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2006 Heisman Discussion (merged all)

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Is Hart Heisman material?
U-M running back makes his case

If Jim Tressel and his quarterback Troy Smith are able to close out the regular season with an impressive victory over Michigan, Smith will have all but locked up the Heisman Trophy. See full image

Troy Smith
School: Ohio State
Position: Quarterback
Height/weight: 6-foot-1, 215 pounds
Att: 131 Comp: 193
Yards: 1,715 TDs: 21
Making a case: He has been so solid all season and only a complete collapse against Michigan would keep him from the award. Brady Quinn
School: Notre Dame
Position: Quarterback
Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 227 pounds
Att: 175 Comp: 278
Yards: 1,938 TDs: 18
Making a case: His stats have been credible (12 TDs, one interception) since the loss to Michigan, and, oh, by the way, he plays for Notre Dame.Steve Slaton
School: West Virginia
Position: Running back
Height/weight: 5-foot-10, 184 pounds
Rushing attempts: 151 carries
Yards: 1,059 TDs: 9
Making a case: He's averaging 7.0 yards a carry and the hype for him and his team by the national media increases by the minute. Related Articles


ANN ARBOR -- Hart for Heisman.
Has a rhythmic ring, doesn't it?
But don't expect to see the slogan marketed to Heisman Trophy voters, because as everyone knows, noble Michigan never promotes its players for awards.
No one says I can't, though.
Mike Hart, the leading rusher for the second-ranked and unbeaten Wolverines, maybeis the listed 5-foot-9, and is a solid 196 pounds. On a team featuring several playmakers, Hart has emerged as the most important cog to the offense -- emotionally and with his on-field contributions.
Without Hart, Michigan stutters.
"He's the heart of our team," Michigan left guard Adam Kraus said. "He definitely gets us going."
This is the time of year when the national pundits publish weekly "Heisman Watch" lists. Hart recently has been gaining recognition and is creeping onto some of those lists.
Here's why.
He leads the nation's second-best team in rushing with 1,032 yards on 214 carries, the most carries by any back.
He has scored eight touchdowns.
He has gained 100 yards or more in seven of eight games and is ranked seventh nationally among running backs.Last Saturday against Iowa, Hart was the only back to carry the ball. He has received a bit more than four times the number of carries of backup tailback Kevin Grady this season.
And lest we forget, Hart, who lacks great breakaway speed but is a tough-nosed grinder, has had 639 straight carries without losing a fumble.
Those are the tangibles.
What people who don't follow Michigan on a regular basis probably miss is Hart as a pass protector. He is fierce and determined and has frequently been the last line of defense between Chad Henne and a potential sack.
"I showed a video to our team a couple of weeks ago, I think it was against Minnesota, where Mike blocked a 265-pound defensive end on one play and got underneath him and stopped him right where he was," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "The next clip was a play where he took on a 240-pound linebacker.
"He's smart. He's tough. He's competitive, and he loves that challenge."
The campaign possibilities
If only Michigan did run Heisman Trophy campaigns.
Think of the promotional possibilities
A mechanical wind-up football player that runs low with legs that never quit.
A heart-shaped pillow in maize and blue and the slogan, "The Hart of it all."
A set of chattering teeth that have taped recordings of Mike Hart -- who allegedly never stops talking, even in his sleep -- saying things like, "I knew all week we'd beat Notre Dame!"The competition is shaping up.
Obviously, injured Oklahoma tailback Adrian Peterson is out now that his season is over because of injury.
Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith clearly is the front-runner. Smith has thrown for 1,715 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn has thrown for 1,938 yards and 18 touchdowns.
And West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton is high on a lot of lists because he's rushed for 1,059 yards on 151 carries and scored nine touchdowns for the unbeaten Mountaineers.Hart has a chance the next three weeks to put up some gaudy statistics.
Northwestern, Michigan's opponent Saturday, has the nation's 71st-ranked rush defense; Ball State has the 94th-ranked rush defense; and Indiana has the 107th-ranked rush defense of 119 teams.
Nov. 18 could decide it
Let's say Michigan runs the table the next three weeks, as does Ohio State, setting up a meeting of the nation's top two unbeaten teams. That would be thenational stage, Nov. 18 at Ohio Stadium.
A brilliant performance by Smith -- and why not since he's had a few of those types of games against Michigan -- would seal the Heisman Trophy for him.
But why not Hart?
The Michigan-Ohio State game had provided the stage for the Wolverines' last two Heisman Trophy winners -- Charles Woodson (1997) and Desmond Howard (1991).
Granted, both those games were in the warm confines of Michigan Stadium.
But what if Hart has an unbelievable game against Ohio State?
What if?
"I wish I had a vote, because I'd vote for him," Carr said Monday.
Well, I do, and as long as he keeps playing and contributing the way he has, it's going to be awfully tough to keep Hart off my ballot.
You can reach Angelique S. Chengelis at
 
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Dispatch

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

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I was looking over the pass eff. list this morning and was amazed that Brady Quinn had nearly 85 (44%) more pass attempts than Troy, despite already having a bye week and playing one less game.

