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2006 Heisman Discussion (merged all)

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Toy Department: Suspense pretty much gone from Heisman race


[SIZE=-1]Web Posted: 10/16/2006 11:44 AM CDT

[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Mark Wangrin
Express-News Staff Writer[/SIZE]

The ballots aren't out yet in the Heisman race, but the suspense is.

Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson took a dive Saturday and broke his collarbone. Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe took one, too, his bad day against a no-name opponent fracturing his longshot hopes.
Michigan's Mario Manningham had arthroscopic knee surgery and is out at least three weeks. Ohio State's Ted Ginn Jr. is second banana on his own team.
West Virginia's Steve Slaton has been overshadowed on a team that barely casts one. Notre Dame's Brady Quinn has the talent and name recognition to make a comeback, but not the team.
On the fringes, Florida's Chris Leak sprung one with a loss to Auburn. Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson can catch every ball thrown to him but he doesn't return kicks or play defense. With a loss at Texas A&M, Missouri's Chase Daniel became Chase Troy.
As in Troy Smith.
The Ohio State quarterback can do nothing spectacular the next few weeks, but as long as the Buckeyes keep winning and he has a solid game against Michigan on Nov. 18, he'll almost certainly win the Heisman Trophy in a landslide.
His biggest obstacle is a schedule ? Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois and Northwestern ? that could mean he'll be sitting on the bench in at least three of those games before he has a chance to fatten his stats.
There are the usual caveats. There will always be a faction of Heisman voters who like to buck conventional wisdom and go with the dark horse. There are those who like to take the "thinking man's" approach and find that candidate whose qualifications aren't obvious to the masses, but are to them.
Then there's always the possibility of Smith being visited by one of the four horsemen of a Heisman apocalypse ? implosion, injury, arrest or scandal.
Unlike last year, when USC's Reggie Bush and Texas' Vince Young spent the season one-upping each other with outrageous highlight clips, this year's trophy will be decided by more mundane, but no less important, criteria.
Troy Smith makes big but not spectacular plays, he's been a model citizen and he wins. He'll win the Heisman. More importantly, he'll deserve it.
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Heisman buzz finds Jackets' Johnson

PAUL NEWBERRY, Associated Press
Published October 18, 2006
ATLANTA -- Calvin Johnson was strolling underneath the stands of Bobby Dodd Stadium when he noticed a metal pole above his head.
Hardly breaking stride, Johnson jumped up and grabbed the bar with both hands.
"It must have been 15 feet high," said Georgia Tech teammate Tashard Choice, who was walking with Johnson on Tuesday. "I just call him a showoff when he does things like that."
OK, so maybe Choice was exaggerating just a bit. Fifteen feet sounds a little unrealistic, even for Johnson. But the Yellow Jackets have gotten used to witnessing improbable feats by their too-good-to-be-true receiver.
Playing for a team whose quarterback has barely completed 50 percent of his passes, Johnson has managed to put up some truly amazing numbers through the first half of the season. He leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with 35 catches and 559 yards receiving, and ranks third nationally with eight touchdowns receptions.
Georgia Tech (5-1, 3-0) needs another big performance from Johnson on Saturday night. The 13th-ranked Yellow Jackets visit No. 12 Clemson (6-1, 3-1) in a prime-time matchup that could be a preview of the Dec. 2 ACC championship in Jacksonville, Fla.
Two years ago, Johnson had his coming-out party in Death Valley. The Yellow Jackets were already touting this freakishly talented freshman who seemed to catch every pass thrown his way, but the rest of the nation got to see just how good he was on that night in Clemson.
Johnson hauled in three scoring passes -- the last with 11 seconds remaining -- as Georgia Tech rallied for three touchdowns in the final five minutes to stun the Tigers 28-24.
"That's when everybody learned about me," he said. "It gave me some pub."
While Johnson clearly stood out over his first two seasons, the Yellow Jackets had trouble getting him the ball. He had 48 catches as a freshman and 54 as a sophomore, but failed to crack 900 yards either season. Johnson is on pace for 70 receptions, 1,118 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Johnson is still a long-shot candidate for college football's highest individual honor, considering the last receiver to capture the award was Michigan's Desmond Howard in 1991. Even then, Howard got extra consideration because of his dazzling return skills.
It's tough to beat out a quarterback, who takes all the snaps, or a running back, who might get 25 or 30 carries a game.
"The more you have the ball in your hand, the better chance you have of winning it," Johnson said with a shrug.
 
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osugrad21;636749; said:
Hardly breaking stride, Johnson jumped up and grabbed the bar with both hands.
"It must have been 15 feet high," said Georgia Tech teammate Tashard Choice, who was walking with Johnson on Tuesday. "I just call him a showoff when he does things like that."
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OK. I could dismiss this comment if it were made by some borderline qualifier at State U, but this is Georgia Tech! That's a future engineer that can't discern the difference between 15 feet and 10 feet!
 
