College Football/Heisman - A race more exciting than the Oscars

[MovieWes]

Congrats DWS. You guys played a great game and are completely deserving of the National Championship. It's disappointing that Colt McCoy's college career ended the way it did, but I guess that's just the way it's gonna have to be.

But how about Garrett Gilbert? I don't think he could have adjusted more beautifully if he'd tried. Sure, he made some mistakes in the first half, particularly that stupid interception at the end of the second quarter, but it's hard to believe that this is his first full college football game. I know they've been saying he's the best quarterback that Texas has ever committed, but I was never sure if it was just hype or if he was the real deal. I've got to say that tonight, he really matured before my eyes. I can't even begin to imagine what was going through his mind tonight, but considering the adversity he was up against in what was probably one of the defining moments of his life so far, he has nothing to be ashamed of. I think he has a great college football career ahead of him. He could even come back and win a National Championship and maybe a Heisman within the next two years.

But I digress. This is your night and Alabama's night, so go out and celebrate. You guys deserve it.

[dws1982]

ROLL TIDE !!!!!!!!!!!!

37-21

Of course that score isn't really reflective of the game that we saw, considering Texas only trailed by 3 late in the fourth quarter, and it was very much in the air until Alabama got that Touchdown via Ingram. With 2:01 left. Sucks that Leigh Tiffin's college career (where he scored more points than any player in school history) ended with him deflecting the PAT off the upright.

Alabama did not play nearly as well tonight as they did against Florida, and it may have been a different outcome if McCoy hadn't been put out so early and had given one of the best performances of his career. But Garrett Gilbert definitely emerged in the second half as a worthy successor to McCoy. McCoy, of course, was a class act, in his post-game interview. Hope his shoulder recovers completely.



Edited By dws1982 on 1262929074

[dws1982]

Good luck to you too, Wes. I'm hoping for a game like the SEC game...a great first half, and then a blowout second half. But a win is really all I want. I'm guessing...24 AL-17 TX.

!!!!!!! ROLL TIDE !!!!!!!



Edited By dws1982 on 1262908402

[MovieWes]

Good luck tonight, DWS. Here's hoping for a good game!

\\m// HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!!! \\m//

:p

[MovieWes]

I don't feel bad for McCoy. Now the Heisman curse will fall on Mark Ingram and Alabama's head, lol.

Here's hoping Colt McCoy pulls a Vince Young!

[dws1982]

Ingram gets it. According to the announcer, it was the closest result ever.

Thrilled for him, and for Alabama, but I do feel bad for McCoy.

Gerhart was second place, by 28 points.



Edited By dws1982 on 1260669679

[MovieWes]

I mean in terms of the Heisman. In 9 years, 7 Heisman winners have gone on to lose their bowl games. I posted it a few posts down, but I'll post it again. Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart are the only ones to escape the Heisman curse...

2008: Sam Bradford (Oklahoma Sooners) lost to the Florida Gators 14-24 (National Championship)
2007: Tim Tebow (Florida Gators) lost to the Michigan Wolverines 35-41 (Bowl Game)
2006: Troy Smith (Ohio State Buckeyes) lost to the Florida Gators 14-41 (National Championship)
2005: Reggie Bush (USC Trojans) lost to the Texas Longhorns 38-41 (National Championship)
2003: Jason White (Oklahoma Sooners) lost to the LSU Tigers 14-21 (National Championship)
2001: Eric Crouch (Nebraska Cornhuskers) lost to the Miami Hurricanes 14-37 (National Championship)
2000: Chris Weinke (Florida State Seminoles) lost to the Oklahoma Sooners 2-13 (National Championship)

And as good as Sam Bradford was last season, Colt McCoy was far and away the best player and most deserving of the Heisman trophy. The Oklahoma Sooners' only loss last season was to Texas, but they represented the Big 12 South in the Big 12 championship because there was a 3-way tie between Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. Texas beat Oklahoma, Oklahoma beat Texas Tech, and Texas Tech beat Texas. The tie-breaker came down to who was ranked highest in the BCS, and that turned out to be Oklahoma, who edged out Texas by one one hundredth of a point. It probably helped that Oklahoma blew out Texas Tech. Colt McCoy was quite literally one play from a Heisman trophy last season (and probably a spot in the National Championship game), but it all ended when Graham Harrell from Texas Tech completed a Hail Mary touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree with 3 seconds left in the game and stunned Texas, who had just fought their way back from a 20 point deficit and taken the lead with one minute left in the game!

