship. Including rushing and receiving yards, Ingram has over 1500 total yards on the season with 4 games to play, so 2000 yards should happen. Ingram has 13 touchdowns, but unlike Gerhart or Spiller, Ingram has a backup that could be starting on a lot of teams in Trent Richardson. No matter what happens it seems this is the year of the running back. At this point in the season, it would be a dishonor to the Heisman and college football in general if McCoy or Tebow were to win. Ingram, Spiller, and Gerhart should be named the 3 finalists TODAY and let them battle it out over the next couple weeks.
2. CJ Spiller
The interesting case of CJ Spiller. Spiller is the reason Clemson is slowly becoming one of the hottest teams as the team approaches the bowl season. Spiller fills up the stat columns, but not just in one category. He has 836 rushing yards and 6 TDs. Most running backs call that an average to good year, but you have to look deeper to find Spiller's impact. He has 24 catches for 382 yards and 4 touchdowns. Did I mention he has a touchdown pass and even has 1 tackles for giggles? The most impressive stat out of all though is the amazing 4 TDs he has logged on special teams. Gerhart's team might be hotter, but Stanford isn't all that much better, if at all, than Clemson so I give the edge to the more dynamic player right now.
3 Toby Gerhart
What makes this Heisman race come down to the final weeks is the fact that the guy I have at third on my "imaginary" ballot is on the hottest team and averages the most rushing yards of all of them and has the most rushing touchdowns. Statistically speaking, Gerhart is the best player in the Heisman race and in the country, but can he even garner All-American status? Gerhart is 5 yards short of 1400 yards on the season right now with a grand 19 touchdowns. What hurts Gerhart is that his yac is only 5.3 and his yard totals come from so many carries each game. But when you're a powerback that is to be expected. If you're a coach would you rather get 3, 4, or 5 yard carries or 1, 1, 2, 1, 50 yard carries. Gerhart has deceptive speed but he thrives more between the tackles than a CJ Spiller.
Since I have made a cut for the Heisman race, here are the people that deserve some recognition.
Quarterback
Kellen Moore
Case Keenum
Jimmy Clausen
Running Back
Dion Lewis
LaMichael James
Jacquizz Rodgers
Wide Receivers
Golden Tate
Jordan Shipley
Austin Pettis
Defense
Ndamukong Suh
Rahim Moore
Earl Thomas
Monday, November 16, 2009
Week 11 Thoughts
The fall of the Trojan dynasty has begun. The Washington game was considered by many as a fluke, but what it really was was a warning sign. The two massacres that were Oregon and Stanford have shown the Trojans aren't the same team they have been for the last decade. Matt Barkley may have a bright future, but he's not there yet. He got shown up this week by a fellow freshman Andrew Luck, who should be a force in years to come. The thing that has really gotten the Trojans the past couple weeks is the play of the defense. The linebacking corps is just not the same after the departure of the big 3 and even their superstar, Taylor Mays, has seen his production fall dramatically this season. Ohio State won the Big Ten this week with a victory over Iowa, but the nation should take notice what Iowa has done this season. They took an upbeat Ohio State team to overtime with what many would consider their 4th string running back and a freshman quarterback. Iowa doesn't look like a one hit wonder, but rather a future contender in an improving Big Ten. Texas is dominating a weak Big 12, Florida and Alabama are rolling towards their huge matchup, Cincinnati has a big battle against Pittsburgh coming up, and Georgia Tech's only competition in the ACC is a surging Clemson team.
Top Players
1. Toby Gerhart
Has there been a week when I haven't put Gerhart here? Andrew Luck continues to be steady at quarterback for the Cardinals and all he needs to do is be efficient. Luck may be a superstar eventually, but when your senior running back has almost 1400 yards and 19 touchdowns with three games left you don't have to do anything more. Getting to 2000 yards is probably unrealistic at this point with only 3 games and 605 yards to go, but getting to 1800 yards and 25 touchdowns seems like a very reasonable possibility. Gerhart's performance will be reflected in my Heisman contenders this week with the fall of Houston and Keenum's Heisman hopes. Gerhart has proved me wrong this season and I finally started believing in the last few weeks, but dominating USC has completely sold me.
2. Tank Carder
The sophomore linebacker was just one of many reasons TCU dominated Utah in all facets of the game and continued to show the legitimacy of the Horned Frogs. It's worth noting one of TCU's victims, Clemson, is one of the country's hottest team's behind CJ Spiller. TCU is definitely one of the top 5 teams in the country and aren't just benefitting from an "easy" non-BCS school conference schedule. I do think Boise State is overrated, but TCU is not. I fully expect TCU to win their BCS game unless they end up playing the loser of the Alabama-Florida game. Tank Carder had a pick 6 against Utah this week to seal the victory for TCU, making the game an out of reach 35-7. TCU is a fast, physical team and has a coach that can compete with the best of them.