Here are their current numbers head-to-head:

B Quinn: 175-of-278, 1938 yards, 18 TDs, 4 INTs
T Smith: 131-of-193, 1715 yards, 21 TDs, 2 INTs

These are the bizarro stats if you flipped the players in their offenses; let Troy throw 40 times per game, and Brady only 24:

B Quinn: 121-of-193, 1350 yards, 13 TDs, 3 INTs
T Smith: 188-of-278, 2470 yards, 30 TDs, 3 INTs

Silly running game! If it weren't for guys like Pittman and Wells and Wells pushing for PT, Troy could throw for 4000 yards and 50 TDs! :eek:
 
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Glass Half Empty - Not

After reading all the subsequent posters, I realize that I don't get out enough. I mean to say that I've apparently gone to the sportsweb to see what is being written about the Heisman race. Apologize for a diatribe without facts, as it's apparent there are several writers making hay with the attachments I've read from y'all. I feel better that it's not a 'stealth' campaign, but merely the news coverage in the area where I live.

Go Bucks - beat Meatchicken. Go Troy bring home Heisman

:gobucks3: :gobucks4: :banger:
 
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Fiu's Heisman ballot as of this week.

cfn

My Heisman ballot this week would be :
1. Troy Smith, QB Ohio State,
2. Mike Hart, RB Michigan,
3. Pat White, QB West Virginia,
4. Ray Rice, RB Rutgers,
5. Colt Brennan, QB Hawaii
 
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10/24/2006Ginn deserves trip to New York By JASON LLOYD , Morning Journal Writer
LET'S be clear: Ted Ginn is not going to win the Heisman. It's not his fault, he just happens to play on the No. 1 team in the country, where the quarterback is so far ahead of the field, it looks like a 100-meter race between Ginn and Kirk Barton.
The competition for the Heisman this year is really a race for No. 2. And since five players are still required to show up in New York, Ginn deserves to be on that list.

​
var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1); document.write(''); The rest of the preseason favorites are still mentioned in the conversation -- Steve Slaton, Calvin Johnson and Brady Quinn -- and all three have legitimate claims for being part of the five invited.

Slaton averages 150 yards a game for West Virginia, good for fourth in the country, and has a chance to rush for 2,000 yards this year while playing in a Big East Conference that is better than it is perceived.

Quinn struggled miserably against Michigan, but so has every other quarterback this year. He's thrown for more yards than Smith, while his touchdowns and interceptions are comparable.

Johnson is widely considered the best receiver in the country, and playing at Georgia Tech, he doesn't have a Smith or Quinn throwing to him.

Then there is Ginn, who inexplicably has been shut out of the conversation.

Johnson has caught 35 passes for 559 yards and eight touchdowns while playing in an ACC that is worse than the Big East and clearly the weakest of all the BCS conferences this season.

Ginn has caught 41 passes for 589 yards and seven touchdowns. Johnson doesn't return punts, while Ginn is two shy of the national record for punt return touchdowns in a career. He has only one this year, but a Ginn punt return is sort of like a Barry Bonds home run.

In his prime, Bonds received about three pitches a game to hit, yet he still managed to bash home runs. Teams have been kicking away from Ginn all year, then one of the only times he had a real chance at a return, he brought it back 60 yards for a touchdown against Michigan State.

Ginn's touchdown pass to Rory Nicol on Saturday, while it provided laughs and back slaps on the Ohio State sideline, quietly displayed another side of his versatility. He was already the best punt returner in the nation. He already can make any defensive back's eyes widen and throat tighten when he shifts his hips and turns upfield. He already poses fits for defensive coordinators who watch him line up in the backfield.

Now in less than three years, he has produced touchdowns passing, running, receiving, returning kicks and returning punts. That's something few other college players in history can equal.

Before the start of the season, Ohio State said it was promoting two Heisman candidates. And while the school has done its best -- holding a conference call every week with Smith and Ginn, giving both their own Web pages -- the national perception is that Ohio State now has one candidate, and he happens to be the clubhouse leader.

But Ginn has done nothing this year to dissuade the preseason perception he was a legitimate contender.

Part of the problem plaguing him is what the Heisman has become, and really, what it's always been. The Heisman Trophy is for the best quarterback or running back on one of the top teams in the country. Occasionally, it goes to the best receiver, but only if the rest of the field is lacking.

Desmond Howard is the last receiver to win the Heisman Trophy, and it happened 15 years ago (Charles Woodson, of course, is the exception, winning as a cornerback in 1997 over Peyton Manning).