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DDN

OSU NOTES
Buckeyes will try subtle approach to push Smith for Heisman


By Doug Harris
Staff Writer

Thursday, October 19, 2006


COLUMBUS ? Ohio State is planning a Heisman Trophy promotion for quarterback Troy Smith, but nobody will be able to accuse the school of being tacky.
No mass mailings of bobblehead dolls and certainly no plans for a billboard on a Manhattan skyscraper like the one Oregon once hung for Joey Harrington.
The members of the Football Writers Association of America will simply receive bronze-colored postcards with "Ohio State University," rather than Smith's name, printed on the cover.
Why take such a subtle approach?
"We think they'll get the idea," OSU spokesman Steve Snapp said.
Coach Jim Tressel isn't opposed to formal Heisman campaigns ? not even that gaudy 10-story billboard of Harrington.
"They could have some liquor (ad) up there instead of that, so I'd rather have a college football player," he said. "College football exposure is good."
What Tressel likes most, though, is the trend of giving that coveted award to not necessarily the best player, but the best player on one of the nation's top teams.
"I think that's wonderful because that's what it's about," Tressel said. "One thing that has kept (Smith) in the limelight is that his team has done well.
"He's been a big part of that, and he does a whole bunch of things ? like his 'escape' ability and his consistency and so forth. But I think it starts with your team."
Pittman healthy
OSU tailback Antonio Pittman limped off late in the first quarter against Michigan State with an ankle injury, but it was no cause for alarm.
He returned one series later ? he finished with 18 carries for 48 yards and one TD ? and has practiced as usual this week.
"You never know with running backs," Tressel said. "They're like greased lightning when they've got the ball. And the other 23 hours of the day, they're slow."
No drop-off for the defense
The Buckeyes may have lost all but two starters from last year's dominating defense, but coach Jim Heacock didn't lower the standards for the group.
The second-year defensive coordinator gathered his players for the start of spring practice last April and gave them a rousing speech.
"His exact words were, 'No one else ? outside of the people in this room ? thinks we're going to be the No. 1 defense in the country. Let's go out and do it,' " senior safety Brandon Mitchell said.
The Buckeyes are third nationally in scoring defense (9.0 points per game), and the players credit Heacock for the results so far.
"He's an intense person, a lot of energy," defensive end Jay Richardson said. "We all feed off of him. He puts a fire in us because he's so passionate."
First game memorialized
A historical marker will be placed at the site of OSU's first football game during a ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday.
The 64-0 loss to Wooster in 1890 took place at a field called Recreation Park, located at the corner of Whittier and Jaeger streets in Columbus. A Giant Eagle store is there now.
The marker will list the names of the coaches and players from the game.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125
or [email protected]
Click to expand...
 
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Blade

BUCKEYES NOTEBOOK
OSU's Smith stalks Heisman
Competitors of Buckeye star hit bumps in road


By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

COLUMBUS - While the Heisman Trophy campaigns of a number of his likely challengers have taken a hit in recent weeks, Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith is surging forward, in consistent and convincing fashion.
A clavicle crunch took Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson out of the race, and the quicksand defense employed by Western Michigan on Saturday limited Northern Illinois running back Garrett Wolfe to 25 yards on 18 carries, likely dousing his long-shot chances. Smith, meanwhile continues to lead the Big Ten in passing efficiency, and is sixth nationally. He has completed 68.2 percent of his passes (116-170) for 1,495 yards and 17 touchdowns with just two interceptions. Smith is Ohio State's all-time completion percentage leader, hitting on 62.9 percent of his career passes (333-529). Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said Smith's play, as well as the success of his team, which has been ranked No. 1 in the country since before the start of the season, keeps the senior from Cleveland in the forefront of the Heisman picture. "I think the one thing is that his team is undefeated," Tressel said. "The evolution that the Heisman Trophy has taken over the last couple years, is that the focus seems to be on guys on teams who are doing the best, and I think that's wonderful because that's what it's about. "And I think one thing that has kept him in the limelight, if you will, is that his team has done well. Now, he's been a big part of that and he does a whole bunch of things like his escapability and his consistency and so forth, but I think it starts with your team." With 244 yards in total offense last week, Smith has 5,725 yards in his career and ranks seventh in Ohio State history after moving past two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin. Most impressive in the eyes of the Heisman voters might be Smith's 20-2 record as a starter, but Tressel said he is leaving the promotion side of the Heisman race to someone else and concentrating on Smith the football player. "I would have to defer to the marketing masterminds - I'm not sending anything out," Tressel said. "But everyone has a role . . . and mine is making sure that he has good footwork." Smith's 41 career touchdown passes rank him fourth in Ohio State history, behind Bobby Hoying (57), Joe Germaine (56), and Art Schlichter (50). He has at least one touchdown pass in 13 of his last 14 games and two or more in six of the Buckeyes' seven games this year. MR. FIX-IT: Tressel says his Buckeyes, despite their No. 1 ranking and 7-0 record, have a lot that needs fixed. He reluctantly laid out some of the areas that need attention. "You always have to get better tackling, and until we get down to zero missed tackles, we're not going to be happy," Tressel said. "And obviously, if you took each and every special team and divided it by 11, whether it be your punt return team or what, we need to do a better job holding up. Or with your snapper, the ball needs to be a little bit tighter in the window. Rather than six inches off, it needs zero to three or whatever it happens to be. Offensively, name the position, and the consistency. The level at which we would like to be leaves room for improvement in everything we do."
 
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