3. EJ Manuel
Manuel wasn't spectacular and I usually reserve this section for players that put up insane stats for teams that are in contention. Manuel and the Seminoles fall into neither category, but don't discount the performance of the young gun slinger. Manuel was a highly touted quarterback a few years ago out of high school. Christian Ponder, who was having a very good season overshadowed by the deficiencies of the Florida State defense, is out for the regular season and Manuel received his first career start this past week. Playing in a pivotal game for Florida State's bowl hopes, Manuel delivered for Bobby Bowden completing 75 % for 220 yards and a touchdown (1 INT). He also showed his mobility running the ball 10 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. Whether it be Bobby Bowden or Jimbo Fisher, Florida State's coach has his quarterback of the future.
4. Dexter McCluster
If there was ever a player deserving of player of the week, McCluster is the unanimous decision. In one of the top offensive performances of the year, McCluster ran for 282 yards on the ground for 4 TDs. The wide receiver also caught 4 passes for 42 yards in one of the most dominant displays in Mississippi football history. McCluster didn't do this against a creampuff or a team with a bad defense. He did this against a well respected Tennessee defense that held Alabama and Florida's offense to much less. McCluster had a slow start to the season, but Houston Nutt has been getting him the ball more and more in the last few weeks and McCluster has shown the country why he deserves every single one of those touches. (It also doesn't hurt me that he's my fantasy wide receiver)
5. Kellen Moore
In what was widely considered as Boise State's last test, even though I think Nevada is the key game, Moore and the Boise State offense exploded on Idaho in rout to a 63-25 beatdown. The ever efficient Moore threw 22 of 32 passes complete for 299 yards and a most impressive 5-0 touchdown-INT ratio. Moore has what many would consider an insignificant 2 rushing yards, but I like mentioning that to say he had over 300 total yards of offense. Moore might play for Boise State, but if you haven't seen him he's real fun to watch. It should also be noticed that Moore's go to guy Pettis was on the receiving end of 8 of those balls for an outstanding 4 touchdowns. Pettis might quietly be making a claim for All American honors with 14 touchdowns this season.
Top Players
1. Toby Gerhart
Has there been a week when I haven't put Gerhart here? Andrew Luck continues to be steady at quarterback for the Cardinals and all he needs to do is be efficient. Luck may be a superstar eventually, but when your senior running back has almost 1400 yards and 19 touchdowns with three games left you don't have to do anything more. Getting to 2000 yards is probably unrealistic at this point with only 3 games and 605 yards to go, but getting to 1800 yards and 25 touchdowns seems like a very reasonable possibility. Gerhart's performance will be reflected in my Heisman contenders this week with the fall of Houston and Keenum's Heisman hopes. Gerhart has proved me wrong this season and I finally started believing in the last few weeks, but dominating USC has completely sold me.
2. Tank Carder
The sophomore linebacker was just one of many reasons TCU dominated Utah in all facets of the game and continued to show the legitimacy of the Horned Frogs. It's worth noting one of TCU's victims, Clemson, is one of the country's hottest team's behind CJ Spiller. TCU is definitely one of the top 5 teams in the country and aren't just benefitting from an "easy" non-BCS school conference schedule. I do think Boise State is overrated, but TCU is not. I fully expect TCU to win their BCS game unless they end up playing the loser of the Alabama-Florida game. Tank Carder had a pick 6 against Utah this week to seal the victory for TCU, making the game an out of reach 35-7. TCU is a fast, physical team and has a coach that can compete with the best of them.
3. EJ Manuel
Manuel wasn't spectacular and I usually reserve this section for players that put up insane stats for teams that are in contention. Manuel and the Seminoles fall into neither category, but don't discount the performance of the young gun slinger. Manuel was a highly touted quarterback a few years ago out of high school. Christian Ponder, who was having a very good season overshadowed by the deficiencies of the Florida State defense, is out for the regular season and Manuel received his first career start this past week. Playing in a pivotal game for Florida State's bowl hopes, Manuel delivered for Bobby Bowden completing 75 % for 220 yards and a touchdown (1 INT). He also showed his mobility running the ball 10 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. Whether it be Bobby Bowden or Jimbo Fisher, Florida State's coach has his quarterback of the future.
