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Heisman Watch - Week 10
November 8, 2006 | By Benjamin Miraski
I am not Dennis Dodd, and I am not going to overreact to Colt McCoy's success over his first season in the league. Dodd places McCoy at his #2 position in the Heisman race this week and admonishes Mack Brown for not supporting his young signal caller for the award.
I agree with Mack Brown though. While McCoy has been impressive, I don't know how you could name him as the best player in the nation this year. I think last week when I touted the glories of Troy Smith, I made a very important point.
Smith comes at you with his arm and his legs. That is a pretty powerful combination, much like a certain quarterback that was at Texas last season. That quarterback whose record for passing touchdowns that McCoy broke last weekend.
That quarterback had one thing that McCoy doesn't have and that is the ability to get away and score with his legs. McCoy has one rushing touchdown this season.
Vince Young had 12 and made defenses adjust to account for his ability to run the football, much like Troy Smith does.
Let's see McCoy mature a little more before we call him the best player in the game, or consider him for the Heisman. I am not saying that the award should be restricted to only upperclassmen (I would have voted for Adrian Peterson two years ago), but I do think that when there is an upperclassman that changes the game with his arm and his legs, he needs to be considered above the freshman who does it.
Agree with me or not, that is just the way I feel.
A short Heisman watch this week, because of its tardiness. I promise to be back to normal next week.
After watching all the top performers for the week, here is how I would rank the contenders coming out of Week 10:
- Troy Smith (QB Ohio State): 13/23, 107 yards, 1 INT, 11 att., 37 rush yards vs. Illinois - This was Smith's first tough game of the year, but I believe his lead for the trophy was so big that this is nothing. He still would have to really fall apart the last two games to cause me to remove him.
- Steve Slaton (RB West Va.): 18 att., 156 yards, 1 TD, 3 rec., 74 yards vs. Louisville - You might be thinking that he would fall after the Mountaineers lost last week. I disagree. Slaton still looked amazing against Louisville and 230 yards are nothing to sneeze at especially against the Louisville defense (which was very porous last week). Slaton showed he is great and the combination of him and Pat White will be tough for the next two years should they not jump to the NFL.
- Brady Quinn (QB ND): 23/35, 346 yards, 4 TD vs. North Carolina - A great game. And it almost took Brady to #2. I debated long and hard on this before leaving him here. I still think that Slaton is the better athlete and better player. Let me see what Quinn can do the rest of the way to change my mind.
- Michael Hart (RB Michigan): 25 att., 154 yards, 1 TD vs. Ball State - The average per carry doesn't look great, but I still watch the games, and I still see Hart as the most talented player on the field when the Wolverines go play. Should Hart stay around for his final season, he will be something special.
- Marshawn Lynch (RB Cal): 20 att., 81 yards, 1 TD, 4 rec., 45 yards, 1 TD vs. UCLA - Lynch? Lynch? Wasn't he left for dead after the Tennessee game and the slip against Oregon State? I just look at how much he contributes to his offense and I am amazed. Running, catching. Reminds me of a certain player from USC last season without the punt returns. Lynch deserves this 5th spot.
- Ian Johnson (RB Boise State): 24 att., 136 yards, 2 TD vs. Fresno State - I dropped him. He is losing power as the season goes on and his average per carry is starting to slip. Sure 20 touchdowns are impressive, but looking overall, I wonder about the strength of the teams that Boise is playing. Sure it was a nice ride for Ian in my Top 5, but there are other players that are impressing me more at this point.
Others receiving consideration: Colt Brennan (QB Hawaii), Erik Ainge (QB Tennessee), JaMarcus Russell (QB LSU), Chad Henne (QB Michigan), Calvin Johnson (WR Georgia Tech), Ray Rice (RB Rutgers), Adrian Peterson (RB Oklahoma)
Heisman-like Performance
No Heisman-like performance this week. It will return as usual next week.
Ben Miraski writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com
Posted November 8, 2006 11:00 PM
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