The highest individual honor in American sports will be awarded to the most outstanding player in college football Saturday Night. If I had a vote, it would go a little something like this…
1. Montee Ball, RB Wisconsin
Wisconsin RB Montee Ball deserves the Heisman Trophy - 38 TDs should do it, and the pose above is further proof (Icon SMI)
If Wisky is 13-0 he seems like a shoe-in for the award, 38 total TDs? and he was at his best against the toughest teams on the schedule. 4 TDs against such vaunted defenses as Nebraska and Penn State. 4 TDs in the Big Ten Title game. He even had 2 TDs in each of the losses. Montee Ball did his part to earn the award.
The Badgers were thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to staying perfect this season, on a last second bobbled richochet hail mary loss to Sparty and another last second loss to Ohio State on a busted coverage deep after a long QB scramble. Hell, even with only one of those wins the Badgers might have gotten in over Alabama. one thing is for sure, those losses cannot be pinned on Montee Ball in any way, shape, or form.
Ball has never averaged less than 5.0 YPC in any game this season and has scored at least twice every week. He is also so versatile, registering a catch in 11 games and a receiving TD in 6 games, leading all RBs (with atleast 75 carries) in TD grabs.
Two-thirds human. One-third computer model. Three-thirds controversy. 100% needed in a season with out two lone undefeated teams from major conferences.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) exists to ensure the two best teams meet in the National Title Game. That title game cycles through four sites and bowl committees, as such has some relevance as to selection for those games each year – Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange.
The BCS was designed to balance out the human voter biases by introducing computer rankings, which of course just led to different arguments after settling the original ones. In other words, there is no perfect system so the BCS is about as well constructed as it can be. The only hole in the deus ex machina is the USA Today’s Coaches Poll, widely derided since no coach has the time to watch enough games to make an informed decision – they have their own team and next opponent to worry about!
So how does this system affect this year’s top six teams and their fans so deeply committed to them? Brought to you in partnership with research director Matt Ryan, pros and cons below:
You are either in one of 2 boats: you have Case Keenum, Patrick Edwards, and Montee Ball and have crushed your league this season, your team is set and you arent looking to tinker with what got you here….or you eeked in as the last seed and you have a team that is all smoke and mirrors, you are still looking for the right starts and those sneaky plays to keep you playing one more weekend. And there is nothing like the weak defenses of Conference USA to help you get wins in November.
QB:
Dominique Davis, ECU vs UTEP — UTEP has no chance of slowing down this Pirate attack. The only downside here for Davis is that the UTEP offense doesnt keep pace and ECU goes into clock-drain mode a little early. RB Reggie Bullock is also out for this game, which further boosts the stock of Davis who has had 3 rushing TDs the last 2 games in the absence of Bullock.
GJ Kinne, Tulsa vs Marshall — UCF held Kinne in check last week, Marhsall will not be able to fare so well. UCF aside, he has been on fire since the BYE completing 67% of his passes and the rushing attempts have come back as well with 54 in the last 4 games. Read the rest of this entry →
Tim Jefferson looking to fly this week versus the Lobos (Icon SMI)
The Lobos do not have a prayer of slowing down many offenses, but throw a triple-option at them and their heads might just implode. TJ could easily end up with 200+ yards on the ground this week, and 5 TDs would not be unreasonable. New Mexico is just. that. bad.
Bret Smith, Wyoming vs San Diego State -- Smith had a quiet week vs UNLV only passing for 96 yards, but he did have 3 TDs. This SDSU game should be fun and Smith should score enough to be startable, but the yards might not be there (he hasnt cracked 300 yet this season)
Ryan Lindley, San Diego State vs Wyoming — Speaking of not cracking 300, Lindley’s highest total on the season is only 273 vs Wazzu in week 3. But on the plus side, the passing game will get back TE Gavin Escobar this week.
Casey Pachall, TCU vs BYU — Pachall had a one-week blip above 300 yards (vs SMU in week 5) but otherwise has been solid-but-unspectacular, content to let the ground game do the dirty work. Probably more of the same is in line this week vs an overrated BYU defense, but if you’re stuck Pachall is an ok play. He shouldn’t impress but he wont disappoint. Read the rest of this entry →
You may have heard Case Keenum (right, Houston Chronicle) threw 9 TD last night in the rain against Rice .
Case Keenum: "Let's see, 9TD is 36 pts, and 500 yds is 25...ballgame!" (Houston Chronicle)
Only thing more odd is that Rice stayed in man zero coverage the whole freaking game. Phenomenal, and they are supposed to be smart at Rice. You did start Keenum, right?
The rest of C-USA…
QB Dominique Davis, ECU vs Tulane — Davis absolutely shredded Navy last week. True, Navy was short 3 defensive starters in the back-7, but you dont set the NCAA record for consecutive completions by being lucky, even against backups. I think is safe to assume Davis has resumed MUST START status. Tulane has no hope of slowing down this attack this week. Read the rest of this entry →