4. Dexter McCluster
If there was ever a player deserving of player of the week, McCluster is the unanimous decision. In one of the top offensive performances of the year, McCluster ran for 282 yards on the ground for 4 TDs. The wide receiver also caught 4 passes for 42 yards in one of the most dominant displays in Mississippi football history. McCluster didn't do this against a creampuff or a team with a bad defense. He did this against a well respected Tennessee defense that held Alabama and Florida's offense to much less. McCluster had a slow start to the season, but Houston Nutt has been getting him the ball more and more in the last few weeks and McCluster has shown the country why he deserves every single one of those touches. (It also doesn't hurt me that he's my fantasy wide receiver)
5. Kellen Moore
In what was widely considered as Boise State's last test, even though I think Nevada is the key game, Moore and the Boise State offense exploded on Idaho in rout to a 63-25 beatdown. The ever efficient Moore threw 22 of 32 passes complete for 299 yards and a most impressive 5-0 touchdown-INT ratio. Moore has what many would consider an insignificant 2 rushing yards, but I like mentioning that to say he had over 300 total yards of offense. Moore might play for Boise State, but if you haven't seen him he's real fun to watch. It should also be noticed that Moore's go to guy Pettis was on the receiving end of 8 of those balls for an outstanding 4 touchdowns. Pettis might quietly be making a claim for All American honors with 14 touchdowns this season.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Week 11 Rankings
1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech
8. Ohio State
9. Pittsburgh
10. Oregon
11. LSU
12. Oklahoma State
13. Stanford
14. Iowa
15. Penn State
16. Clemson
17. Wisconsin
18. Virginia Tech
19. Oregon State
20. USC
21. Rutgers
22. Houston
23. Mississippi
24. BYU
25. Northwestern
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech
8. Ohio State
9. Pittsburgh
10. Oregon
11. LSU
12. Oklahoma State
13. Stanford
14. Iowa
15. Penn State
16. Clemson
17. Wisconsin
18. Virginia Tech
19. Oregon State
20. USC
21. Rutgers
22. Houston
23. Mississippi
24. BYU
25. Northwestern
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Heisman Contender - Week 10
1. Mark Ingram
Ingram continues to be the most dominant player in college football. He had 144 rushing yards and 30 receiving yards on 5 receptions against a top defense in LSU. Ingram is the best player on the best team right now and I said before the season Ingram would be better than Coffee. What I didn't expect is that Trent Richardson would be just as good as Ingram was to Coffee. It's a great thing to have two great backs like Alabama has, but Ingram is clearly the best right now as he is the best in the country. If Ingram doesn't win the Heisman at this point in the season, the Heisman trophy is committing suicide, because the only other possible winners are Tebow and McCoy and they definitely don't deserve it this season.
2. Case Keenum
Keenum is probably the best player in the country and while I agree that the Heisman should be given to the best player in the country, I believe Ingram deserves the award right now as he is playing just as well as Keenum and he still has his team undefeated. There is no doubt in my mind, Keenum has demonstrated a perfect Heisman season. He puts up the crazy stats the voters like. He has more marquee moments than a voter can count, but the only problem is he plays for Houston. He went over 500 yards for the third time this season this past week and if ballots ended today he would my first team All-American quarterback.
3. CJ Spiller
I say that Spiller needs a big performance and what does he do? He delivers probably the best running performance of his career. For possibly the first time all season, he was rather average on special teams, but his running performance and his 67 yards and a touchdown in the receiving game are undeniable and Spiller deserves his position in the Heisman race. The problem for Spiller is his team's overall performance. This blog tries to predict the Heisman outcome while still showing who I believe is the winner. Do I believe Keenum and Spiller will finish 2-3? Hell no, but they clearly deserve it over McCoy and Tebow who probably will.
The rest of the pack
At this point in the season, the Heisman race is becoming more and more clear and in tradition with the Heisman committee inviting less and less to the Heisman ceremony (recently 3 instead of the classic 5) I am limiting my race at this point in the season to 3. However, this year's race is still undecided. Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy are going to get votes whether or not they really deserve them. Right now Tebow, nor McCoy are in my top 5 candidates, but for namesake the will get first place votes no matter what. Earl Thomas and Ndamukong Suh are stealing the spotlight from Taylor Mays and Eric Berry and rightly so based on this season's performance. Unlike offensive superstars who get namesake, Suh and Thomas are getting the credit over the talented safety duo. Golden Tate is a darkhorse contender at this point, but Notre Dame is doing subpar at this point. Jordan Shipley also deserves an outside shot. Shipley is clearly outplaying his quarterback, McCoy, but the name player will be the one getting the votes.
Ingram continues to be the most dominant player in college football. He had 144 rushing yards and 30 receiving yards on 5 receptions against a top defense in LSU. Ingram is the best player on the best team right now and I said before the season Ingram would be better than Coffee. What I didn't expect is that Trent Richardson would be just as good as Ingram was to Coffee. It's a great thing to have two great backs like Alabama has, but Ingram is clearly the best right now as he is the best in the country. If Ingram doesn't win the Heisman at this point in the season, the Heisman trophy is committing suicide, because the only other possible winners are Tebow and McCoy and they definitely don't deserve it this season.
