Tuesday, November 10, 2009

HEISMAN HOPEFULS, WEEK 10

With three weeks left, we see some candidates trying to separate themselves. Case Keenum has passed for 1,000 yards the last two weeks. Toby Gerhart and Mark Ingram came up big in big games to stand out a little from the pack of running backs. However, with three games to go, and looking at their total rushing yards, I am wondering if either of them will surpass 1,500. How comfortable are we with a Heisman Trophy being awarded to a running back with less than 1,500 yards rushing. That has not happened in over 25 years. Maybe if one of them had a 9 yard per carry average and over 20 touchdowns, but with the 12 game schedule (13 for Ingram), 1,500 yards is the minimum for "outstanding" running back play. As I said for quarterbacks, a game manager is not an outstanding quarterback. A running back with less than 1,500 rushing yards is nothing more than a game manager. Dropping from the list after this week will be Noel Devine and Jaquizz Rodgers. Devine has had less than 100 total yards rushing the last two weeks. Rodgers was a tough call. I know he is capable of exploding in the last few weeks of the year, and he has all those touchdowns, but in the end I think he is just too far behind to catch up. Jimmy Clausen is hanging on by a thread. He put up respectable numbers in a loss to a respectable Navy team, but he let himself get sacked for a safety late in the fourth quarter that proved to be the winning score. Notre Dame, though, finishes the year with two pretty big games (Pittsburgh and Stanford) and he has chances to redeem himself.


Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame, 37 completions, 51 attempts, 452 yards, 2TD, 1 INT (209-308, 2770, 20 TD, 3 INT, 1 rush TD)

Case Keenum, Houston, 40-60, 522, 3 TD (325-458, 3815, 28 TD, 5 INT, 3 rush TD)

Noel Devine, West Virginia, 13 carries, 56 yards (167-1010, 10 TD)-WILL NOT CONTINUE TO TRACK

Toby Gerhart, Stanford, 38-223, 3 TD (233-1217, 16 TD)

Mark Ingram, Alabama, 22-144, (175-1148, 8 TD, 3 rec TD)

Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh, 18-110, 1 TD (203-1139, 12 TD, 1 rec TD)

Jaquizz Rodgers, Oregon State, 25-67, 1 TD (197-989, 15 TD, 1 rec TD, 1 TD pass)-WILL NOT CONTINUE TO TRACK

Ryan Matthews, Fresno State, 26-143, 3 TD (205-1459, 14 TD)

2 comments:

  1. Isn't the Heisman race between Tim Tebow and Colt Mccoy?

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  2. Perhaps on a national level the discussion and leader boards still have Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy fighting it out. However, I do not allow my thoughts and opinions to be controlled by the masses. As I explained in the Heisman Hopefuls, Week 8 post (October 27, 2009), McCoy and Tebow have been excellent game managers and led their teams to undefeated records, but I don't consider their play "outstanding" which is the definition of the Heisman Trophy--it is awarded to the most outstanding player in college football.

    If you want my prediction of the future, without giving away too much of what I am planning to include in a future Heisman Hopefuls post, Tim Tebow will be invited to New York for the presentation, regardless of where he finishes in the voting. The suspense of whether or not he will win a second heisman is a key story line that will be used to generate ratings for the awards presentation. If he is not invited, then it is a foregone conclusion that he will not win.

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