However, last season Colt McCoy set an NCAA record by completing 77.6% of his passes. It should also be noted that no college quarterback in history has ever averaged over 70% pass completion for a season. Colt McCoy has had two seasons where he averaged over 70% pass completion: last season and this season. And what's more, his career average pass completion percentage over 4 years is 70.9%! That's unheard of!

That said, McCoy would be certainly be a worthy Heisman winner this season, but I really hope he doesn't win because I don't want Texas to join the statistics of bowl losers with the Heisman trophy winner. However, since tonight he won the Davey O'Brien, the Maxwell, and the Walter Camp awards, and since everyone from ESPN to "The Heisman Pundit" (who, by the way, is never wrong) is saying McCoy is going to win, it looks as if he is the one to beat now.

FYI, I just found out that he is only the third player in history to win back-to-back Walter Camp Awards, joining Archie Griffin (1974-75) and O.J. Simpson (1967-68).



Edited By MovieWes on 1260510755

[dws1982]

Are you talking in terms of his career trajectory (Leinart and Palmer seem to have gone different directions there), or in terms of the post-award bowl game?

If you're talking in terms of the bowl game (since several recent saw their team lose the bowl game after the Heisman), then that stat kind of makes me hope Ingram doesn't win as well. I like McCoy. I think he would've been a great choice last year (although Bradford was hard to argue against). I'd love to be able to cheer his win this year. But like I said earlier, that game was just too much of a disaster for me to really get behind his win.

[MovieWes]

Why I voted McCoy for the Heisman

December, 10, 2009

By Tim Griffin

The Heisman Trophy balloting was tougher than I can ever remember it being.

I labored long and pondered my vote for several days before I finally made it late Monday afternoon.

Colt McCoy didn't play his best in the Big 12 championship, but he did enough to win.

Voting for Colt McCoy isn’t an easy decision and after reading countless e-mails and letters this week assuredly wasn’t a popular one. But I think it’s the right one for a lot of good reasons.

Like an electorate that is swayed by the last thing they hear at a debate, I fear that some of my fellow voters and most fans across the country put too much importance on what happened in the most recent game. I don't think they considered the body of work for a season.

McCoy was intercepted three times in a tight 13-12 victory over Nebraska. One of the picks was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Another one was snatched by DeJon Gomes on an outstanding athletic play were he ripped it away from a Texas receiver.

I don’t think it was McCoy’s fault that he was sacked nine times against Nebraska. Instead, it was most indicative of playing behind the weakest offensive line he's had during his career.

But in the end, McCoy persevered to take his team to the conference championship and advance to the national championship game. Detractors talk about how he disappeared in that Nebraska game. I actually look at the toughness he showed to engineer his team to its biggest victory during the time he has been Texas’ quarterback -- despite the fierce pounding he took.

And other Heisman finalists struggled through bad games this season as well.

Mark Ingram produced 30 yards against Auburn -- a defense that was ranked 80th nationally in rush defense. Earlier in the season, he rushed for 50 yards against Arkansas's defense, which finished 68th in rush defense.

I also hear from some of my friends that cover the Southeastern Conference that other backs on Alabama’s team could have done the same thing as Ingram if they had gotten the opportunity.

People talk about the Heisman not being a career award and how previous years shouldn’t matter.

But I think Colt McCoy did enough this season to take his team to the brink of the national championship. On top of becoming the winningest quarterback in FBS history with a 45-7 career won-loss record.

That statistic resonates in a year where one candidate doesn’t stand out to me.

Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh had phenomenal individual numbers. But I still can’t get away from the biggest statistic in my mind: 9-4. As in Nebraska’s won-loss record.

Suh also had a few clunkers thrown in as well. There was the game against Texas Tech when he had four tackles and no sacks in a 21-point loss to the Red Raiders. He had four tackles and no sacks against Oklahoma. And three tackles and no sacks against Kansas.