2. Case Keenum
Keenum is probably the best player in the country and while I agree that the Heisman should be given to the best player in the country, I believe Ingram deserves the award right now as he is playing just as well as Keenum and he still has his team undefeated. There is no doubt in my mind, Keenum has demonstrated a perfect Heisman season. He puts up the crazy stats the voters like. He has more marquee moments than a voter can count, but the only problem is he plays for Houston. He went over 500 yards for the third time this season this past week and if ballots ended today he would my first team All-American quarterback.
3. CJ Spiller
I say that Spiller needs a big performance and what does he do? He delivers probably the best running performance of his career. For possibly the first time all season, he was rather average on special teams, but his running performance and his 67 yards and a touchdown in the receiving game are undeniable and Spiller deserves his position in the Heisman race. The problem for Spiller is his team's overall performance. This blog tries to predict the Heisman outcome while still showing who I believe is the winner. Do I believe Keenum and Spiller will finish 2-3? Hell no, but they clearly deserve it over McCoy and Tebow who probably will.
The rest of the pack
At this point in the season, the Heisman race is becoming more and more clear and in tradition with the Heisman committee inviting less and less to the Heisman ceremony (recently 3 instead of the classic 5) I am limiting my race at this point in the season to 3. However, this year's race is still undecided. Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy are going to get votes whether or not they really deserve them. Right now Tebow, nor McCoy are in my top 5 candidates, but for namesake the will get first place votes no matter what. Earl Thomas and Ndamukong Suh are stealing the spotlight from Taylor Mays and Eric Berry and rightly so based on this season's performance. Unlike offensive superstars who get namesake, Suh and Thomas are getting the credit over the talented safety duo. Golden Tate is a darkhorse contender at this point, but Notre Dame is doing subpar at this point. Jordan Shipley also deserves an outside shot. Shipley is clearly outplaying his quarterback, McCoy, but the name player will be the one getting the votes.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Week 10 Thoughts
Week 10 saw teams fall and teams make their mark. Stanford beat arguably the hottest team in the country in Oregon and Toby Gerhart had another outstanding day. I doubted Gerhart to start the year and really thought Luck was going to be the leader of this offense. Luck has played really well for a freshman, but Gerhart is the heart and soul of this Stanford squad. Alabama stayed undefeated with a win over rival LSU, and Ohio State massacred and entirely dominated a Penn State squad. Boise State struggled and Kansas State had a crucial win in the Big 12 North to continue their march to the conference title game. Case Keenum is the most clutch player in America and Georgia Tech barely held on for victory. USC just doesn't look the same this year, while CJ Spiller struck lightning again. Nebraska held Oklahoma to 3 points and its almost sad how far the Sooners have fallen in one season. Alabama, Florida, and Texas are the clear 1-2-3 right now and pending catastrophe will be 2 of the 3 reps in the MNC game.
Top Players
1. Toby Gerhart
Gerhart might have the leader role on how many times he has landed on this list. Despite fumbling, Gerhart was given the ball again and again against Oregon. Gerhart had a ridiculous 38 carries for an impressive 223 yards, but more importantly he got into the endzone three times for Stanford. Stanford's offense won this game. Jeremiah Masoli had a 3/0 ratio and James got his 100 yards on the ground. Andrew Luck stayed solid for Stanford, but this was clearly Gerhart's game as he ran it at almost a 2:1 ratio to Luck's throws. Gerhart will get his Heisman hype as his team works their way up in terms of national respect.
2. Cameron Heyward
Heyward was all over the field for the Buckeyes against Penn State Saturday. Ohio State with the win controls their own destiny in the Big Ten and with the injury to Stanzi, Ohio State should be bigtime favorites this week against Iowa. Heyward and the rest of the Buckeye defensive line manhandled an overwhelmed Penn State offensive line of Saturday. Heyward is a future NFL star and he played big in one of the Buckeye's biggest games of the season with 11 tackles and 2 sacks. The Buckeyes defense is proving to be one of the tops in the country with a couple shutouts this season and now holding one of the Big Ten's top offenses to a measly 7 points and that 7 points being controversial too.