Howard caught 61 passes and scored 19 touchdowns in 1991 for a staggering average of 3.2 touchdowns per catch. But part of what allowed Howard to win was the fact Casey Weldon, Ty Detmer, Steve Emtman and Shane Matthews were the other finalists. Aside from Detmer, whose odds were diminished because he won the year before, no one else on that list could be picked out of a lineup of grocery store baggers and ditch diggers.

Maybe another 100 yards receiving or another punt return touchdown against Minnesota this week will get voters talking again about Ginn. Maybe a historic performance against Michigan could catapult him as high as second, since no one else in the field seems to be a clear No. 2.

In the 70-year history of the award, only once have teammates finished first and second in the voting, in 1945, when Army's Doc Blanchard won it and Glenn Davis finished second.

Ginn isn't used to finishing second in any kind of race. But a runner-up finish in the Heisman, with his childhood friend winning it, would really be a double victory.
---------

Yes, that is staggering :shake:
 
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From Jeff Amey's weekly column.

ozone

Heisman Talk​
The Heisman race got a little more interesting this week. Not at the top, of course, where Troy Smith is still the clear leader, but behind him and the race for who's going to get the invites to New York. Brady Quinn is getting a lot of hype for the comeback win over UCLA, but didn't really have that great of a game up to the final Irish drive. There are several halfbacks that are coming out of nowhere to start making some noise in the race. The problem is that they are all Freshmen and Sophomores, and they tend to not do very well in Heisman balloting.

1) Troy Smith QB Ohio State
131/193 for 1,715 yards 21 TD 2 INT
36 rushes for 126 yards
It looks like a few members of the media are going to start jumping on the Brady Quinn bandwagon to try to make this a race again, but no one has been better than Troy this season.

2) Brady Quinn ND Notre Dame
175/278 for 1,938 yards 18TD 4 INT
49 rushes for -35 yards 1 TD
Some people questioned why I had Quinn at #2 on this list. I say you're fooling yourself if you don't think he's the #2 candidate for the Trophy this year despite any little bit of hype about any other player you might see on ESPN.

3) Steve Slaton HB West Virginia
151 rushes for 1,059 yards 9 TD
9 receptions for 87 yards
The emergence of other halfback candidates this past week will probably hurt him a little bit, as his stats are nowhere near as good as some of the other candidates on lower ranked teams.

4) Chris Leak QB Florida
110/173 for 1,503 yards 15 TD 6 INT
33 rushes for -28 yards
Leak is pretty close to dropping off of this list. It will take a huge game against Georgia to stop his slide.

5) Ray Rice HB Rutgers
201 rushes for 1,124 yards 12 TD
3 receptions for 26 yards
Why Rice? Because every team the Scarlet Knights play know he's coming, and yet he's pounded ahead for over 200 yards 3 times and almost a fourth time this season. The only question would be if he can take the beating he's getting for 5 more games. He looked rough at the end of the Pittsburgh game Saturday night.

On the Radar: Ted Ginn WR Ohio State, Ian Johnson HB Boise State, Chad Henne QB Michigan, James Davis HB Clemson, Erik Ainge QB Tennessee, P.J. Hill HB Wisconsin, Garrett Wolfe HB Northern Illinois, Marshawn Lynch HB California
 
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Thump said:
You're kidding right?
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No I am not! Ginn's reputation as the game's most dynamic player has changed the way opponents punt and kick to the Buckeyes (allowing for better field position) and the coverage of opposing defenses (allowing for other players, Gonzo and Robo, to get more touches). While changing the defense against Johnson allowed Clemson to bracket him and hold him to 0 catches, OH and also GT losing by double digits.

Geee, who has more effect on a game and is a more dynamic player?
 
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HundedLane;642699; said:
No I am not! Ginn's reputation as the game's most dynamic player has changed the way opponents punt and kick to the Buckeyes (allowing for better field position) and the coverage of opposing defenses (allowing for other players, Gonzo and Robo, to get more touches). While changing the defense against Johnson allowed Clemson to bracket him and hold him to 0 catches, OH and also GT losing by double digits.

Geee, who has more effect on a game and is a more dynamic player?
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Unfortunately they don't keep stats on that stuff and stats are what the voters vote on. He gets no credit for "shanked" punts or the yardage gained from them, or for the touches of other people.
Troy not gets only the credit for hitting Robiskie in the end zone against PS, he got the yardage and a highlight reel for his play. That gets votes.
:osu:
 
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It's for TS to lose right now. No question that nobody can catch him if he does everything he is supposed to do the rest of the way. And what makes him truly great and deserving is that he would gladly trade the trophy for a win over scUM and a trip to the NC.

I still can't believe Rice from Rutgers has his name on this list. I don't care if Dave Wannstedt says he is the real deal. If he gets a ticket to the Downtown Athletic Club, I will soil myself. Rutgers? <head shaking> Please. He couldn't hold our 3rd stringer's jock (and yes I know our that would be Mo Wells). Id like to see him against a Gohlston clothesline. I guess with TS so far out in front, the sports writers of this world will do anything to try to make the discussion interesting.
 
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