It’s also likely that Suh played as a part of one of the great defensive lines in Big 12 history. Jared Crick set a school record for sacks against Baylor. Barry Turner was an underrated defensive end who repeatedly beat Adam Ulatoski last week. Pierre Allen had his moments as well.

The argument could be made that those opponents schemed to take him away from the game. But shouldn’t a Heisman Award candidate be able to overcome those offense plans, particularly playing with as strong a defensive front as the Cornhuskers had this season?

The top individual statistics belong to Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, who rushed for 1,736 yards and 26 touchdowns. But his numbers were swollen by playing six teams with rushing defenses ranked 60th or worst, including a 205-yard season-ending effort against a Notre Dame defense that ranked 90th in rush defense this season.

But Gerhart rushed for 82 yards in a loss against a Wake Forest team that was 5-7 and ranked 82nd in run defense. He also rushed for 96 yards in a loss against Oregon State. The Cardinal were 8-4.

I’m not here to belittle the other candidates, but merely to show that all of them had their failings over the course of the season. They all struggled through games that weren’t as good as their best.

And in the end, there’s something to be said about a quarterback who took his undefeated team to the national championship game while completing 70 percent of his passes. He had the biggest single rushing game and the longest rushing play of the season for a team that had no backs that rushed for more than 520 yards.

McCoy had one consistent receiver and an offensive line -- at least if Saturday night’s performance is an indicator --that left a lot to be desired.

One Heisman moment for him came on that 65-yard touchdown sprint through the Texas A&M defense.

But another one came six games earlier after one of his biggest disappointments.

After McCoy had thrown a fourth-quarter interception in the red zone, he made a crunching form tackle that saved many yards on a return and likely saved the Longhorns’ 16-13 victory over the Sooners.

A play like that showed me more than any mere statistic could have.

I voted McCoy for first place, Suh at second place and Gerhart at third.

I think it’s the right vote.

But because of the late interest, I’m more interested in this Heisman balloting than any I can remember in a long time.

It ought to be fun Saturday night.

[MovieWes]

Well, EVERYBODY is saying it's going to be Colt McCoy that wins the Heisman. How depressing. If he wins, here's hoping he pulls a Carson Palmer or Matt Leinart.

[MovieWes]

I also just noticed, dws, that you're an Alabama man. I wish you guys luck, but I hope Texas beats the hell outta Bama! :p

I wish your guys luck too, and given the way they played on Saturday, they'll need it.

Well, the offense left a lot to be desired, but Texas' defense held Nebraska to 106 yards of total offense and only 5 first downs, so that was pretty impressive.

If Texas can replicate the offense of the Texas A&M game and the defense of the Nebraska game, then it'll be a good game.

[dws1982]

I also just noticed, dws, that you're an Alabama man. I wish you guys luck, but I hope Texas beats the hell outta Bama! :p

I wish your guys luck too, and given the way they played on Saturday, they'll need it.

And one more thing about the Heisman. As much as I think Ingram would be a deserving choice, I think it might also give the wrong impression about the Alabama team. You can say that Tebow is the dominant force on Florida's team, and that they'll be up the creek without him. Toby Gerhart almost singlehandedly turned Stanford into a bowl contender for the first time in a long time. But Alabama's success was not all Ingram. He's a great running back, no question, but so is Trent Richardson. Julio Jones is a great wide reciever, Arenas is a great kick/punt returner, Leigh Tiffin is a great kicker (and the all time scoring champ in school history), and McElroy is becoming a great quarterback. The overall team is great, top to bottom, front to back, that it almost seems unfair to single Ingram out over the others. So I kind of have mixed feelings about this.

If pressed, I might even say that I think Gerhart should win. I'd like to be able to endorse Colt McCoy, but I can't after what I witnessed Saturday.



Edited By dws1982 on 1260404584

[Greg]

The big irony for me is that I have never developed any interest at all for college football, even though I did my graduate work at Texas A&M.

[MovieWes]

I misread a stat. And I knew better, because Matt Leinart just won a few years back.

And Leinart's teammate Reggie Bush won the following year as well.

[MovieWes]

I also just noticed, dws, that you're an Alabama man. I wish you guys luck, but I hope Texas beats the hell outta Bama! :p