3. Case Keenum
Keenum is keeping himself alive in the Heisman race, doing everything he can possibly do. This week he completed 40 passes and for a second week in a row he threw for over 500 yards, totalling 522 with 21 more on the ground from 6 carries. Keenum was interception-less and threw for an "average" 3 touchdowns. It's his clutch performances that should be getting the attention of the country though. Most Heisman winners have some marquee moment that defines them each season. Keenum just has that winning knack. Houston doesn't always win pretty, but Keenum makes sure they are in that W column at the end of the day. Keenum's team was on the brink of defeat, but a couple of clutch throws put the Houston kicker in range for the gamewinner and he didn't disappoint.
4. Zach Collaros
Well Cincinnati fans should feel about their future. Colloras is only a sophomore and he may already be a top 5 quarterback in the country after coming off the bench for another one in Tony Pike. Collaros had another absolutely monstrous week throwing for 480 yards and running for 75 more with 3 combined touchdowns. The Big East is quickly forgetting Matt Grothe, as Collaros is possibly a better passer and better runner. If Collaros had played the entire season for the Bearcats, he would be in my opinion the obvious choice for the Heisman. He has almost 300 rushing yards to go with 1200+ passing yards and he has only started for a small fraction of the team's games so far. Cincinnati is here to stay and Collaros is the reason why.
5. CJ Spiller
There were a lot of candidates this week for top players of the week honors, but I decided to reward the people in Heisman contention more as they come up big when they need to. Clemson is storming back after a so-so start to the season and it all starts with Spiller. Spiller came up big on the ground this week, an area where I have doubted him in the past, with 165 yards and a score. Spiller didn't do anything special on special teams this week, but he added 67 yards and a touchdown on three catches in the aerial game. With all these yards, Spiller has to start getting more attention nationally. Sure Clemson isn't a top team, but they are definitely playing well now and Spiller doesn't pad his stats against the Coastal Carolina's of the world.
Top Players
1. Toby Gerhart
Gerhart might have the leader role on how many times he has landed on this list. Despite fumbling, Gerhart was given the ball again and again against Oregon. Gerhart had a ridiculous 38 carries for an impressive 223 yards, but more importantly he got into the endzone three times for Stanford. Stanford's offense won this game. Jeremiah Masoli had a 3/0 ratio and James got his 100 yards on the ground. Andrew Luck stayed solid for Stanford, but this was clearly Gerhart's game as he ran it at almost a 2:1 ratio to Luck's throws. Gerhart will get his Heisman hype as his team works their way up in terms of national respect.
2. Cameron Heyward
Heyward was all over the field for the Buckeyes against Penn State Saturday. Ohio State with the win controls their own destiny in the Big Ten and with the injury to Stanzi, Ohio State should be bigtime favorites this week against Iowa. Heyward and the rest of the Buckeye defensive line manhandled an overwhelmed Penn State offensive line of Saturday. Heyward is a future NFL star and he played big in one of the Buckeye's biggest games of the season with 11 tackles and 2 sacks. The Buckeyes defense is proving to be one of the tops in the country with a couple shutouts this season and now holding one of the Big Ten's top offenses to a measly 7 points and that 7 points being controversial too.
3. Case Keenum
Keenum is keeping himself alive in the Heisman race, doing everything he can possibly do. This week he completed 40 passes and for a second week in a row he threw for over 500 yards, totalling 522 with 21 more on the ground from 6 carries. Keenum was interception-less and threw for an "average" 3 touchdowns. It's his clutch performances that should be getting the attention of the country though. Most Heisman winners have some marquee moment that defines them each season. Keenum just has that winning knack. Houston doesn't always win pretty, but Keenum makes sure they are in that W column at the end of the day. Keenum's team was on the brink of defeat, but a couple of clutch throws put the Houston kicker in range for the gamewinner and he didn't disappoint.
4. Zach Collaros
Well Cincinnati fans should feel about their future. Colloras is only a sophomore and he may already be a top 5 quarterback in the country after coming off the bench for another one in Tony Pike. Collaros had another absolutely monstrous week throwing for 480 yards and running for 75 more with 3 combined touchdowns. The Big East is quickly forgetting Matt Grothe, as Collaros is possibly a better passer and better runner. If Collaros had played the entire season for the Bearcats, he would be in my opinion the obvious choice for the Heisman. He has almost 300 rushing yards to go with 1200+ passing yards and he has only started for a small fraction of the team's games so far. Cincinnati is here to stay and Collaros is the reason why.
5. CJ Spiller
There were a lot of candidates this week for top players of the week honors, but I decided to reward the people in Heisman contention more as they come up big when they need to. Clemson is storming back after a so-so start to the season and it all starts with Spiller. Spiller came up big on the ground this week, an area where I have doubted him in the past, with 165 yards and a score. Spiller didn't do anything special on special teams this week, but he added 67 yards and a touchdown on three catches in the aerial game. With all these yards, Spiller has to start getting more attention nationally. Sure Clemson isn't a top team, but they are definitely playing well now and Spiller doesn't pad his stats against the Coastal Carolina's of the world.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Week 10 Rankings
1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech
8. Ohio State
9. Pittsburgh
10. Oregon
11. LSU
12. Houston
13. USC
14. Oklahoma State
15. Arizona
16. Iowa
17. Penn State
18. Utah
19. Miami
20. Oregon State
21. Stanford
22. Wisconsin
23. Tennessee
24. BYU
25. West Virginia
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech
8. Ohio State
9. Pittsburgh
10. Oregon
11. LSU
12. Houston
13. USC
14. Oklahoma State
15. Arizona
16. Iowa
17. Penn State
18. Utah
19. Miami
20. Oregon State
21. Stanford
22. Wisconsin
23. Tennessee
24. BYU
25. West Virginia
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Week 9 Heisman Contenders
1. Mark Ingram
I hold true to my word this week. Ingram remains among the elite in the Heisman race and is still the frontrunner. He has a huge test this weekend against LSU and I believe if he can get 150 yards and Alabama wins, Ingram will have the Heisman trophy at the end of the season. Ingram is clearly the top player in the country right now and if he has a dominating performance against one of the nation's stingiest defenses, he'll have no reason not to be the winner. In a year that lacks standouts, the sophomore back has established himself as the next person up to the task of competing for multiple Heismans.
2. Case Keenum
What did I say last week about Keenum? Needing to do something big? The answer by Keenum is still echoing. 559 yards and 5 touchdowns, throwing for over 80 percent. I've decided I don't care at all what team Keenum plays on. If Ingram comes up slow this week, Keenum is the clear number 2 on this list and will take over the top spot. Keenum has fallen out of the spotlight in the national media to a degree, but any college football fan knows what Keenum did and how he performed clutch, while his defense struggled. Keenum is the real. System quarterbacks throw for 300 yards, not 500+ two times in one season.
3. CJ Spiller
I could have eliminated him off the list, but I'm not going to. Spiller had 27 yards and a touchdown this week, but his team dominated Coastal Carolina by over 40. There's no reason for Dabo to risk injury to his best player when Clemson still has a shot at the ACC Championship and Spiller has his draft status being evaluated weekly. It's almost relieving to see players earning their stats in meaningful games and not just padding them against the crappy teams on the schedule. Spiller needs to make a big impact for an improved Tiger team this weekend against Florida State if Spiller wants to justify my reasoning for this move.
4. Golden Tate
Tate makes the Golden Child "golden." Jimmy Clausen has played well this year, but when you have Tate at your disposal and Michael Floyd playing half the time, it's not too hard to put up some stats. With Floyd's injury (who is coming back this week), Tate developed into a more dynamic role in the offense and has been a more receiver version of Dexter McCluster. I expect Tate to surpass 1000 yards through the air and 10 TDs this weekend, impressive stats for a receiver. Tate is playing Navy this weekend and he needs to put up big numbers against a team Temple beat.
5. Earl Thomas
I really wanted to put Daryll Clark here again after another good performance against Northwestern, playing well while the rest of the team coasted. Ndamukong Suh is getting all the love and is an All-American for sure, but his team isn't playing well at all and the defense has been giving up too many points as of late. Earl Thomas is the young leader of a suffocating Texas defense. Playing defense is hard to get credit, but Thomas has 6 picks on the season including a huge pick 6 against Oklahoma State. He has another pick 6 on his resume this season to go along with 11 passes broken up. Taylor Mays and Eric Berry will probably be first team All-Americans just on name credit, but Thomas and Iowa safety Tyler Sash are probably having the better years. And no I'm not discrediting Berry for his lack of picks, but rather complementing Sash and Thomas.
I hold true to my word this week. Ingram remains among the elite in the Heisman race and is still the frontrunner. He has a huge test this weekend against LSU and I believe if he can get 150 yards and Alabama wins, Ingram will have the Heisman trophy at the end of the season. Ingram is clearly the top player in the country right now and if he has a dominating performance against one of the nation's stingiest defenses, he'll have no reason not to be the winner. In a year that lacks standouts, the sophomore back has established himself as the next person up to the task of competing for multiple Heismans.
2. Case Keenum
What did I say last week about Keenum? Needing to do something big? The answer by Keenum is still echoing. 559 yards and 5 touchdowns, throwing for over 80 percent. I've decided I don't care at all what team Keenum plays on. If Ingram comes up slow this week, Keenum is the clear number 2 on this list and will take over the top spot. Keenum has fallen out of the spotlight in the national media to a degree, but any college football fan knows what Keenum did and how he performed clutch, while his defense struggled. Keenum is the real. System quarterbacks throw for 300 yards, not 500+ two times in one season.
3. CJ Spiller
I could have eliminated him off the list, but I'm not going to. Spiller had 27 yards and a touchdown this week, but his team dominated Coastal Carolina by over 40. There's no reason for Dabo to risk injury to his best player when Clemson still has a shot at the ACC Championship and Spiller has his draft status being evaluated weekly. It's almost relieving to see players earning their stats in meaningful games and not just padding them against the crappy teams on the schedule. Spiller needs to make a big impact for an improved Tiger team this weekend against Florida State if Spiller wants to justify my reasoning for this move.
4. Golden Tate
Tate makes the Golden Child "golden." Jimmy Clausen has played well this year, but when you have Tate at your disposal and Michael Floyd playing half the time, it's not too hard to put up some stats. With Floyd's injury (who is coming back this week), Tate developed into a more dynamic role in the offense and has been a more receiver version of Dexter McCluster. I expect Tate to surpass 1000 yards through the air and 10 TDs this weekend, impressive stats for a receiver. Tate is playing Navy this weekend and he needs to put up big numbers against a team Temple beat.
5. Earl Thomas
I really wanted to put Daryll Clark here again after another good performance against Northwestern, playing well while the rest of the team coasted. Ndamukong Suh is getting all the love and is an All-American for sure, but his team isn't playing well at all and the defense has been giving up too many points as of late. Earl Thomas is the young leader of a suffocating Texas defense. Playing defense is hard to get credit, but Thomas has 6 picks on the season including a huge pick 6 against Oklahoma State. He has another pick 6 on his resume this season to go along with 11 passes broken up. Taylor Mays and Eric Berry will probably be first team All-Americans just on name credit, but Thomas and Iowa safety Tyler Sash are probably having the better years. And no I'm not discrediting Berry for his lack of picks, but rather complementing Sash and Thomas.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Week 9 Thoughts
It's unbelievable what Iowa is doing. Whether they're play like a top 5 team or not, they deserve to be there. They're getting computer respect, but no human respect and I have to disagree with that. What Iowa lacks in star power, they make it up with the "it" factor. Iowa can't seem to lose, not a bad quality to have at all. Alabama had the week off and Florida steam rolled a bad Georgia team. The team of the week had to be Oregon, giving USC an utter beat down and showing the country they might not just be the best team in the Pac-10, but in the country. I'm still a firm believer that if you lose, you don't deserve to be ahead of the undefeated teams at this point in the season. Teams will drop and Oregon is in the driver's seat to take their spot. These next few weeks are pivotal in shaping up the National Title race and the interesting case of the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Top Players
1. LaMichael James
Blount? Who's Blount? Oregon got the biggest break of the season by losing to Boise State and Blount throwing the punch he did. What a blessing it has been for the team. Blount didn't have the best reputation before the punch and now that he's humbled, that old presence he had is no longer in the locker room. James has taken the country by storm this season and what better way to put an exclamation point on a breakout season than putting a beatdown on the Trojans of USC. James ran for 183 yards and a touchdown as Oregon didn't just beat USC, but they took them to town. Oregon is a rising force in college football and while USC is still a top 5-10 program in the country, Oregon is becoming one too. With Kelly at the helm, this team won't be going anywhere in the near future.
2. Texas Defense
I couldn't give the award to just one player, as it was a group effort. The Texas defense destroyed a good Oklahoma State offense in rout to 41 points as a team that included 2 pick 6's. Curtis Brown and Earl Thomas each took one back on Zac Robinson and Texas's weak run game wasn't a big deal considering the defense of Texas was keeping up themselves in the scoring category with Robinson and company. Robinson was forced into 4 interceptions and Tolston was held to just 70 yards on 19 carries and the suffocating defense of Texas looks to be one of the top 5 units in the country. Texas made a statement about their title hopes.
3. Tim Tebow
Tebow had a much better game this week and while he won't rise to the top of the Heisman trophy ballots, he showed up for the first time in a while. He was an efficient 15 of 21 for 164 yards and two touchdowns through the air, but he showed his running ability again as he ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Georgia may be down, but this is still a rivalry game and Tebow proved he was the best player on the field Saturday. Tebow now has the career rushing touchdown record, although tainted until he gets 4 more touchdowns (I think they should count Walker's bowl game touchdowns). Florida had an equally dominating performance to Texas and the National Title race just got more interesting.
4. Case Keenum
Houston couldn't play defense on Saturday. A team that shut down Texas Tech and Oklahoma State just kept giving up points to Southern Miss. Thankfully for Houston, Keenum came to play. System quarterback or not, Keenum was 44 of 54 for a ridiculous 559 yards and 5 touchdowns. Some quarterbacks in the country take three games or possibly more to reach totals like that. Keenum may not play the country's best defenses, but 559 yards is 559 yards and that is incredible. Keenum answered my call for a big game this past weekend and he deserves not only Heisman mention, but top 3 status. Keenum is definitely one of the top 5 quarterbacks in the country this year and I would put him up against anyone.
5. Zack Collaros
Collaros has to be the best second string quarterback in the country or close to it. Cincinnati has their key player go down and all the second string does is pick up where Pike left off if not outplaying the starter. Collaros adds a mobile dimension to Cincinnati's offense, but it was his arm against Syracuse that was all so impressive. Collaros was a cool 22-28 for 295 yards and all four of Cincinnati's touchdowns this Saturday. He added 22 on the ground to put him over 300 total yards for the game. If Collaros has to keep playing, I'm going to be really tempted to put Cincinnati QB down as my All-Big East quarterback at the end of the season.
On a side note to top players this week, I just want to mention how stupid Mike Williams of Syracuse has to be. Williams is one of the top playmakers in the country and he just quits. I know this probably has to do with his suspension from a week ago, but to quit on your teammates like that is just cowardly. This will kill his NFL Draft status and tarnish his reputation and deservedly so. Good riddance Mike Williams, college football doesn't need you.
Top Players
1. LaMichael James
Blount? Who's Blount? Oregon got the biggest break of the season by losing to Boise State and Blount throwing the punch he did. What a blessing it has been for the team. Blount didn't have the best reputation before the punch and now that he's humbled, that old presence he had is no longer in the locker room. James has taken the country by storm this season and what better way to put an exclamation point on a breakout season than putting a beatdown on the Trojans of USC. James ran for 183 yards and a touchdown as Oregon didn't just beat USC, but they took them to town. Oregon is a rising force in college football and while USC is still a top 5-10 program in the country, Oregon is becoming one too. With Kelly at the helm, this team won't be going anywhere in the near future.
2. Texas Defense
I couldn't give the award to just one player, as it was a group effort. The Texas defense destroyed a good Oklahoma State offense in rout to 41 points as a team that included 2 pick 6's. Curtis Brown and Earl Thomas each took one back on Zac Robinson and Texas's weak run game wasn't a big deal considering the defense of Texas was keeping up themselves in the scoring category with Robinson and company. Robinson was forced into 4 interceptions and Tolston was held to just 70 yards on 19 carries and the suffocating defense of Texas looks to be one of the top 5 units in the country. Texas made a statement about their title hopes.
3. Tim Tebow
Tebow had a much better game this week and while he won't rise to the top of the Heisman trophy ballots, he showed up for the first time in a while. He was an efficient 15 of 21 for 164 yards and two touchdowns through the air, but he showed his running ability again as he ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Georgia may be down, but this is still a rivalry game and Tebow proved he was the best player on the field Saturday. Tebow now has the career rushing touchdown record, although tainted until he gets 4 more touchdowns (I think they should count Walker's bowl game touchdowns). Florida had an equally dominating performance to Texas and the National Title race just got more interesting.
4. Case Keenum
Houston couldn't play defense on Saturday. A team that shut down Texas Tech and Oklahoma State just kept giving up points to Southern Miss. Thankfully for Houston, Keenum came to play. System quarterback or not, Keenum was 44 of 54 for a ridiculous 559 yards and 5 touchdowns. Some quarterbacks in the country take three games or possibly more to reach totals like that. Keenum may not play the country's best defenses, but 559 yards is 559 yards and that is incredible. Keenum answered my call for a big game this past weekend and he deserves not only Heisman mention, but top 3 status. Keenum is definitely one of the top 5 quarterbacks in the country this year and I would put him up against anyone.
5. Zack Collaros
Collaros has to be the best second string quarterback in the country or close to it. Cincinnati has their key player go down and all the second string does is pick up where Pike left off if not outplaying the starter. Collaros adds a mobile dimension to Cincinnati's offense, but it was his arm against Syracuse that was all so impressive. Collaros was a cool 22-28 for 295 yards and all four of Cincinnati's touchdowns this Saturday. He added 22 on the ground to put him over 300 total yards for the game. If Collaros has to keep playing, I'm going to be really tempted to put Cincinnati QB down as my All-Big East quarterback at the end of the season.
On a side note to top players this week, I just want to mention how stupid Mike Williams of Syracuse has to be. Williams is one of the top playmakers in the country and he just quits. I know this probably has to do with his suspension from a week ago, but to quit on your teammates like that is just cowardly. This will kill his NFL Draft status and tarnish his reputation and deservedly so. Good riddance Mike Williams, college football doesn't need you.
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